Page 21 of Dark Secrets

Aidan set his mug on the counter and shrugged. “There always is. Doesn’t matter what we change.” He turned for the door and paused. “James? Don’t do anything stupid.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

Alone, James scrubbed a hand over his face and pushed away from the counter. He knew the risks and the unspoken rules, and he had deliberately kept his distance from Delaney for precisely those reasons. That and the fact that she would barely make eye contact with him most days.

Irritated with the whole situation, he set the dishes from the coffee into the sink and went downstairs to grab Delaney’s number from her file. He’d thought about saving it in his phone the way he had every other employee’s number saved there, but something about doing that with hers felt like crossing a boundary.

He pulled her file out of the cabinet and laid it open on his desk. He’d run her background check, the name and details she’d given him coming back to a sweet old couple in Lincoln, Nebraska. He didn’t believe it for a second, but he’d stopped short of asking Brogan to run a deeper search.

She’d gone to a lot of trouble to hide her identity because her documents were very convincing knockoffs. If anything, it served as a reminder that he knew nothing about this woman and that keeping her far away from him and the syndicate was the right thing to do. She could have her secrets, and he could have his.

He punched in her number and pressed the phone to his ear. Her voice was filled with nerves when she answered.

“Delaney, hey, it’s James.”

“Oh,” she said, surprise filtering through the apprehension. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah. Everything’s fine. Sorry to bother you on your day off, but I was wondering if you’d gotten any update on your car situation.”

He heard her expel a breath before she said, “I’ve called a few places. I’m sorry it’s taking so long.”

“No, it’s not that.” He’d been rehearsing this part since he’d decided to fix it for her. “I was thinking it might be the battery. We didn’t try to jump it the other night. I have cables in my car.”

She was silent for a beat. “I didn’t consider it might be as simple a fix as jumping the battery.”

“If you’re free today, I can come pick you up, and we can try it out. If it doesn’t work, I can help you figure something else out.”

He heard the reluctance in her tone, but she finally agreed. “I’m free all day. So whenever is good for you.”

“Oh, great.” He tried to infuse his voice with as much nonchalance as possible. “I can be there in about twenty minutes.”

As soon as he pulled up, she shot out the side door he’d watched her disappear into two nights ago, that big, heavy duffel bag slung over her shoulder. He wished, not for the first time, that this woman wasn’t such a tempting mystery he wanted to solve.

She climbed in and rubbed her hands together in front of the vent, and he wondered if that fleabag of a motel had working heat. He’d thought about offering to put her up at a hotel again. Or at least make up the difference between what she was paying here, but he knew she wouldn’t accept a kindness like that. Kindness made her uneasy.

That’s why he’d devised this plan to pretend it was the battery that needed a jump and leave her none the wiser that he’d paid to have the starter replaced. Assuming it was the starter causing the issue and the car would actually start. If it didn’t, he’d have to default to plan B. And he had no idea what the fuck plan B was yet.

They rode in silence, her fingers tapping a nervous rhythm on her thigh. For the first time in weeks, she wasn’t wearing a Black Orchid t-shirt and instead had on a poppy-red sweater that brought out the warm tones of her skin. Her black hair framed her face in tight coils, and she sucked her bottom lip between her teeth when she caught him staring.

“Sorry to drag you out on your day off.”

James couldn’t help but chuckle. “I’m the one who dragged you out.”

Her smile was sheepish. “If not for my mess of a car, you’d be free to do…whatever it is you do when you’re not working.”

“It’s no trouble. Really.” He pulled into the parking lot and angled the nose of his car as close to hers as he could. “Why don’t you wait in here where it’s warm until I have everything hooked up?”

She nodded when he expected her to refuse, and he tried to hide his smile as he got out and retrieved the jumper cables from the trunk. He fumbled with the latch on her hood and popped his own, pressing the remote start to turn his car off before hooking the cables up.

Once he had everything secured, he restarted his car and let it run for a few minutes before motioning for her to get out. He schooled his face into a mask of concentration.

“Okay, give it a try.”

He saw her take a deep breath before turning the key in the ignition. She groaned with relief when the car immediately turned over, and he smiled.

“Oh my God. You’re a lifesaver. How did you know that would work?”

James disconnected the cables and started winding them into a circle. “I didn’t. Just a hunch. My cousin likes to work on old cars, and sometimes I pay attention when he rambles.”

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