ShatteredTrust_w5401 Read online

  “Where you going?” Justin asked when he caught up.

  “Home.”

  “You sure that’s wise? You’ve had a few.”

  She cast him an irritated glance. “I’m not drunk. I’m not even buzzed.”

  “I didn’t say you were, but a breathalyzer would.”

  She came to an abrupt halt.

  “Give me your keys, I’ll drive,” he said.

  “You were drinking, too.”

  “I had one beer.” He looked at his watch. “An hour ago.”

  He held out his hand and waited. After a moment of hesitation, she tossed her keys to him and walked to the passenger side. While he reached for the driver’s side door, she looked at him over the bed of the truck.

  “I didn’t need you to help me.”

  “I don’t recall doing any rescuing,” he agreed. He hid a grin by getting in the truck.

  She opened her door and glared at him through the cab. “Rescuing?”

  “Bad word choice, sorry.”

  After a moment, she stated, “I can take care of myself.”

  “Never said you couldn’t.”

  She slammed the door, and Justin decided it was best to remain silent as he started the truck and shifted into gear.

  “Where we headed?” he remembered to ask.

  “Ridgewood subdivision.” She didn’t add another word beyond that and he figured the less personal they got the better.

  About halfway to her house, he saw her look at him from the corner of his eye. He kept his gaze fixed on the road until she resumed her sullen stare out the windshield, complete with arms crossed resentfully over her chest.

  He heard a sigh.

  “Thank you.”

  The soft words were barely discernable and when he realized what she’d said, guilt slammed into his chest. She thanked him now, but when she found out he’d fired her…

  “I didn’t do anything, remember? And you’re going to want to ice that hand.”

  Marley flexed her fingers as he approached an intersection. Her hand did hurt. More than she would’ve thought. Realizing he’d need directions, she told him to turn right at the same time he flipped the right turn signal on.

  After she’d directed him to her house, something occurred to her. “How are you going to get back to your Jeep?”

  “I’ll call a cab.”

  He walked with her up the front porch steps. She suddenly had a very vivid recall of that kiss in the trailer and had just enough to drink that she would admit to wanting a repeat. Not to him, of course. It was bad enough to realize it herself.

  She reached to unlock the door and was surprised when it swung open at the touch of her hand. Before she could consider the implications of the unlocked, unlatched door, Justin pushed past her.

  “Anyone else home?” he asked quietly over his shoulder.

  Marley frowned at his back. “It’s just me and Nate—but his truck’s not here.”

  “Stay behind me,” he ordered when she tried to walk past.

  Irritation flared at the way he took command. Hadn’t she just told him she could take care of herself? He surveyed the empty living room and then moved into the kitchen.

  Marley watched him go before walking over to the closet. Inside, she reached up to the overhead shelf, feeling for and locating her dad’s Glock pistol. She silently conceded she probably wouldn’t be so calm if Justin wasn’t here—but she’d never tell him that, either.

  After a quick check of the ammunition clip, she turned in the defensive stance her father had taught her years ago during one of his sober periods. She’d honestly never expected to have to use it. Justin returned from the kitchen, but pulled up short two steps into the living room, his gaze fixed on the gun she gripped in front of her.

  “What the hell is that for?”

  “Protection.”

  He held up his hands while taking a step back. “Settle down, Marley—I was just—”

  She rolled her eyes and lowered the gun. “Not from you, you idiot.”

  He didn’t look convinced. “Do you even know how to use that thing?”

  “I have an expert marksman medal to prove it.” She grimaced inwardly at how smug the statement came out.

  “I don’t feel any better.” He eyed the weapon with clear uneasiness.

  “Is the house empty, or what?”

  “It appears to be.”

  “Then relax, I’ll put it away.” She replaced the gun on the shelf and closed the closet door. Marley didn’t miss Justin’s expression of relief.

  “Why don’t you look around and see if you need to call the police, and I’ll go call a cab,” Justin suggested before disappearing into the kitchen.

  Marley did as he said and determined Nate had probably just forgotten to shut the door tight. Thinking of Justin’s hasty retreat, she shook her head with disgust and turned to look out the window at the view of the valley that she’d always found so peaceful. Not tonight.

  Hell, she just couldn’t get it right, could she? For the first time in her life she was attracted to a man and in the space of an hour she’d made certain he’d never look at her with interest. Because if punching the jerk at the bar didn’t turn him off, the gun certainly would. Not to mention, she was his boss. Why couldn’t she seem to remember that glaring fact?

  “Should I call the police?” Justin asked from the doorway.

  Marley spun around. “No, nothing’s missing. It was probably Nate again.”

  “Again?”

  “Sometimes he forgets to lock the door,” she said. “I’ll remind him to double check it from now on.”

  “Be sure that you do,” Justin said with a frown. “The cab’s going to be a little while.”

  “That’s fine.” She walked toward him, curious if she could control her body’s reaction when near him. Within five feet, her nerve endings buzzed as if she’d walked into an energy field. Quickly, she skirted past into the kitchen. Damn, now what?

  Then it dawned on her—she’d had a couple beers on an empty stomach. She didn’t feel typical tipsy, but that had to be the reason she felt so…tingly. Time for a distraction.

  “I’m going to make a pizza, you want some?”

  She glanced back to see him lift a shoulder. “Sure.”

  Her gaze lingered on his broad shoulder, noting his usual black tee-shirt. With his lighter hair and hazel eyes, dark colors looked great on him. He shifted, leaning against the counter, arms crossed over his chest. To keep her attention from dropping lower, she turned to reach into the freezer for the pizza. After removing the cellophane wrapper, she placed the thin-crust pepperoni on the square pizza oven’s metal rack, slid it in, and spun the dial to ten minutes.

  The moment she turned around, her gaze zeroed in on his stained jeans despite her best efforts. Feeling heat rush into her face, she quickly looked up and asked, “What’d you do there?”

  He straightened. She thought she glimpsed a flash of unease before he simply explained, “Spilled my coffee this morning.”

  “Bummer.” Then she heard herself add, “Hope it wasn’t too hot,” as if she was personally worried he’d injured that part of his body.

  His slight smile became a smirk. “No, not too hot.”

  If her face was warm before, now it positively burned in the ensuing silence. The thawing crumbs of shredded cheese on the counter demanded she clean them up. Fisting the pizza wrapper in one hand, she set aside the cardboard bottom before reaching for the dish cloth draped over the sink divider with the other.

  “So how is it you came to be an expert marksman?” he asked.

  That question stilled her hand for a moment, then she resumed scrubbing the counter while casting him a sidelong glance. Should she tell him? Reveal the details of her past and chase him away for good? She almost laughed as she dropped the dish cloth in the sink and pulled open the garbage drawer underneath to deposit the cellophane wrapper. He wasn’t hers to chase away, so what the hell?

  “My
mother was murdered during a break-in when I was three years old.”

  Shock registered on his face.

  “My dad taught me how to use a gun when I turned thirteen. At first, it was so I’d be able to protect myself.”

  “At first?”

  She shrugged.

  “And later?”

  “I wanted to spend time with him,” she admitted, opening the refrigerator. Over the door, she explained, “We didn’t have the closest relationship.”

  “I don’t know,” he said. “Target practice conjures up all sorts of warm fuzzies for me.”

  Marley couldn’t help but smile. He had a sense of humor after all. It was dry, and a tad sarcastic, but it was there, nonetheless.

  “Why do you keep it in the closet? Seems a little out of the way.”

  “It wasn’t tonight.”

  “And if you’re home and someone tried to break in? Like what happened to your mother?”

  Marley saw his expression had changed. Not that he’d been smiling, but all humor had left his eyes. She looked into the refrigerator without even seeing its contents. His question made sense, yet knowing how her mother had died, she realized she’d never feared the same thing happening to her. Why not? Because she hadn’t been there when the robbery occurred? Or, because her father hadn’t told her what really happened until she was older…after she knew how to handle the gun?

  She’d never really thought about it and didn’t intend to in front of Justin. She shrugged and said, “That’s just where my dad always kept it. Maybe I’ll move it.”

  When she lifted her gaze again, he still watched her, his face too serious for her liking. Their direct eye-contact started her heart pumping faster. When his attention shifted to her hair, she self-consciously reached to push her curls back over her shoulder. Too bad she didn’t have an elastic band handy to pull it back.

  “Your hair looks…” He paused, and she waited for him to finish even as she noticed he looked like he wished he hadn’t opened his mouth. Finally, he said, “Nice.”

  She made a face. Because of his words and because it hit her she was standing there like an idiot with the refrigerator door wide open. “Go ahead and say it, I know it looks stupid.” She waved a hand at her face and encompassed her un-tucked shirttails. “Just like the rest of it. Do you want a soda?”

  He cleared his throat. “I didn’t mean it that way, it came out wrong. You have beautiful hair.”

  “Yeah, right. That’s why the guys were staring at me like I’d sprouted horns.”

  She’d never been so embarrassed as when she’d approached the table and seen the looks on their faces. Even a few beers hadn’t eased the feeling. Which is what had landed her here.

  Desperate to change the subject, she reached for two cans of soda and waggled one can above the door. “Yes or no?”

  “They were staring because you sprouted a body that they didn’t realize existed beneath your work clothes.”

  “I’m still wearing my work clothes,” she pointed out.

  “Yeah, but tonight you were wearing them.”

  His suggestive emphasis elicited an unladylike snort from her. “This is the most ridiculous conversation I’ve ever had.”

  Without bothering to ask again, she lobbed him a can. He caught it easily, then tapped the top to keep it from exploding when he popped the tab. Metallic tings filled the space between them. She had to shut the refrigerator door but didn’t want to give up its protective barrier. Though why she wanted protection from him now, she wasn’t quite sure.

  “You want to know what I was really going to say?”

  His low tone mesmerized her and she swallowed hard. “No.”

  “Your hair looks sexy when it’s loose like that.”

  She shut the door, laughing outright, glad he’d turned it into a joke. “I am the furthest thing from that you’ll ever meet.”

  “You thinking you’re not sexy is sexy, Marley.”

  His gaze caught hers and she realized he was serious. She quickly turned away to check the pizza. One more minute. She grabbed the pizza cutter from the drawer next to the sink.

  “You really don’t know, do you?”

  “There’s nothing to know—not that I care anyway.”

  “Hmm. I think—”

  “Pizza’s done!” she said a bit too loudly. Close enough. “There’s paper plates and napkins in the cupboard to your right. Do you want a fork? Or a glass for your soda? Some ice?”

  Justin smiled as she threw questions at him. “No fork, no glass, no ice.”

  “Fine.” She slid the pizza onto the cardboard disc and quickly sliced it. Carrying it in one hand, napkins and her own soda in the other, she headed toward the living room. “Let’s eat outside on the back patio.”

  “I’ll be right there.”

  She paused at the doorway as he grabbed the towel hanging on the oven door and opened the freezer.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Getting ice for your hand.” Towel filled, Justin shut the freezer door and followed her through the living room. When she shifted to nudge the sliding door open with her hip, he quickly opened it and stepped outside after her, into the lengthening shadows from the setting sun. As she set the pizza down on a low table between two chaise lounges he simply stared at the view before him.

  With all the trees that surrounded the house, he hadn’t taken into account that she was at the top of a ridge that overlooked the city of Boulder. Whereas the rising sun had blinded him in the front this morning—had that really only been this morning?—the evening sun provided a stunning conclusion to the daylight hours in the back.

  “Nice view.”

  “It’s great, isn’t it?”

  The lights of the city winked on one by one, like camera flashes at a concert, only they remained lit. “The log cabin is a perfect fit for this location.”

  “I’d love to add on someday,” she revealed. “After Nate and I get our company started.”

  Justin’s attention went on high alert. This was exactly the reason he’d told the cab company to pick him up in an hour.

  “What company?” he asked as they sat.

  “I—we—plan to open an architectural firm. After Nate graduates.”

  He waited for her to continue, but all she did was hand him a napkin with two pieces of pizza. He passed her the ice-filled towel. The question he was about to ask died in his throat when she held her pizza in her mouth so she could position the ice pack on the bruised knuckles of her right hand. Then she took a huge bite and leaned back in her chair as she chewed.

  He followed her lead, and before he knew it, the food was gone. Oddly enough, given the last words spoken and his original investigative intent in staying, the silence was companionable. He couldn’t remember ever spending time with a woman who didn’t feel the need to fill every moment of quiet with non-stop chatter.

  Much as he hated to move, he knew the cab would arrive any minute. He picked up the sauce-stained cardboard backing and held out his hand for her napkin. “I’ll do the dishes.”

  The grin she gave him made his heart thud. His gaze dropped to her lips.

  No, no, no. He couldn’t go down that road. He was her boss—

  Whoa. Was. Technically, he could go down that road.

  And when she finds out who you are?

  Justin walked away. It’d never work. Besides, he still didn’t know why she was conspiring with his father. For all he knew, his first assumption could be right and they were having an affair.

  He thought about her innocence earlier, then just as quick countered silently that she could just be that good of an actress. Man, he hated this crap. When he heard her behind him, he dusted imaginary crumbs from his hands above the garbage, and forced a smile.

  The sound of a horn in the driveway drew his gaze to the window first.

  “There’s my ride,” he said unnecessarily. “Thanks for the pizza.”

  “Sure,” she replied. “See you Monday.”


  He nodded, not wanting to speak the lie out loud. She followed him to the door to shut it behind him. Two steps off the porch, though, he spun around and returned. He shouldn’t care. Should go home and let her take care of herself with that impressive right hook and intimidating gun. But…if what’d happened the other day hadn’t in fact been an accident, it wouldn’t hurt to remind her to be careful.

  Grabbing the handle, he opened the door to lean back inside. “Marley!”

  She whirled to face him with a gasp. He twisted the door handle back and forth and commanded, “Lock this.”

  Then he left.

  Chapter 7

  Dear Ms. Wade,

  Effective immediately, your employment with Hunter Construction, Inc. is terminated. You will receive one-month’s salary as severance and…

  Disbelief sent a hot flash through Marley’s body.

  Fired?

  She sank down onto the couch in the living room, the letter crumpled in her lap. Exactly as she’d feared. The mistake of the other day came to mind, and she raised the letter with shaking fingers. It had been a costly one. She could understand if that was the reason, even though she didn’t agree with the way they went about letting her go.

  She read the letter in its entirety, realizing that beyond the point where she’d gone numb, there was only the end of that last sentence.

  …and your health care benefits will continue until you obtain alternate employment, or a period of ninety days has passed, whichever comes first.

  Sincerely,

  Justin Blake

  Co-owner, Hunter Construction, Inc.

  She stared at the signature. What was it with that name these days? Were men by the name of Justin destined to turn her life upside down? First one kissed her, then another fired her.

  There was no specific reason given for the termination, just the letter and the pitifully empty box of her things from the trailer, all delivered by courier this morning.

  She sat up straight. She wanted to know why. Not to defend herself—okay, so there was that—but even if it was a rightful termination, wasn’t she entitled to know why?

  Confusion and shock began to give way to angry resentment. She stormed to the kitchen and dialed the corporate office, but received a voice recording stating normal business hours were from seven a.m. to five p.m. Monday through Friday. Giving a frustrated growl, Marley hung up without leaving a message. She’d have to wait until Monday to confront the bastard. But what the hell did she do with her pissed off self until then? If she didn’t know how much it hurt, she’d punch something.