Her dark eyes narrowed. There was a hint of gold around the irises that glittered with angry heat. He’d like to turn that heat in a different direction.
“Okay, you’ve convinced me,” she said, clearly determined to protect her friend. “I’ll be here a little before seven.”
Colt almost smiled. His stop in Dallas was going to be a lot more interesting than he had anticipated. Lissa Blayne was all fiery temper and cool disdain. She heated his blood in a way no woman had in a very long time.
And from the look in those hot brown eyes, Colt figured Lissa felt at least some of the attraction he felt for her. Not that she wasn’t fighting it.
Tonight he’d make sure she knew he wasn’t interested in more than friendship with Julie and never had been. Nor did Julie have that sort of interest in him.
First he had to deal with Spearman, make sure he was out of Julie’s and the kids’ lives for good. Then he could focus on Lissa. His body stirred and his groin tightened just thinking about her.
He hoped Lissa came up with Spearman’s location so he could make the problem end.
Seven o’clock couldn’t come too soon.
LISSA RETURNED TO the office and ran a background check on Ray Spearman. His birth records popped up—born at St. Luke’s Medical Center in Houston, only child of Paul and Sylvia Spearman. Attended Woodrow Wilson Middle School and Rutledge High, where he played varsity football.
His criminal record began at eighteen when he’d been arrested for drunk and disorderly. If there were earlier offenses, his juvenile records would have been sealed.
The drunk charges had gone nowhere; Ray had been released on bail and the charges dropped. There was a DUI a year later, charges also dropped. Ray was young and popular, the star quarterback of the Ravens, a local college football team—favoritism happened far too often.
She continued reading, saw that at twenty, a girl named Mary Wilson at the community college had accused him of attempted assault, but Ray had an alibi—two of the football players on his team were with him that night. Again the charges were dropped.
He must have straightened out for a while. Probably about the time he met Julie. She wouldn’t have dated a guy who was constantly in trouble. Lissa found Ray and Julie’s marriage certificate, and birth certificates for both Megan and Timmy.
The divorce decree was granted in 2008, followed by a string of misdemeanors for everything from resisting arrest to DUIs and assault. In 2009, Ray was picked up for distributing a narcotic substance and spent six months in jail.
Nothing showed up after that. According to Julie, Ray had simply disappeared.
Now he was in Dallas, demanding to see his kids. It was a shame Julie’s second husband, a man she had truly loved, had been killed in action before he’d been able to finalize the kids’ adoption, which, with Ray nowhere to be found, Liam would have eventually been able to do.
It was heading toward evening when Lissa closed her laptop and started for the door.
“Everything okay with your friend?” Mindy asked.
Lissa sighed. “Not exactly. Her ex-husband has a history of violence and today he showed up at her house—after eight years.”
“That doesn’t sound good. What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to find him. Then we’ll figure a way to deal with him.” Or Colt Wheeler would.
Just the man’s name in the corner of her mind sent a ripple of heat rolling through her. She had never felt such a primal rush of lust. She had wanted to drag him down to the floor and strip off his clothes, see if he was as hard-muscled and virile as he looked, though she was pretty sure he was.
As she headed out to her car, she thought about the way he had baited her. Now that she’d had time to think, she was 95 percent sure Colt wasn’t sleeping with Julie. The two of them were as dissimilar as vinegar and molasses. One of them was hard and remote, the other loving and accessible, two distinctly different people. And though Colt might enjoy it, Julie wasn’t the kind of woman to have no-strings sex with a man who stopped by for a quickie once or twice a year. His remarks had been payback for the assumptions she had made, and in a way, she deserved it.
She’d taken one look at Colt’s hard, tough exterior and assumed the worst. Julie had said he was Liam’s friend from the army. She could see the soldier in every move he made.
Perhaps tonight they could start over on a more even footing. It might be interesting to see where it led.
She checked her stainless-steel wristwatch with its black leather band. Time to head over to Julie’s. She ignored a rush of anticipation that should have set off alarm bells and slid into the hot interior of her Camaro. The heat inside exactly matched her mood.
CHAPTER FOUR
DINNER WAS ALMOST READY. The table was set. Julie asked Colt to open the bottle of Chianti on the counter. It was now sitting on the table she had set with white plates on red place mats just to lighten the mood. All she had left to do was pick Timmy up from basketball practice, then come home and finish the salad.
“You ready?” Colt asked.
Julie untied the bright blue apron with the Pillsbury Doughboy on the front and tossed it onto the breakfast bar. “You don’t have to go with me. I’ll be fine.”
“From his appearance here after eight years, we know your ex is unpredictable. He might try to follow you, run you off the road or something. No use taking chances.”
Julie wiped her suddenly damp palms on her stretch jeans. “Maybe you’re right.”
“I’ll drive. You can give me directions.”
The kids were streaming out of the gymnasium when Colt pulled the Mustang up in front of the school. Timmy had called earlier to tell her basketball practice was running later than usual tonight.
