“Knock yourself out,” Carly said, turning and walking back into her house.
Micha sat in his rental car until she’d made it inside and closed the front door. He’d start making phone calls immediately once he got back to his hotel room. And he’d be back to see her again tomorrow, and the day after that, every day for as long as she’d let him.
Just like before, being around Carly made him toss all his careful plans out the window. Except this time, finished with the military, he actually could follow through and do what he should have done before—court Carly properly and finally make her his wife.
But first, he needed to concentrate on keeping her safe.
* * *
Unsettled, Carly had felt like a jittery mess all through dinner. Despite being a big fan of Lou Malnati’s, she’d had to force herself to eat. The deep-dish was delicious, as always, but it would have been far too easy to allow herself to fall back into what had once been a comfortable sort of old habit with Micha.
Except two long years had gone by. She didn’t know this man anymore. And he didn’t know her. She was no longer the same wide-eyed innocent she’d been before. After losing Micha, she’d resigned herself to living a life without finding the same kind of passionate love. Harry had confided in her that he felt the same, and if this easy companionable friendship they shared was the best they could do, so be it.
In retrospect, she understood why he had found it so easy to let her go.
Micha was another story. When she got out of his rental car, it had taken every ounce of self-restraint she possessed to keep from inviting him inside. Too easily, she could imagine what would happen if she let him kiss her again. What she wanted, she admitted. But she kept her spine straight and marched up her sidewalk, letting herself into her house and locking him out.
When Micha had informed her that he’d only been in town a week, her first reaction had been a shiver of fear snaking up her spine. How could that be, when the feeling of being watched had started over a month ago?
Then, as usual, she began to question herself. Maybe she’d only imagined it. Perhaps it had been paranoia, brought on by her father’s and uncle’s murders.
As if Micha knew her thoughts, her phone rang and his number came up on caller ID. Her heart began to pound as she answered. “Are you calling from out front?” she asked, her resolve rapidly weakening. If he was, she suspected she’d go open the front door and invite him in.
“No, I’m driving back to the hotel,” he responded. “But I have a few more questions if you don’t mind.”
She closed her eyes, full of both thankfulness and regret. “Go ahead. What do you need to know?”
“Do the police have any leads on your father’s killer?”
“No,” she answered. “And I doubt one has anything to do with the other. I wasn’t involved in my father and uncle’s business. They were shot outside their offices. My cousin January is engaged to one of the police detectives, named Sean Stafford. He’d tell us if there’d been any new leads.”
“Good to know. I’ll touch base with him, too. Since I’m going to be around awhile, I might as well do some digging.”
Surprised, she gripped the phone tightly. “Are you? Going to be around awhile, that is?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Why?” She couldn’t resist asking. If he had expectations, she might as well level with him.
“You know why.” The slow smile in his voice lit a simmer deep inside her. “But I’ll spell it out, anyway. We were meant to be together, Carly Colton. I won’t be going anywhere again. Not this time.”
“Slow your roll,” she replied. “It seems to me like you’re taking a lot for granted.” She held up her ringless hand, even though he couldn’t see the gesture. “We’re no longer engaged.” She saw no need to tell him his ring no longer hung on a chain nestled between her breasts, close to her heart. In fact, she’d only made the decision to take it off last week.
“I understand,” he said softly. “But I’d like to ask you to give me another chance.”
“I’ll have to think about that,” she said. “Do you have any other questions?”
“Not right now,” he said, sounding far too cheerful. “I’ll talk to you later.” And he ended the call.
Putting her phone down, she strode into her kitchen, her hands shaking as she fumbled to get a drink out of the fridge.
So much had happened in the span of one day. Her head ached nearly as much as her heart.
Micha was alive. She’d always believed she’d buried most of her heart with him. Now he, instead of Harry, would be looking into the possibility that she might have a stalker.
It felt good, she acknowledged, giving over some of her fear to someone else. Normally, such a thing would make an independent woman like her bristle. But ever since her father and his twin had been brutally murdered, she and the rest of her family had been on edge. Being a Colton meant their family was well known and easily identified. Like any prominent family, they had enemies as well as friends.
Since she had to work an early shift tomorrow, she knew she’d need to turn in early. But with everything that had happened, she was way too keyed up to go to sleep any time soon.
In just one day, her reality had completely changed. Everything she’d believed to be true for the last two years had been completely upended. The weirdest part of discovering that Micha hadn’t died was that the discovery did nothing to dispel that small knot of grief she carried around with her. Now, instead of mourning his loss, she supposed she grieved
