Page 7 of Cease and Desist

“Of course.” The man inclined his head to the cops.

They grunted almost in unison and headed out of the shop.

Remy turned to the lawyer. “Thanks for that Mr…I’m sorry I’ve forgotten your name. I know Lacy told me but with everything”—she gestured toward the door the police just exited through—“it slipped my mind.” More like his good looks had her mind going blank. It wasn’t often she had a man this attractive in her store or anywhere in her life for that matter.

He immediately offered his hand. “Thane Hawkins. Most people call me Hawk.”

She shook his hand, and she could have sworn a small shiver of desire went up her arm. She was losing it. After clearing her throat, she said, “Remington Tanger.” His hand was warm and totally engulfed hers. His grip was firm, but he didn’t try and squish her fingers or anything. She studied his face. He was so much bigger up close and there was an undercurrent of…danger, maybe…about him. It was hot as hell. Not only was he damn fine looking, but it was those vibrant blue eyes that captured her gaze. They seemed to know what she was thinking.

“Er, Lacy sent you?”

He nodded. “She asked me to drop by and talk to you about the lawsuit you want to file. I’d be happy to skim it and give you some suggestions. I should tell you I run the legal department for Drake Industries, so I have a bit of experience in the lawsuit game.” He smiled at her as he recited his bona fides. He was trying to reassure her that he wasn’t some beginner, but he could have saved his breath. Lacy wouldn’t have sent him if he wasn’t good.

Exhaustion washed over her. She couldn’t deal with anything else tonight and this man was throwing her all off balance. She just didn’t have it in her. “Right. Listen, I really appreciate your help. You were so kind to come and help me out, but it’s been a tough week and I think I’d just like to close up. I’ll call Lacy to go over the lawsuit another time. It’s Friday night. I can’t file tomorrow anyway.”

Hawk leaned against the bookshelf behind him. “Well since I’m here, why don’t you tell me what happened tonight?”

She shook her head. “Again, I appreciate all your help but it’s unnecessary. I don’t want to keep you any later than I already have.” He had to go. She needed to sit for a few minutes and drink her tea. Get her equilibrium back.

“Indulge me.”

Those words triggered a small flutter in her belly. She’d like to indulge him alright. Spend the rest of the night in bed with him. Wasn’t that what everyone was after these days? Now she understood it so much more. If every man looked like him, she’d be all good with having one-night stands or in his case, maybe a whole weekend. She swallowed.Get it together. “Look—"

“Do you know why they wanted to see your kitchen?” Hawk interrupted.

She blinked. “What?”

“Because they wanted to look for the murder weapon. I’m guessing the victim was stabbed, and they want to know if you did it. A crime of passion. Your boyfriend comes over. You two have a fight. You grab the knife, stab him, and then push him out the door and call nine-one-one to cover it up.”

Those words sobered her right up and snapped her back to reality. “Are you crazy? That’s insane! I don’t know who the guy is, er, was. I’ve never seen him before.” This was all too much.

Hawk nodded. “I believe you, but I’m not sure the cops do. You have to admit, your story sounds a bit weird.”

“But that’s what happened,” she said through gritted teeth. How had everything gone so horribly wrong?

“I’m sure it is. All I’m saying is you need to be very careful. Do you have video cameras?”

She shook her head. Her grandfather had been dead set against them.

“Consider installing some. Supporting camera footage would make it easier to show the police exactly what happened, so they leave you alone.”

He had a point. If she was going to continue to run the shop, who knew what other encounters she would have? “I’ll take that into consideration,” she murmured.

Hawk’s eyes narrowed at her. “Why don’t you tell me about your lawsuit? We might as well get it done since I’m here.”

The last thing she wanted to do right now was talk about the suit. Frazzled beyond belief, she wanted him gone, but she could hear her grandfather’s voice in her head.“Treat others as you would want to be treated.”This man had come to help her. She couldn’t very well push him out the door now. Letting out a sigh, she squared her shoulders. “Would you like a cup of tea? Mine seems to have gone cold.”

Ten minutes later, tea in hand, and calmer in spirit, she sat on her stool at the counter. He stood across from her, his overcoat still on, and studied her intently as she began to speak.

“The name of this shop is Under Lock ’n Key.In the early nineteen hundreds, my great-grandfather opened up shop as a locksmith. When my grandfather took over the shop, he kept the name but switched the business to a bookstore. He wasn’t much good as a locksmith apparently. Always said he didn’t have the touch. Books were more his speed. He built a reputation around the city for being able to find rare books, but also for being a place where you could come and hang out and read for a while with no one bothering you.”

She swallowed a mouthful of tea. It was hard to talk about her grandfather in the past tense. “Anyway, about a three months ago, a store popped up around the corner and down the block. It’s a locksmith shop. The thing is, it’s called Lock and Key and their logo is almost a dead ringer for mine. I asked the owner about it, a man named Lawrence Patterson. I pointed out how close the name was to mine and that his logo was almost an exact copy. He got belligerent and kicked me out of his shop.” She shuddered at the memory. It had been scary at the time and looking back at it didn’t make it any less so.

“I don’t really care about the name. We don’t sell the same things, but the logo, well, my great-grandfather designed it, and my grandfather was enormously proud of it. I won’t have it stolen by some asshole locksmith.”

Hawk took a sip of his tea. “What’s the rest of the story?”

"What do you mean?” she asked.

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