As she stepped into the living room, Daniel was coming in from the front door as well, a detective with him.
One she recognized. Despite the situation, she smiled at the other man. “Mendoza, apparently I keep running into you.”
The fit, very attractive Latino detective smiled at her. “Hey, Irish. I like seeing you, but I wish it was under better circumstances. I didn’t call Carson about this since he’s already off work. Should I call him for moral support?”
She shook her head. “No. You know he can’t get involved in a case that involves me anyway. And really, I’m just making a report. I didn’t even see the guy’s face, and if you tell Carson…”
Mendoza snorted. “The whole Irish clan will descend on you.”
Exactly. “Did you want coffee or anything?” It was late, but she also knew he would be working a later shift since he was here.
He shook his head and then motioned for her and Daniel to sit. “I’m good. Why don’t you run through everything with me from the beginning?”
Daniel sat directly next to her, not holding her hand, but she felt his steady presence nonetheless as his knee pressed up against hers. As she relayed what happened, that band around her chest got even tighter.
It didn’t take long for her to give her statement, while Mendoza silently took notes and only interrupted with minimal questions. Once he was finished, he looked between the two of them before focusing on her. “Look, I don’t like that something has happened to you twice in the last couple weeks. I mean, this is a big city and shit happens, but is there anything going on at work? Any bad dates? Anything you can think of that could be the driving force behind this? Other than a coincidence?”
“What happened in the last couple weeks?” Daniel interjected, watching her.
“Ah, I was mugged a couple weeks ago leaving a job. It’s nothing. The guy snatched my bag and got my keys and wallet. I had to cancel my credit cards and—”
“Did you change your locks?” he growled out.
“Yes. Carson changed my locks that night. And I changed my security code for good measure. Luckily my phone was on me and not in my purse.”
The tension in his shoulders eased a little bit, but not by much.
“All right, Kathryn,” Mendoza said as he stood. “I’ll be in touch if we find anything out. I’ll talk to the property management company and see if I can get a look at their security feeds. I saw a couple cameras on the way in here. They’re closed now, but I’ll talk to them in the morning. Just make sure you lock your doors and pay attention to your surroundings. You saved yourself a whole lot of grief by thinking so quickly and pepper-spraying him.” His tone shifted slightly as he continued. “I’m just glad this story didn’t have a different ending.”
Yeah, she was too. She suppressed another shudder as she thought of what could have happened if the man had gotten her.
She walked Mendoza to the door, and after he left she shut and locked it. Now it was time to deal with Daniel. “Not that I don’t appreciate it,” she said as she turned to find Daniel standing next to her couch. He looked so huge and imposing next to the leather sofa she normally curled up on with her e-reader or paperback at night. “But what are you doing here?”
“I just wanted to see you. Today felt kind of strange between us. I…should have called,” he said on a wince.
“Well, yeah, you should have.” She laughed a little awkwardly. “But I’m sorry I ran out of there before. It just looked like you had a lot to deal with.” Mostly the truth. She wasn’t sorry she’d run. Even if she hadn’t been on a job, she would have run.
He watched her closely with those pale blue eyes she’d found captivating right from the start. “Are you sure you don’t want to call your fiancé?”
Ugh. She couldn’t deal with this right now. “I don’t want to talk about that.”
“Well if you were mine, I would want to know if—”
“Well I’m not yours. And when we were together you thought I was after your money,” she snapped without meaning to. The events of the night piled onto her and the pulsing headache that had started minutes ago was spreading along the back of her skull as she stepped toward him. “And I seriously can’t deal with this tonight. You need to leave now.”
She didn’t give a crap why he’d stopped by at this point. She needed a hot shower and sleep. And she really needed to call her brother, because she didn’t want him to hear about this from Detective Mendoza. She’d just make Carson promise not to call their parents before she told him what was going on.
Daniel stared at her, a scowl on his face. “What the hell are you talking about? After my money?”
She snorted in derision as she strode past him and unlocked her door. Then she gestured toward it. “I am asking you to leave now. Don’t make me ask the detective to come back up here and escort you out.”
His expression went thunderous at her words but he did as she said and stepped outside. “Kathryn—”
“Nope. If you want to talk, next time call me.” Feeling a bit mean, she shut the door in his face and quickly locked it.
“Kathryn,” he called out.
“Go away,” she muttered, too low for him to hear.
“Set your security system.”
Even though she rolled her eyes at his tone, she really appreciated the thoughtfulness. He’d always been like that, conscious of her security and wanting her to make sure she took care of herself and stayed safe. It was really hard to get mad at that even though she was frustrated with the sexy male in general. Why the hell had he just shown up tonight? He didn’t have the right to do that anymore.
“I’m setting it now,” she called out because she knew he wouldn’t leave until she did exactly that.
After she did, she collapsed against the wall and rubbed a hand over her face. Was it a full moon out? Or maybe Mercury was in retrograde?
Whatever was going on, that ache in her head was nothing compared to the one in her chest. Seeing Daniel in person, especially back in her home, a place they’d gotten naked in many times, made her wish things could have been different.
But she knew they never could be. And it was something she would have to live with. When she opened her eyes, her traitorous little cat was looking up at her with judging eyes.
“Don’t you start on me,” she muttered.
Mr. Twinkles simply meowed before turning and giving her his swishing tail as he sauntered off to who knew where.
Chapter 3
Five months ago
Kathryn pressed the elevator button at the Wilson Building downtown. As she waited, a tall man who smelled really, really good slid up next to her. Without looking at him, she inhaled the citrusy, woodsy scent. Damn, whatever that was, she could get high off it. You know, if she did that sort of thing. As if drawn by a magnet she glanced over—and found herself looking up. For a moment she froze as her gaze clashed with icy blue eyes.
The man looking at her smiled politely then sort of froze as he stared at her in turn. Good Lord, this man was sexy. She blinked once, feeling mesmerized, and tried to force a polite smile but…she just kept staring like a lunatic. When he kept looking at her too, she wondered if she had something on her face.