He drew to a stop and looked at the sign mounted over the top shelf. He was in the self-help section.
Yeah, he needed help. He needed his head examined. He should never have left Jess alone in his apartment. He should have insisted she go with him to pick up the pizza. They could have made the salads together when they got home. At the least, he shouldn’t have saved her background check to his hard drive. Or he should have deleted it once he’d read it.
He released a sigh. Playing woulda-coulda-shoulda wasn’t getting him anywhere. He walked to the action-adventure section and pulled a book from the shelf. He had several unread eBooks waiting on his tablet, but after spending the last half hour in the store killing time, the least he could do was make a purchase.
The young man at the counter gave him a friendly smile. Kevin, according to the name plate pinned to his pocket. “Did you find what you were looking for?”
“I did. Thank you.” At least, he found what promised to be an entertaining read. Other things he was looking for weren’t available in a bookstore. Like what to do about Jess.
Kevin slid the purchase into a bag. “This is a good book, one of his best.”
“So I made a wise choice. Thanks.”
When he walked into the fabric and craft store, the clock behind the counter said a minute till six. BethAnn eyed the bag dangling from his hand. “I see you visited Harvey’s.”
“Something to help occupy my evenings.” He was likely to have a lot of free ones coming up.
He shifted his gaze to Jess. “Is it all right if I walk you home?”
She shrugged. “I guess.”
The question in BethAnn’s eyes told him what he wanted to know. Jess hadn’t said anything to her about what had happened last night. That was a good sign. She likely hadn’t said anything to anyone else, either.
After leaving the store, they covered the first half block in stony silence. Finally, he spoke.
“What you did wasn’t okay.”
She stopped walking and turned to face him, hands on her hips. “I may not be the greatest judge of character, but I knew you weren’t who you claimed to be. Considering my sister was murdered and it’s likely those same people are threatening me, blindly trusting is a good way to get killed. I needed answers, ones I knew I wouldn’t get from you.”
“So you hacked into my computer.”
“I didn’t hack. I used your password.”
“Which you got through devious means.”
She dropped her arms and began walking again. “I needed to know whether I could trust you.”
“Trust goes two ways, you know.” As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he wished he could retract them.
“My thoughts exactly.” Her voice was raised, and her stiff posture and brisk walk announced her displeasure. “You’re a fine one to talk. The whole time you’re encouraging me to trust you, you had no intention of trusting me.” She threw her hands wide. “Is Shane Dalton even your name?”
“Shane is my middle name.”
“What about Dalton?”
“No.”
She didn’t ask what his real name was. The rational, unemotional side of her probably understood why secrets were necessary.
He heaved a sigh. “Come on, Jess. You can’t seriously be upset at me for not telling you up front that I’m working undercover. It doesn’t work that way.”
“I get that.” She slid him a sideways glance. “What agency?”
“FBI. I talked to my supervisor last night and let him know what had happened. They’ll pull me out of here if there’s any danger to me or the case.”
“Prissy’s case?”
“Your sister’s murder might be part of something bigger.”
“I haven’t said anything to anyone, not even BethAnn.”
“I gathered that.”
As they turned the corner onto Oak, she fell silent. She’d said she understood, but she was still angry. Had she gotten far enough in viewing the contents of his computer to know he’d had a background check run on her?
“You’re still angry.”
“You had me checked out. I’ve told you everything about me, but that wasn’t good enough. You still viewed me as one of your suspects.”
Yep, she’d seen her background check. “Put yourself in my place. I watched you break into the house with a screwdriver. Then you came at me like some crazy ninja woman. I had no idea whether you had any involvement in this mess or not.”
“You were being thorough. I get that, too. What I have a problem with is being used, your pretending friendship when I’m nothing more than another suspect, or at best, a good source of information.” She stalked up her driveway and onto her porch, then spun to face him. “Lying is what I have a problem with. I may not be perfect, but at least I’m honest. You know exactly where you stand with me. That’s more than I can say for you. And any other man I’ve met.” She shoved the key into the lock and swung open the door. “I thought you were different.”
The disappointment in her tone shot straight to his heart. She had suffered a lot at the hands of men. Three “fathers” who made a mockery of the word. The creep that used her to help him commit his crimes. The low-life that milked her business dry. And probably some others in between that she hadn’t mentioned.
He followed her into the house, still clutching his purchase, and watched her pick up a wiggling, yipping Buttons. The dog’s little pink tongue shot in and out with lightning speed, showering her neck and cheeks with kisses. Judging from her wrinkled-up nose, she hadn’t yet gotten used to the enthusiastic show of affection. It apparently didn’t bother her enough to discourage it.
He put his free hand on her shoulder. He wasn’t like the other men she’d known. Somehow, he had to make her see that. “I had your background check run just two days after I met
