The Detective's Undoing

“Hello,” she said, smiling back. “I’m going to visit my grandkids in Los Angeles. It’s a terrible town, but what is one to do?”

“Families. Can’t do much with them, can you?” he asked gently, and she beamed.

“I’ve told my kids to move, but do they listen to me? No.”

“That’s a shame.” Cade shook his head. “You look like a sensible woman to me—they should listen. Now that woman next to you, she’s not so sensible.”

“But you’re going to marry her, anyway, and take care of her.” Sadie sighed dramatically. “That’s so romantic.”

Delia gritted her teeth at the two of them so casually discussing her, then leaned forward to glare at Cade. “He’s not my—”

“When’s the wedding?”

“Soon as we can manage.” Cade lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “We’re in a hurry, our love just can’t be contained. We can’t wait to—”

“What are you doing here?” Delia asked through a tightly clenched jaw. “And how fast can you go back to where you came from?”

Cade shot her a mock frown. “What kind of way is that to greet your fiancé?”

Delia gave up with a groan and closed her eyes.

She heard whispering, then felt shifting, and when she opened her eyes again, Cade was in the seat right next to her, his arm and thigh brushing hers. She could feel the heat of him through their clothes, and the strength he carefully held in check.

And when her gaze lifted to meet his, all traces of amusement had been replaced by a passion she found harder to deal with than his teasing. “Cade—”

“Your light was on all night and you left at the crack of dawn,” he said quietly. “You didn’t sleep, you didn’t eat. You can’t travel like this.”

“I can get by on very little sleep, and believe me, my figure could do without a meal now and then. And coming from the consummate traveler, this conversation is very strange.”

“Everyone needs sleep, your body is amazing just the way it is and needs its fuel, and as a consummate traveler, I know what you’re doing. You’re nervous, you’re uptight and you need a friend.”

“Is that what you are? A friend?”

“I already told you that.”

“People tell me a lot of things.”

“That they don’t mean?” He shook his head, never taking his gaze off hers. “Not me.”

Of course she didn’t believe him; it would be ridiculous to do so. But she was breathless, and she told herself it was the pressure, since the plane had started its taxi down the runway.

It had absolutely nothing to do with his thinking her body was amazing. “You should have gone home, Cade.”

“Home?” The word rolled off his tongue as if it was foreign to him.

Which just proved her point. He could never really understand her and all that she held dear. “Home. Your office in Boise. Unless you have another home, which of course, since you never say a word about yourself or your private life, I wouldn’t know.”

“And that disturbs you.”

“I’m curious about you,” she admitted. “I don’t even know if you’re married.”

“I’m not,” he said with sudden grimness. “And I don’t talk about me. Ever.”

So much for their friendship. “Fine. Then go. Go far away.”

“Just go? Where? Anywhere, as long as it’s far from you?”

“Well…yes.”

He sighed. “You’re a tough nut, Delia, I’ll give you that. But I’m tougher.”

“What does that mean?” But she knew, and let out a groan. “You’re sticking.”

“Like glue.”

“I don’t need you.”

“So you’ve said.”

“I don’t want you.”

His full lips curved, and his expression lightened with genuine humor. “Now, now. Let’s not lie, not among friends.”

“We’re not friends. And I’m not lying!”

“Uh-huh.”

She closed her eyes and leaned back, deciding the only way to deal with this was to ignore him.

“Dream of me,” he whispered.

And damn him, she did.

* * *

The sunny warm weather in Southern California was so different from the cold autumn she’d just left, Delia couldn’t believe it. How could she have forgotten, even for a moment, how delicious the weather was at all times in Los Angeles?

She rented a car from the airport, still trying to ignore Cade, which was becoming increasingly difficult, especially since each long assessing glance he gave her seemed to affect her accumulatively, so that she was aware of little else. It got so she didn’t have to be looking at him; she could feel his every move.

Jacob, she reminded herself. Concentrate on Jacob. There had to be a way to ensure custody, which she wanted so very much. It wasn’t just that she couldn’t imagine letting him live anywhere else when his family was in Idaho, but also that she already loved him and had from the moment she knew he existed.

“It’ll work out,” Cade said into the silence, his voice gentle and subdued, all joking gone. “Getting Jacob.”

Startled, she glanced at him. He was driving—he’d insisted, claiming that it would leave her mind free to race around if she wanted—and was concentrating on the road in front of him. He had the window down, his hair whipping wild in the breeze. With his sleeves shoved up to his elbows, revealing strong tanned forearms and big sure hands, he seemed relaxed. Confident. And just a tad cocky.

“How do you do that?” she asked.

“Do what?” he said innocently.