Page 84 of The Newcomer
“A little.”
“One thing you don’t have in common with your sister? You’re a terrible actress, Letty Carnahan.”
He leaned over and kissed her on the lips before she could disagree.
She returned the kiss, but reluctantly pulled away from their embrace after only a moment. “You sound like my last agent.”
An elderly woman pushing a shopping cart with a dachshund strapped in the child seat stopped as she was passing the truck and wagged her finger at Letty in disapproval.
“We should go,” Letty said. “I’ve got work to do and it’s not fair to leave Maya with your mom when she’s trying to work too.”
“You’re still avoiding my question. What about us? Me and you? Anything?”
“Let’s keep things strictly professional for now, please? My life is too complicated.”
“What if I told you I don’t mind complications?” Joe said.
“Okay,” she said, relenting. “You’re right. I am attracted to you, and more than a little. But here’s the thing, Joe. I don’t want a relationship based on being rescued by you. You’re sweet and I appreciate that you’re so good to Maya, but that can’t be all there is to us. Years ago, I stupidly got involved with Evan because I let him ‘rescue’ me. It’s the same damn trap my mother fell into, over and over again, relying on a man, instead of figuring out how to make it on her own. That’s where Tanya learned it, you know, to use her ‘charm’ and feminine wiles—which really meant to lie andkeep secrets. I don’t want that for me, and I don’t want Maya to think that’s how she needs to live her life.”
Joe sat, speechless.
“Rescue you? That’s what you think I’m trying to do?”
“Yes. You’re a cop, and I know that’s what cops are trained to do, but I don’t want to be a victim anymore. I won’t be a professional victim for the rest of my life.”
He pounded the dashboard with his closed fist. “Dammit, Letty. Yeah, I’m a cop. I can’t turn that off and on. But that’s not why I’m trying to help you, not because it’s my job. Hell, if I were doing my job, I would have turned you in as soon as I figured out you were a fugitive. But I didn’t. Because I knew you couldn’t have done what you’re accused of. I care about you, and I want to be with you. Is that a crime?”
“No,” she said quietly. “Not a crime. Just not right for me. Not now anyway.”
He pulled the truck back into traffic, steering with one hand, the other braced on the open driver’s-side window. “What now, then?”
“We get through this, as best we can,” Letty said. “No emotional attachment though. Please?”
Joe shrugged. “You’re the boss.”
32
AS SOON AS LETTY WALKEDinto the office, Ava pounced. “How did it go with the FBI?”
“I’m not sure,” Letty said.
She bent down and kissed the top of her niece’s head. “Have you been having fun with Ava, lovebug?”
“I made a puzzle,” Maya said proudly. “And now I’m making you a necklace.”
Letty pulled her chair up to the reception desk and powered up the computer, and began checking the reservation portal. “This is good,” she said, looking over at her employer. “April is really starting to fill up. The efficiency is totally booked, all the way into mid-July. I wonder if we should have bumped up the rates a little more?”
“Letty!” Ava exclaimed. “What happened with that woman? You can’t just waltz in here and clam up like that.”
“I’m not sure I’m supposed to talk about it.” Letty glanced meaningfully over her shoulder at Maya, who was stringing wooden spools on a length of red yarn.
“Does she believe your story?” Ava asked in a near whisper. “She’s not going to arrest you, right?”
“Yes, I think she believes me. And no, I don’t think an arrest is imminent,” Letty said.
Ava craned her neck, looking out toward the parking lot. “Where’d Joe go? I thought he had the day off?”
“He said he had some stuff to take care of,” Letty said. Anxious to divert Ava’s laser focus, she pointed at the screen of the computer.“According to the portal, you’ve got guests checking into unit twelve the Monday after Easter. But I thought you told me the Sheehans aren’t driving home until that next weekend.”
