Author: Jill Shalvis

She locked up the shop and called Zach, filling him in about Aubrey.

“I just talked to Luke,” he said. “He ran a financial search on everyone involved.”

“Can he do that?”

“No,” Zach said. “But you tell him that, because he’s one bound and determined man to save your cute hide. Anyway, no one’s made any suspicious deposits, including Aubrey.”

“Wait.” Ali shook her head. “You and Luke are working together?”

“Only for you, babe.”

Ali drove to the beach house on autopilot. Hungry, she headed into the kitchen and went straight to the refrigerator.

“Stop,” Luke said. “Seriously, you’ve got to stop.”

At the low, authoritative voice, Ali automatically went still before realizing he not only wasn’t in the kitchen, he also wasn’t talking to her. She went to the window and found him on the deck with Edward.

“You can’t bribe me with food,” Luke said to his grandfather.

“Everyone can be bribed with food.” Edward lifted the foil on the plate he held.

“Pastries,” Luke said reverently.

Ali found herself wanting to smile. Luke had been busy, either holed up on his computer or working outside replacing the wood siding that had rotted out over the past few years. During these small renovation projects, Ali had found that she could stare at him in a tool belt for just about as long as she could stare at him in his swim trunks. She’d wondered if he was avoiding her to be alone or because he didn’t want to be tempted by her.

She already missed him. Not that it mattered.

“Not just any pastries,” Edward said, wafting the plate beneath Luke’s nose. “Leah’s cream puffs.”

Luke inhaled deeply. “There’s brushed sugar on top of the whipped-cream puffs.”

“Uh-huh, and they’re loaded with butter too. They’ll corrode your arteries, but you’ll die happy.”

“Living’s overrated,” Luke said, and took one. “You know you haven’t spoken directly to me in years.”

“You haven’t spoken to me in years.”

“Two-way street,” Luke said, mouth full, but still managing to sound unimpressed. “We going to talk about it?”

Edward popped a pastry into his mouth.

Luke nodded. “So we’re going to keep ignoring it then. Sticking with something we’re good at.”

Ali thought about what it’d be like to go years without speaking to her mom or Harper and felt her chest tighten. It would hurt, badly. She imagined that’s what she heard barely masked in Luke’s voice now.

Hurt.

Wanting to help, she moved to the back door, if for no other reason than to alert them of her presence, but then Edward spoke again.

“Sara says you’re doing good,” Edward said.

Ali hesitated because they were almost actually talking, and if she butted in now, they’d stop.

“You didn’t bring these pastries over here to tell me that you know I’m good,” Luke said.

“Okay, fine. I brought them so that you’d think about continuing to help Ali.”

Luke stared at him. “Let me give you some advice,” he finally said, “stick to what you do best, which is butting out of the stuff that matters.”

Ali sucked in a breath. Walk away, Ali. Just leave them to this. But she couldn’t. She ached for them and wanted to somehow fix it. Again she reached for the door, but Luke sighed, his voice softer when he spoke again. “And I’m going to keep helping Ali. Jesus. You think I wouldn’t? But I’m leaving soon, you know that.”

“When?”

“If my commander had his way, I’d already be gone.”

“Then you need to hurry up,” Edward said. “Figure this shit out now. You getting anywhere?”

“Yes, but too slowly,” Luke said, sounding frustrated. “This town, for all the rumors, likes its secrets.”

“Positive thinking, boy-o,” Edward said. “It’s all about positive thinking.”

“Yeah? Since when?”

“Things change,” Edward said, so quietly that Ali almost missed it. “People change. It’s never too late to get to the bottom of all the secrets.”

“You sound like a fortune cookie,” Luke said.

“This isn’t a game, Luke. This is every bit as important as any of your big, fancy city cases.”

“Hell, I know that. How could you think I don’t know that?”

“Because you’re taking your sweet-ass time getting to the bottom of it. You’re the hotshot. Make it look like Mr. Fancy Town Clerk gave her that money.”

There was a stunned beat of silence.

“She didn’t steal the money,” Luke finally said.

Ali didn’t know which shocked her more, the fact that Edward thought she’d stolen the money…or that Edward would suggest that Luke frame Teddy.

“Okay,” Edward said, “of course not.” He paused. “But seriously, if you go with the angle that Marshall gave it to her—”

“How about the angle that she’s innocent,” Luke said.

“Well, sure, but that’s going to be a challenge, isn’t it? I mean she was caught red-handed with that money band in the pot.”

“She was framed.”

Ali couldn’t breathe. She simply couldn’t drag air into her chest. She brought her hand up and pressed it against her rib cage but it didn’t help.

“You think she was framed,” Edward said.

“Yes,” Luke said.

“You think she’s innocent.”

“Yes.”

Edward’s voice filled with relief. “Good. Then you’ll help her. Even after you leave, you won’t be able to stop yourself. It’s what you do.”

“You haven’t read the papers lately, I take it,” Luke said dryly.

“It’s what you do,” Edward repeated firmly. “Stop reading your own press. And also, Eddie Kitzsky needs your help. He thinks his guys are stealing from the till at the bowling alley.”

“So why doesn’t he fire them?”

“Because they’re his nephews, and his wife’ll kick his ass. He wants you to catch them at it and then kick their asses for him so he can stay married.”

Luke bit into yet another pastry and let out a heartfelt moan—a sound that did something unspeakable to Ali’s good parts.

“So good,” Luke said, licking sugar off his lower lip. “Pastries should always be for dinner.”

“Might want to slow down a little,” Edward said. “That’s your fifth or sixth one.”

“So?”

“I used to be able to eat like that,” Edward said wistfully. “The night of the auction I ate a ton, and then sat on the pot whole next day because of it.”

Luke went still. “You were at the auction?”

“Everyone was at the auction. I drove the seniors, who were like a bunch of drunken sailors on a four-day leave. I’m telling you, you get old and suddenly you can’t hold your liquor anymore. Or your bladder.”

“You were at the auction,” Luke repeated.

“Just said so, didn’t I?”

“There’s been some problem with the surveillance cameras on the building,” Luke said. “Apparently they’ve been down for several weeks, but it’s not in the budget to fix until next quarter. You see anyone come out with a big bag?”

“Like a purse?” Edward asked. “Only every woman in the place.”

“No, this would’ve been bigger than a regular evening bag,” Luke said. “Something the size of a large briefcase or duffle bag.”

“I see where you’re going with this,” Edward said, “but I wasn’t looking. I was playing Angry Birds on my cell phone while the crowd dispersed. What about the gas station across the street from Town Hall? Maybe their cameras caught some action.”

“I’ll check with Sawyer. Thanks.”

“I gotta go take my pill.” Edward started to walk away and then stopped. “As for you, get to it already. And by get to it, I don’t mean get to it. Not with Ali. She’s too sweet for you.”

Luke frowned. “Why do people keep telling me that?”

“Because it’s true.” Edward walked away, around the side of the house and out of sight.

Ali had to hustle to look busy. Ears burning, she began making breakfast for dinner.

Don’t get to it…

Too late, she could have told Edward. And anyway, sleeping with Luke—again—was the last thing on her mind.

Except it wasn’t. Not even close. Right now, it was the only thing on her mind. He might have honed his instincts by being a detective on the hard, tough streets, but he knew how to apply them to making love. He could read her body and know what she needed before she knew. He loved to touch. He loved to kiss, loved to taste.

He was magic.

But that was beside the point. The point was her life was out of control.

And Luke’s life? Also out of control.

Around her, the house was quiet. Too quiet. Had Luke left too? Gone out on the water on his paddleboard? Begun another renovation project? Gone around the front to come in and then gone to bed? If she’d eaten an entire plate of pastries for dinner, she’d need to go to sleep too.

She turned back to the stove. When the phone rang a minute later, she jumped, and then answered breathlessly.

“I’m looking for Luke Hanover,” a cool female voice said.

Another reporter. “How are you people getting this number?”

“This is Angelina Montclair from the Chronicle. Tell him I’ll give him a fair interview, facts only. Tell him—”

Ali hung up.

The phone immediately rang again, and she snatched it up, getting angry. “Stop calling here or I’ll—”