Concerned, she turned to Winton. “Do you have far to travel in this mess?”
“Um...” Shifting, looking guilty as hell, Winton muttered, “No.”
Damn, Winton was bad at lying, even lies of omission.
He knew the second Madison looked up that her quick mind had already put too many things together.
Golden eyes slanted in his direction with accusation. “Let me guess. They live upstairs?”
Winton cleared his throat. “I’ll go see what’s keeping Owen.” He literally fled the shop front.
Knowing he couldn’t do the same, Crosby mimicked her stance, arms crossed and expression arrogant. “Contrary to what you believe, some of my business is still private.” It was a miracle she hadn’t uncovered every bit of his life yet—including the things he’d worked so hard to hide.
To his surprise, she retrenched with a sigh, her hands falling to her sides, her expression subdued. “I’ve been too pushy.”
That pretty much described her, always.
Two tentative steps brought her closer to him, and with her height she nearly looked him in the eye. “I’m sorry. It’s a bad habit of mine.”
Damn it, now he felt like an asshole. “No one is perfect.”
“I want to be,” she admitted. Then with surprising candor, she added, “I guess I’ve been competing with my brothers for so long that being anything less than perfect—perfectly informed, prepared and capable—makes me a little nuts.”
Incredible insight... That made sense. “Was I wrong in thinking your brothers would show up here?” His experience had been with assertive men who wanted to take over every situation. That rubbed Crosby the wrong way, so how bad would it have been for a younger sister?
“I called Dad. He’s the only one who could hold them back, and he,” she said with emphasis, “trusts me.”
Her father was an imposing figure to be sure. Crosby likened him to Batman because of the way he entered a scene to the awe of all spectators. The man definitely brought a lot of larger-than-life presence everywhere he went. His sons weren’t much different. And Madison? Overall, she was cut from the same cloth.
The senior McKenzie had probably been a strict taskmaster. After all, he was the one who’d determined that his kids would be the alphas of all alphas, apex predators who would go up against the worst society had to offer. Each of them had incredibly honed skills and a drive to be the best.
Crosby could have easily labeled them with the criminal class, except that the more he’d learned, the more he’d...respected them.
He could label them vigilantes, true, and that definitely placed them in the category of illegal activity. The conflict for him was that they fought against human trafficking, and for that, they had his deepest gratitude.
“I see you’re not going to agree.”
Crosby had no idea what she was talking about.
“Trust?” When he still hesitated, she said, “Never mind. I guess it’s too soon for that.”
Shaking his head to gather his thoughts, Crosby asked, “Are you ready to go?”
“Guess I might as well.” Disgruntled, she began feeding her arms into the sleeves of the white snowsuit. “I’ll feel better about this whole cluster if you answer one question for me.”
“You need me to confirm something? Seriously?”
“Oh, I’ll be on my computer as soon as I get home, but given the weather, that could take a little time and it really wouldn’t kill you to share one tiny tidbit.”
Deliberately, he exhaled as if impatient. In truth, he had a difficult time keeping his hands at his sides when he really wanted to touch her. Just a small stroke of that long, sun-kissed brown hair. Or a grazing of his knuckles over her downy cheek. Or... “What is it?”
“You’re really not a cop anymore?”
“No.”
“Well, why not?”
“That’s two questions.”
Her eyes narrowed. “I think I feel faint. Maybe I shouldn’t drive? I should probably ask Winton if I could hang around for a little while to—”
“No.” She didn’t even try to look sickly as she said all that, but then the point was for her to prove she’d do anything to get her way. That was something that alarmed him the most.
Madison McKenzie had no idea how to give up.
“I retired,” he said.
She snorted. “At thirty-five?”
Easy enough to explain. “I have an old injury that was causing me some difficulty.”
Her brows leveled over her eyes. “Someone actually bought that story?”
Jaw tightening, he explained, “I was shot in the leg.”
“Five years ago, but it hasn’t slowed you down. Heck, I just saw you in action, remember? So try again.”
CHAPTER TWO
CHAGRINED, CROSBY DID his own share of staring. “You may be able to pick through files with ease, but you can’t pick through my brain, so don’t pretend you know what I feel.” True, the leg hardly pained him at all anymore, but he’d needed to retire, and so he had.
“So what do you do now? I know you’re not just sitting around enjoying a life of leisure.”
“You know that, do you?” His leisure time was definitely limited, but likely not for the reasons she suspected.
“Of course.” With her so close, he picked up the subtle fragrance of her citrusy shampoo and the more stirring scent of her skin, both distracting. “I know you as well as I know myself. You are not a man content to be idle.”
Her persistence was almost comical. Since he knew she’d have the answer within the hour, he saw no reason not to tell her. “I’ve found a new job.” He wasn’t about to detail it for her, not if he ever hoped to get her out the door.
She tucked in her chin. “What does that mean?” Then with slightly widened eyes, she asked, “Does it have anything to do with Silver?” And before he could groan, she tacked on, “Is that a person’s name? Man or woman?” And more hopefully, “Maybe a pet?”
The questions had come rapid-fire, leaving him no room to answer. As usual, Madison was incorrigible. What she wanted, she went after.
She’d been clear that she wanted him.
Crosby took in her stiffened posture, the suspicion in her eyes and the slight purse of her lips, as if the answer really mattered to her. So why did he suddenly want to kiss her?
He didn’t. Or rather, he definitely did, but he wouldn’t give in to the urge.