Glass Houses (20 page)

Olivia loved men’s hands if they were nice. Aiden’s were more than nice. She thought about how they might feel on her skin if he really wanted them there.

He’d felt sexual tension enough times, but this was different,
this was electric, and he had become more engaged than the usual. Great. Perfect timing. He stirred and made to get up. “Boss needs water.”

Stinging all over, wobbly in her tummy, Olivia rose promptly, her glass in hand, and headed for the door.

“I got it,” Cal shouted. “He’s got a bowl and a blanket. He’s havin’ a good ol’ time.”

Olivia returned to the booth, aware of Aiden watching every move she made.

She had a walk, what a walk. Maybe it was because she was walking slowly, looking at him, almost telegraphing that she felt the same physical connection he felt. “Cream in your coffee?” he said, and poured in the contents of two containers anyway. “You had cream at Mama’s. Juice might be good.
Give us some quick energy.” He felt more edgy than tired, and as aroused as hell, but despite all the right signals in her eyes, Olivia’s wan features worried him. All he needed was a sick woman on his hands, a sick woman he wanted to sleep with.

She put her elbows on the table and propped her fists under her chin. “Now,” she said. “I know you’ve told me. I think you have, anyway. But would you spell out for me
exactly why we’re doing what we’
re doing?”

“I have told you.” He saw the door open an inch and carefully slid his hand to the butt of his gun. “But I’ll tell you again, because I like you.” He forced a smile. Keeping her from overreacting was essential.

She smiled back at him. Damn, but she had the best smile. How many women had he met with the kind of open, grateful smile that made him feel they didn’t have any hidden agenda?

None, except maybe Vanni’s sisters, who thought of themselves as Aiden’s sisters, too.

The door eased open a little more.

“You’re such a nice man, Aiden. I do know I’ve pulled you into all this, you know. You didn’t have to try to help me. I’ve really made life hard for you.”

“Try not to call me
nice
again, Olivia. Salads are nice sometimes. Soups can be nice. An ice cream is a nice way to finish a meal, especially on a hot day. An inoffensive but ordinary pair of shoes is nice enough. I’m not nice, ma’am. I can find people who will tell you just how nice I’m not.”

Still she smiled; in fact, her eyes sparkled with the intensity of that smile. “You were going to tell me something.”

Yeah, he thought, and someone’s trying to come in here without giving advance notice. He leaned forward, allowing himself a good hold on the gun, and easing it from his waist. “We’re getting away from New York because Ryan Hill has pulled off the feat of turning the entire NYPD against me. He has them thinking I’m a criminal, and that you’re a criminal, too. With Vanni’s help in New York, and Chris’s help in Seattle, I think I can get the evidence I need to bring us out winners, wrap this case up, and leave Ryan Hill in jail afterwards. With Fats Lemon, if he’s an accomplice, and I think he is. Traveling, staying on the move, is the only solution I can come up with that’ll give me a chance to do my job and not be stopped. If I’m locked up, I’m stopped, Olivia, with a capital S.”

Aiden was on his feet and braced when the door opened all the way.

Olivia kept her mouth shut, but swung around in her seat. No one came in.

He ed
ged sideways from the booth. “Put your head down,”
he ordered Olivia. “Keep it down.”

A glance showed Cal with his back to them and working over a steaming pot.

Without incident, Aiden made it all the way to the booth nearest the door. “Shit,” he said, and slammed the hand that held the gun over his heart. Boss lay on the floor, his head on
his paws, with a look in his eyes that swore he needed anti-depressants. “Da
rn
you, buddy,” Aiden said and sank to his knees. “How come you’ve turned into something like a lap dog? What happened to all that training?
”

“Guess he got old like the rest of us around here.”

Aiden shot to his feet, gun at the ready again, and confronted a woman who didn’t reach his shoulders. Her breadth pretty much matched her height, and the gravelly voice he’d heard went well with a flat, masculine face onto which the lady had applied liberal paint. Her tight platinum curls were held in place by a black net decorated with tiny colored beads.

“You gonna shoot me, cutie?” she said, grinning as if the idea appealed. “That’d liven things up a bit around here. Probably be good for bu
siness. What do you say, Cal?”

Cal had approached, bearing a steaming bowl in each hand. “Don’t you hurt my Dierdre,” he said, and his voice shook. “You need someone for target practice, use me. Just don’t hurt Dierdre.”

Embarrassed, Aiden put the weapon away. “Sorry,” he said. “Habit. Blame him.” He pointed at Boss, who was attempting to make his way toward Olivia.

“You’re a cop, ain’t ya?” Cal said. “I thought you was when you come in. Then there was the dog.”

“No,” Aiden said. “Just a man who
carries a gun for protection.”

“If you say so,” Cal said, but didn’t sound convinced.

“He does say so,” Dierdre announced. “Came back to check up on you, Cal. I was going to suggest you close up early.”

Aiden wondered what these people considered late. “What’s he feeding you?” she asked Aiden, and sniffed. “Black-bean chili. Good start. You been traveling awhile, I see. Eat. Then we’ll see to fixing you up with a place to stay. Get something aired out.”

“Um, well, we weren’t actually thinking—”

“Eat,” Dierdre interrupted. “Don’t give ’em any booze,
Cal. Not till they’ve eaten. Don’t want ’em falling asleep in their plates.”

At last Aiden returned to the booth and sat down in front of his bowl. Olivia, an annoyingly amused grin on her face, had dispensed with manners and eaten almost half of her own chili. Boss sat sideways beside her. He wouldn’t have fit any other way.

“What the hell’s gotten into you, Boss?” Aiden said.
“Down.
”

“Please leave him,” Olivia said. “Stop trying to control the world and eat. Please, Aiden.”

“The dog’s fine,” Cal yelled.

“I know when I’m beaten,” Aiden said and found that the chili tasted better than any he’d had. A large platter of bread coated with melted cheese appeared in Dierdre’s hands, and she placed it between them without a word.

Cal came to refill coffee and drop another heap of cream containers.

“Don’t you get travelers at night all the time?” Aiden asked. “You can’t treat them all like returning prodigals.”

“We’ve been here thirty-five years,” Cal said. “Reckon both of us are pretty good judges of character. I can tell two things about you. You’re in trouble. And you’re good people. And a third thing is you left wherever you came from in too much of a hurry to bring what you need.” He inclined his head to look significantly at Aiden. “And four, you may not have known each other a real long time, but if you don’t already have something going, you will.”

He walked away.

Olivia turned hot—not an unwelcome development—and couldn’t look at Aiden.

“He’s right about most things,” he said.

She stirred what remained of her chili. “All but one,” she told him.

“Yeah. You’re a good person. My character’s questionable.”

The breath she took caused her to choke, and she gulped water.

Dierdre left the diner, but Cal continued to push food on them. Olivia began to worry about the bill but didn’t know how to bring this up to Aiden without sounding rude.

“You full?” he asked her quietly. “I am. I was some time ago.”

“Really full,” she said. “I don’t suppose they’d be able
to change some pounds for me?”

“Uh-uh. I’ve got us covered.”

“I pay my way. But thank you.” She peered into her bag, but one of Aiden’s long, tough hands descended and stopped her.

“Not this time,” he said.

Cal brought yet another plate, but put it in front of Boss. “Steak pie. I’d only have to throw it out, anyway.”

Boss put a paw on the edge of the plate to anchor it and loudly sucked up the pie.

“Don’t you have a health department around here?” Aiden said.

“Not in the middle of the night,” Cal told him. “You gonna turn me in?”

“You’re a very kind man,” Olivia said. “This is only my second day in the—”

“Olivia hasn’t done a lot of traveling by car, so this is a new experience.” He frowned at her.

So now she was supposed to be suspicious of everyone,
everyone,
and make sure she didn’t give out the most unimportant information about herself.

Dierdre reappeared. She came directly to the booth and slapped down a key. “Number seven. It’s not fancy, but it’s got the newest bed and the heater works. And the shower gets hot. Just don’t run it too long without giving it a chance to recover.”

Olivia pulled a shutter aside and looked outside.

“It’s three in the morning,” Dierdre went on. “Where you’re coming from and where you’re going is no business of
ours. But we know good people in trouble when we see ’em. Get four hours of sleep, or just three, then get going again. You’ll do a whole lot better than if you keep going now.”

He ought to refuse, Aiden thought, but another look at Olivia made him change his mind.
“
We’ll need two cabins,” he said. She wasn’t a woman who’d get cozy with a man she hardly knew.

“Oh,” Dierdre said. “I—well, I’ll see what I can do with Number two. That’s not so bad. Maybe you should park around back? Back of the cabins? Just an idea.”

This woman had a nose for trouble all right. “I think I will,” Aiden told her.

“
Would it be a good idea—tell me to mind my own business if you want to—but would it be a good idea if I hadn’t seen anyone like you two passing through tonight? Just in case I’m asked?”

Aiden figured that if he agreed, he was taking a chance on these two not turning him in to the nearest law. But the only way this whole caper was likely to favor the good guys was if they took some chances.

He’d take this chance. “It would be a good idea. Thanks.”

“We’ll manage with just Number seven,” Olivia said, putting her nose on the window. “And we’re grateful to you for being so kind.”

Aiden caught Cal’s grin and shook his head slightly.

“Fair enough, then,” Dierdre said. “You got bags? Clothes?”

“Well—”

“Didn’t think so. Something about you. I put a couple of emergency kits in the cabin. We carry ’em in case—you know, in case of one of those disasters we’ve been going to have since World War II. There’s basic stuff in there and I’ve kept ’em updated. Here.” She darted back behind the counter and produced a bottle. “In case you’re too tired to sleep. A nip of brandy always helps. Now, off you go if you’ve had enough eats.”

Olivia automatically took the brandy Dierdre thrust at her.

Cal gave Aiden a battery-operated lantern, and the two waved them out as if they were children who had to get to school in the morning.

Boswell loped along beside Olivia, showing his own signs of tiredness.

“You don’t want to stop,” Olivia said. “They’re just being kind, I’m sure of it, but that doesn’t mean we have to do what they suggest.”

“No.” And just in case Cal and Dierdre were contacting the authorities, he wanted a chance to check. “I’d like you to sleep for a couple of hours if possible. I’d also like to see if I can buy a blanket for the car from them. I’m going to get you inside, move the car, and make my way back to the diner.”

She’d have liked to ask him not to leave her alone, but thought better of it.

Aiden unlocked the cabin door and reached inside to switch on the light. “Home, sweet home,” he said automatically. Rustic could be pretty rustic once you left the beaten track in these forgotten places, but the place seemed cheerful enough. “Lock yourself in.”

She did as she was told and went immediately to peer through faded chintz curtains at the single small window. Aiden’s tall, broad-shouldered shape was impossible to miss. He walked directly to the Rover and got in.

What would she do if he decided to leave her here?

He wouldn’t. She didn’t know what made her so sure, but she was sure. The Rover’s engine came to life and she heard it pass around to the back of the cabin. A door slammed and footsteps crunched on gravel, passing the cabin in the opposite direction. When she peered through the curtains again, she saw Aiden’s unmistakable silhouette heading for the diner.

She shouldn’t feel so happy at the sight of him.

At a doggy grunt, she looked over her shoulder. Boswell had leaped onto the cabin’s one bed. Only a double, it was piled high with a down comforter covered in red, white, and blue striped flannel. A heap of pillows, no two with matching cases, rested on top. Two businesslike heavy plastic boxes,
white with blue hinged tops, also rested on the comforter. In blue marker to match the
li
ds, someone had written “His” on one white box and “Hers” on the other. Olivia had to smile. She dragged “Hers” to the cabin’s one chair, an overstuffed, cracked vinyl recliner in a shade of faded purple.