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He glanced over his shoulder at a woman smiling at him. “No, just browsing,” he told her, turning back to peer out the window, trying to see through the array of dream catchers and crystal pendants reflecting the bright sunlight.
“Can’t do a good job of it if you’re looking outside,” she told him. “If you’d give me an idea of what you’re looking for, I’d be more than happy to help you find it.”
He turned to face the proprietress, an ample woman with her hands on her hips. He didn’t need this attention right now. He sidled to the exit, apologizing to the woman. “Uh, wrong store. Sorry. I’ll be leaving.”
Stepping out the door to the sidewalk, Max came face-to-face with Lilli. She opened her mouth to speak but he clamped a hand on her arm to lead her away and explain the situation. Her eyes rounded and a clip dropped from her thick hair, leaving it to fall around her face.
He leaned down, his mouth close to her ear. “Now is not a good time to talk. I’m working.” He couldn’t afford an obstacle. Especially an attractive one.
She frowned up at him, pushing her hair from her eyes. “Working?”
“Undercover,” he said, glancing over her shoulder. Bart still stood engrossed in conversation, unaware of the surveillance focused on him.
Her eyes grew wider. “Who are you after?”
“I can’t say,” Max said, still holding Lilli close.
His fingers brushed over the soft skin at the edges of her short-sleeved blouse. She hadn’t pulled away yet, her gaze still locked with his. All over again he felt the heady rush he’d experienced that night at the beach when she’d looked up at him with those wide, gorgeous eyes. The light from the bonfire had cast a shimmering glow over her face and he’d been sucker-punched right then and there.
He blinked away the memory and the dizzying connection between them broke. With reluctance, Max loosened his grip. A light blush covered her cheekbones and she fussed with her hair, moving back to put some distance between them.
Max bent down to retrieve her hair clip, his line of vision to Bart broken. He straightened and held the clip out of reach. “Here you go, Lilli.” He grinned. “Yeah. I remember.”
She snatched the clip from him. “Thanks.”
As Max looked around her again, he noticed the young woman with Bart peering in their direction.
She turned, following his line of vision before a surprised gasp escaped her. “You’re following Bart?”
“Shh.”
“What do you think he’s going to do?”
“Right now I’m worried about what he’s not going to do.”
“And that is?”
“Commit a crime.”
“Oh, please.” She snorted. “Bart?”
“He’s a criminal.”
“Well, clearly you don’t know him.”
His sharp gaze pierced hers. A mistake. Her beguiling eyes held him captive. A sea green the same striking shade found in the calm Gulf waters bordering Cypress Pointe. His breath left him in a rush as he tried to cover his reaction. “And you do?”
“Sure. Everyone does. This is a small town.”
How had he lost control of this situation? The green-eyed siren had to be the cause. “Here’s the deal. I have a job to do here. So please go back to whatever you were doing and forget you saw me.”
Jostled by a passing couple, Lilli’s purse slid down her arm. As she grabbed for it, Max caught hold of the strap at the same time. Their fingers touched and the same dizzying jolt from moments before zapped him again. She must have felt it, too, because her eyes grew wide and she shuddered, taking a step back. He still held his hand out toward her. “I was trying to help.”
She hugged her purse close to her midsection. “I’m fine.”
He lowered his arm. Shoppers passed them, oblivious to his plight. Another tourist brushed by Lilli and she moved out of the way, closing the distance between them again, distance he needed so Bart wouldn’t notice him. “You’re missing the whole concept of undercover,” he told her.
“Then enlighten me.”
“Maybe when I have more time.” Max moved toward the gift store, hoping to blend in with the crowd. He noticed the shop woman watching them through the window before she turned away. So much for going unnoticed.
“Please, go back to your friend and forget I’m here.”
“It’s too late,” Lilli informed him.
Before Max had a chance to slip away unnoticed, Bart and the other woman joined them. If Bart suspected anything fishy, he didn’t show it, beguiled by his smiling companion.
“Hey, Lilli, is that who I think it is?”
Lilli looked back and forth between Max and the woman, not sure how much to give away.
“Hey, Jewel. Um, yeah, it is.”
Max groaned. Just shoot me now and get it over with.
Jewel frowned, sizing Max up. “I thought you were kidding about his clothes. He’s—”
“Working.” Lilli spoke the word with emphasis. Okay, she might not like his clothes but at least she didn’t give him up.
“Leaving,” Max corrected, looking at Lilli to relate his secret thanks. “We’ll talk later.”
Lilli opened her mouth to respond, but not before a uniformed police officer approached them. Max watched Bart’s eyes flare in panic. Had the officer caught Bart in the act before Max?
“Excuse me,” the officer spoke to Lilli. He thumbed in Max’s direction. “Is this guy giving you a hard time?”
She stared at the officer for a moment, stunned. “No. We were talking.”
“We received a call that you might need help.”
“A call?” She glanced up at Max, confusion knitting her brow.
The woman from Milly’s Gifts and Things appeared at her door and pointed at Max. “That’s the man, officer.”
Great. Max couldn’t nab Bart if the police wanted to question him.
“He’s been skulking around,” the woman continued. “He came into my store, casing it. I just knew he was going to rob me until this young lady stopped him.”
“That’s not true,” Max told the officer.
“Then, clear as day, I saw him grab that woman’s purse,” the shop lady added, on a roll of accusations.
Max read a guilty verdict in the eyes of the people who stopped to watch the unfolding drama. He sure looked the part of a shady character. If he was a cop—and he had been—he’d believe the store owner in a heartbeat.
“No,” Lilli assured the officer. “He stopped to help me.”
“Help himself to your belongings,” the store owner countered. “I saw him grab on to her purse strap not five minutes ago.”
Lilli tried to defend Max, but the store owner didn’t believe her.
Max scrubbed his hand over his face, wondering how his simple surveillance had gone haywire. Trying to make his case to the officer, who tried to get everyone to stop talking at the same time, Max pleaded innocence. No one listened. The store owner started yelling about a bad element plaguing their town. By the time Max realized his stakeout was a lost cause, he’d taken his attention from his suspect for too long. Bart had disappeared.
“Where’d he go?” Max asked no one in particular. He turned in a circle on his bootheel, running a hand through his hair, frustrated no end.
He turned to face the crowd gathered around him. The officer frowned at him.
Max held his hands up. “I can explain everything.”
“Sir, let me see some ID,” the officer said, unimpressed with Max’s urgent declaration.
Max groaned. He went to pull his wallet from his back pocket. Only it wasn’t there. Stunned, his eyes locked with the pesky woman who’d disrupted his world twice today.
“Bart took my wallet.”
CHAPTER FOUR
STANDING IN AN OFFICE at the police station, Lilli watched Max as he paced in front of the police chief. The chief had suggested they all move from the sidewalk to the station to straighten out the misunderstanding. Especially when the crowd grew bigger.
Every so often Max cast a frown in her direction. While that should’ve bothered her, instead, her heart beat rapidly. If anything, Max had caused her nothing but trouble today. First, by refusing to be a volunteer groom, then when she’d inadvertently got caught in his stakeout. Shouldn’t she be upset with him? Her stomach flip-flopped. From all the excitement, she reasoned, not because of totally gorgeous Max. His dark, unruly hair kept falling over his forehead after he unsuccessfully brushed it back. Could he be any more adorable?
No. He’s making your job more difficult, remember? Because of him, she’d have to find another suitable volunteer groom. Her mother would not be happy that Max hadn’t jumped on board with her idea, which meant an earful for Lilli.
Yep, Max Sanders had made her life complicated. Again. But she did feel bad that he’d lost his wallet.
When they’d arrived at the station, Max had removed his sunglasses and glanced at her. She’d gotten up close and personal with those stormy gray eyes. For a fleeting moment his annoyance had vanished, replaced with...what? Curiosity? Interest in her, perhaps?
She’d tried not to react, but how could she not? He was seriously good-looking. Throw in the broad shoulders, six feet of muscular build—obviously the man worked out—and long denim-clad legs and...well, she noticed.
Yet she had to ignore his undeniable appeal and how it affected her. Even if she had wanted this tug of awareness to go somewhere, the unresolved past between them would make that impossible.
“I can’t believe he’s been spying on Bart,” Jewel fumed as she shot the hunky Max another glare. “Why would anyone want Bart tailed?”
Bart came across as a nice enough guy, but had trouble with his “confusion of ownership” issues. Amused by Jewel’s passionate defense, Lilli listened, letting her friend vent. She’d never seen Jewel this charged up before.
The chief, a tall bear of a man, with distinguished gray hair and a ready smile, moved their way to join the tail end of the conversation. He hadn’t changed much since the night he sat her in the squad car while he called her parents. At least this time she wasn’t in trouble. “Max was doing his job,” the chief explained.
Jewel simmered down, but her lips pursed in mulish displeasure.
“This is all just a misunderstandin’,” he assured them.
“Bart would never hurt anyone,” Jewel insisted. “Sure, he’s a little different, but that’s his appeal. Not everyone follows their inner voice.”
Not everyone’s inner voice told them to pick pockets, either. Lilli glanced over at her friend. “Since when did you become so interested in Bart?”
Pink covered Jewels cheeks. “I’ve run into him around town a few times. We went to high school together,” she explained. “Recently we reconnected. I even invited him to join us for lunch today...before we were interrupted. But he turned me down.”
Interrupted by Max. Lilli peeked over at him again, her stomach fluttering. For the second time in her life, Max Sanders caught and held her attention, but she resisted the lure. She had a lot on her plate, which didn’t include getting tangled up with Max again.
“The officer has your statements, ladies, so if you’ll excuse me, I should probably get back to Max.” The chief excused himself.
“Isn’t that peachy,” Jewel grumbled.
“He knows what he’s doing,” Lilli told her friend.
“Bart’s not even here to defend himself.”
Lilli decided not to point out the fact that his disappearing act looked suspicious. While Jewel complained, her attention went back to Max.
He stood only a few feet away, so she couldn’t help but hear the chief laughing while Max spoke in a low tone. He frowned and seemed put out, while the chief enjoyed the entire situation, especially when he handed Max a square brown object that could only have been the pilfered wallet. Max’s neck grew red as he shoved the billfold into his back pocket. Lilli chuckled at his disgruntled expression.
He headed in her direction. Uh-oh.
“Look, things got out of hand. Thanks for not blowing my cover.”
“Are you appreciative enough to be a groom?”
“No way.”
“You know, I could have told the officer you were causing trouble.”
“I still would have ended up here. Like the last time the police brought us both in.” His eyes narrowed. “You seem to have a special ability for getting me in hot water.”
“Hey, I didn’t plan to.”
“Today? Or years ago?”
“Neither. And I resent the implication.”
“You’re trouble, pure and simple.”
“And you’re not?”
The chief chuckled. “Should I leave you two alone to work things out?”
She grimaced. “No, thanks.”
The chief still grinned. “That’s good, ’cuz Max here doesn’t like being cornered.”
By his scowl, Lilli knew she’d managed that. Twice in one day.
