Orange Blossom Brides (6 page)

Weaving through the tourists milling around the shop windows, Max focused on his target, stealthily moving closer, working hard to keep his distracted gaze from resting on Lilli. What was wrong with him? He loved this part of the action. The takedown. The adrenaline. But with her nearby, he found it impossible to concentrate.

Zooming the lens in closer to catch everything on tape, he saw Bart chatting with the two women as if they were all old friends. What was the guy up to? Putting his mark at ease so he could steal a purse when least expected? Could Lilli be his intended mark? He experienced an unexpected wave of protectiveness toward her.

Only Bart didn’t do anything. He stood with his hands at his sides, in the open, talking to a young woman with...pink streaks in her hair? Lilli stood beside them, listening to their conversation, her eyes going wide when she spied Max. He held one finger up to his lips. She barely nodded before turning her attention back to Bart.

Relieved she understood his signal, Max walked right past them, ducking into the first open door he found. He scanned the store, recognizing the cluttered gift shop as Milly’s Gifts and Things. A tourist haven, but a bad place to hide.

He strode to the large storefront window to continue his surveillance. Watching. Waiting for Bart to do something incriminating. But Bart just continued to talk. Max’s blood pressure spiked every time Lilli sent worried glances around her. She had no way of knowing she stood with his quarry.

Please don’t give me away.

“You need something, hon?” a cheerful voice asked behind him.

He glanced over his shoulder at a woman smiling at him. “No, just browsing,” he told her, turning back to peer out the window, trying to see through the array of dream catchers and crystal pendants reflecting the bright sunlight.

“Can’t do a good job of it if you’re looking outside,” she told him. “If you’d give me an idea of what you’re looking for, I’d be more than happy to help you find it.”

He turned to face the proprietress, an ample woman with her hands on her hips. He didn’t need this attention right now. He sidled to the exit, apologizing to the woman. “Uh, wrong store. Sorry. I’ll be leaving.”

Stepping out the door to the sidewalk, Max came face-to-face with Lilli. She opened her mouth to speak but he clamped a hand on her arm to lead her away and explain the situation. Her eyes rounded and a clip dropped from her thick hair, leaving it to fall around her face.

He leaned down, his mouth close to her ear. “Now is not a good time to talk. I’m working.” He couldn’t afford an obstacle. Especially an attractive one.

She frowned up at him, pushing her hair from her eyes. “Working?”

“Undercover,” he said, glancing over her shoulder. Bart still stood engrossed in conversation, unaware of the surveillance focused on him.

Her eyes grew wider. “Who are you after?”

“I can’t say,” Max said, still holding Lilli close.

His fingers brushed over the soft skin at the edges of her short-sleeved blouse. She hadn’t pulled away yet, her gaze still locked with his. All over again he felt the heady rush he’d experienced that night at the beach when she’d looked up at him with those wide, gorgeous eyes. The light from the bonfire had cast a shimmering glow over her face and he’d been sucker-punched right then and there.

He blinked away the memory and the dizzying connection between them broke. With reluctance, Max loosened his grip. A light blush covered her cheekbones and she fussed with her hair, moving back to put some distance between them.

Max bent down to retrieve her hair clip, his line of vision to Bart broken. He straightened and held the clip out of reach. “Here you go,
Lilli
.” He grinned. “Yeah. I remember.”

She snatched the clip from him. “Thanks.”

As Max looked around her again, he noticed the young woman with Bart peering in their direction.

She turned, following his line of vision before a surprised gasp escaped her. “You’re following Bart?”

“Shh.”

“What do you think he’s going to do?”

“Right now I’m worried about what he’s
not
going to do.”

“And that is?”

“Commit a crime.”

“Oh, please.” She snorted. “Bart?”

“He’s a criminal.”

“Well, clearly you don’t know him.”

His sharp gaze pierced hers. A mistake. Her beguiling eyes held him captive. A sea green the same striking shade found in the calm Gulf waters bordering Cypress Pointe. His breath left him in a rush as he tried to cover his reaction. “And you do?”

“Sure. Everyone does. This is a small town.”

How had he lost control of this situation? The green-eyed siren had to be the cause. “Here’s the deal. I have a job to do here. So please go back to whatever you were doing and forget you saw me.”

Jostled by a passing couple, Lilli’s purse slid down her arm. As she grabbed for it, Max caught hold of the strap at the same time. Their fingers touched and the same dizzying jolt from moments before zapped him again. She must have felt it, too, because her eyes grew wide and she shuddered, taking a step back. He still held his hand out toward her. “I was trying to help.”

She hugged her purse close to her midsection. “I’m fine.”

He lowered his arm. Shoppers passed them, oblivious to his plight. Another tourist brushed by Lilli and she moved out of the way, closing the distance between them again, distance he needed so Bart wouldn’t notice him. “You’re missing the whole concept of undercover,” he told her.

“Then enlighten me.”

“Maybe when I have more time.” Max moved toward the gift store, hoping to blend in with the crowd. He noticed the shop woman watching them through the window before she turned away. So much for going unnoticed.

“Please, go back to your friend and forget I’m here.”

“It’s too late,” Lilli informed him.

Before Max had a chance to slip away unnoticed, Bart and the other woman joined them. If Bart suspected anything fishy, he didn’t show it, beguiled by his smiling companion.

“Hey, Lilli, is that who I think it is?”

Lilli looked back and forth between Max and the woman, not sure how much to give away.

“Hey, Jewel. Um, yeah, it is.”

Max groaned.
Just shoot me now and get it over with.

Jewel frowned, sizing Max up. “I thought you were kidding about his clothes. He’s—”

“Working.” Lilli spoke the word with emphasis. Okay, she might not like his clothes but at least she didn’t give him up.

“Leaving,” Max corrected, looking at Lilli to relate his secret thanks. “We’ll talk later.”

Lilli opened her mouth to respond, but not before a uniformed police officer approached them. Max watched Bart’s eyes flare in panic. Had the officer caught Bart in the act before Max?

“Excuse me,” the officer spoke to Lilli. He thumbed in Max’s direction. “Is this guy giving you a hard time?”

She stared at the officer for a moment, stunned. “No. We were talking.”

“We received a call that you might need help.”

“A call?” She glanced up at Max, confusion knitting her brow.

The woman from Milly’s Gifts and Things appeared at her door and pointed at Max. “That’s the man, officer.”

Great. Max couldn’t nab Bart if the police wanted to question him.

“He’s been skulking around,” the woman continued. “He came into my store, casing it. I just knew he was going to rob me until this young lady stopped him.”

“That’s not true,” Max told the officer.

“Then, clear as day, I saw him grab that woman’s purse,” the shop lady added, on a roll of accusations.

Max read a guilty verdict in the eyes of the people who stopped to watch the unfolding drama. He sure looked the part of a shady character. If he was a cop—and he had been—he’d believe the store owner in a heartbeat.

“No,” Lilli assured the officer. “He stopped to help me.”

“Help himself to your belongings,” the store owner countered. “I saw him grab on to her purse strap not five minutes ago.”

Lilli tried to defend Max, but the store owner didn’t believe her.

Max scrubbed his hand over his face, wondering how his simple surveillance had gone haywire. Trying to make his case to the officer, who tried to get everyone to stop talking at the same time, Max pleaded innocence. No one listened. The store owner started yelling about a bad element plaguing their town. By the time Max realized his stakeout was a lost cause, he’d taken his attention from his suspect for too long. Bart had disappeared.

“Where’d he go?” Max asked no one in particular. He turned in a circle on his bootheel, running a hand through his hair, frustrated no end.

He turned to face the crowd gathered around him. The officer frowned at him.

Max held his hands up. “I can explain everything.”

“Sir, let me see some ID,” the officer said, unimpressed with Max’s urgent declaration.

Max groaned. He went to pull his wallet from his back pocket. Only it wasn’t there. Stunned, his eyes locked with the pesky woman who’d disrupted his world twice today.

“Bart took my wallet.”

CHAPTER FOUR

S
TANDING
IN
AN
OFFICE
at the police station, Lilli watched Max as he paced in front of the police chief. The chief had suggested they all move from the sidewalk to the station to straighten out the misunderstanding. Especially when the crowd grew bigger.

Every so often Max cast a frown in her direction. While that should’ve bothered her, instead, her heart beat rapidly. If anything, Max had caused her nothing but trouble today. First, by refusing to be a volunteer groom, then when she’d inadvertently got caught in his stakeout. Shouldn’t she be upset with him? Her stomach flip-flopped. From all the excitement, she reasoned, not because of totally gorgeous Max. His dark, unruly hair kept falling over his forehead after he unsuccessfully brushed it back. Could he be any more adorable?

No. He’s making your job more difficult, remember?
Because of him, she’d have to find another suitable volunteer groom. Her mother would not be happy that Max hadn’t jumped on board with her idea, which meant an earful for Lilli.

Yep, Max Sanders had made her life complicated. Again. But she did feel bad that he’d lost his wallet.

When they’d arrived at the station, Max had removed his sunglasses and glanced at her. She’d gotten up close and personal with those stormy gray eyes. For a fleeting moment his annoyance had vanished, replaced with...what? Curiosity? Interest in her, perhaps?

She’d tried not to react, but how could she not? He was seriously good-looking. Throw in the broad shoulders, six feet of muscular build—obviously the man worked out—and long denim-clad legs and...well, she noticed.

Yet she had to ignore his undeniable appeal and how it affected her. Even if she had wanted this tug of awareness to go somewhere, the unresolved past between them would make that impossible.

“I can’t believe he’s been spying on Bart,” Jewel fumed as she shot the hunky Max another glare. “Why would anyone want Bart tailed?”

Bart came across as a nice enough guy, but had trouble with his “confusion of ownership” issues. Amused by Jewel’s passionate defense, Lilli listened, letting her friend vent. She’d never seen Jewel this charged up before.

The chief, a tall bear of a man, with distinguished gray hair and a ready smile, moved their way to join the tail end of the conversation. He hadn’t changed much since the night he sat her in the squad car while he called her parents. At least this time she wasn’t in trouble. “Max was doing his job,” the chief explained.

Jewel simmered down, but her lips pursed in mulish displeasure.

“This is all just a misunderstandin’,” he assured them.

“Bart would never hurt anyone,” Jewel insisted. “Sure, he’s a little different, but that’s his appeal. Not everyone follows their inner voice.”

Not everyone’s inner voice told them to pick pockets, either. Lilli glanced over at her friend. “Since when did you become so interested in Bart?”

Pink covered Jewels cheeks. “I’ve run into him around town a few times. We went to high school together,” she explained. “Recently we reconnected. I even invited him to join us for lunch today...before we were interrupted. But he turned me down.”

Interrupted by Max. Lilli peeked over at him again, her stomach fluttering. For the second time in her life, Max Sanders caught and held her attention, but she resisted the lure. She had a lot on her plate, which didn’t include getting tangled up with Max again.

“The officer has your statements, ladies, so if you’ll excuse me, I should probably get back to Max.” The chief excused himself.

“Isn’t that peachy,” Jewel grumbled.

“He knows what he’s doing,” Lilli told her friend.

“Bart’s not even here to defend himself.”

Lilli decided not to point out the fact that his disappearing act looked suspicious. While Jewel complained, her attention went back to Max.

He stood only a few feet away, so she couldn’t help but hear the chief laughing while Max spoke in a low tone. He frowned and seemed put out, while the chief enjoyed the entire situation, especially when he handed Max a square brown object that could only have been the pilfered wallet. Max’s neck grew red as he shoved the billfold into his back pocket. Lilli chuckled at his disgruntled expression.

He headed in her direction.
Uh-oh.

“Look, things got out of hand. Thanks for not blowing my cover.”

“Are you appreciative enough to be a groom?”

“No way.”

“You know, I could have told the officer you were causing trouble.”

“I still would have ended up here. Like the last time the police brought us both in.” His eyes narrowed. “You seem to have a special ability for getting me in hot water.”

“Hey, I didn’t plan to.”

“Today? Or years ago?”

“Neither. And I resent the implication.”

“You’re trouble, pure and simple.”

“And you’re not?”

The chief chuckled. “Should I leave you two alone to work things out?”

She grimaced. “No, thanks.”

The chief still grinned. “That’s good, ’cuz Max here doesn’t like being cornered.”

By his scowl, Lilli knew she’d managed that. Twice in one day.

“I still lost Bart,” Max groused.

“Are you implying it’s my fault he got away?” Lilli planted her fists on her hips. Max leaned toward her and she couldn’t deny the sparks flaring between them as they squared off. Every flash of potent energy threw off tantalizing heat, yet she didn’t back down.

“No, I’m flat-out saying it.”

They were still glaring at each other when the chief stepped between them.

“Bart’s a slippery one, I’ll give you that. But I have no doubt you’ll get the job done.” He slapped Max on the back, as if giving Max his cue to leave. Max’s neck grew red again. He sent Lilli a curt nod and strode off.

“Our lunch hour is completely blown.” Jewel told Lilli as they left the station. “But watching you push Mr. Security Consultant’s buttons? Worth not eating.”

“Did I do that?” Lilli asked innocently while batting her eyelashes.

“Like a pro.” Jewel held up her hand for a high five. Lilli slapped her hand against Jewel’s. “So really, what’s going on between you two?”

Lilli adjusted her purse strap, her gaze following the path Max had taken. “Nothing.”

Jewel snorted. “Yeah, right.”

“I sort of know him.”

Jewel’s eyes went wide. “Explain ‘sort of.’”

Lilli squirmed. “We met twelve years ago. Just once. At the beach.” She laughed. “I got him into trouble with the police.”

“Do I even want to know?”

“It’s a long story. Suffice it to say, he’s still holding a grudge.”

“And now you’ve reconnected. Interesting.”

Lilli frowned. “There’s nothing to be interested in.”

“So you say.”

Okay, so maybe she missed their verbal skirmishes already. She squirmed under Jewel’s smug scrutiny, not wanting to delve too deeply into the matter here in the middle of the sidewalk. Bad enough she’d provoked the guy. She didn’t want to uncover the reasons why.

“Let’s not go there,” Lilli said.

“I knew it. You’re totally crushing on Max.”

“Am not.”

“Are, too. Why are you denying it? What are you afraid of?”

Flashbacks of the night on the beach were quickly overshadowed by the catastrophe that had been her wedding rehearsal dinner. The pain and humiliation. Afraid? Yes. But she’d never admit it out loud.

“My relationship with Max, if you could call it that, is difficult.”

“Looks like it.”

“He’s infuriating.”

“That’s half the fun.”

Lilli glanced down the empty sidewalk. “I knew you’d say that.”

* * ** * *

B
ACK
AT
WORK
, Jewel continued her running commentary about Bart while Lilli tried to concentrate on the Natural Puppy account. She’d hoped that Jewel’s evaluation of Lilli’s attraction to Max would prove wrong, but with reluctance, admitted she might be right.

What was she going to do about it?

As the question swirled around in her brain, an annoying chime sounded from her purse. Digging through the tan leather bag, she found her cell.

She squinted at the caller ID, sighing heavily. Her mother’s timing could be uncanny. “Mom, I’m in the middle of a deadline,” Lilli said by way of greeting. “I can’t talk about the benefit right now.”

“Of course you can,” Celeste Barclay informed her only daughter in her cultured tone. “It’s for the good of the society.”

Lilli gripped the phone tightly. “I don’t even belong to the society.”

“Of course you do. I added you to the roster years ago.”

Lilli clenched her teeth.
Of course she had.
With her mother, every answer started with,
of course you do.
Or
can.
Or
will.
Of course you can swim, just pump your legs. Of course you’ll attend the ballet, we bought you a ticket. Of course I can upset your life, I’m your mother and I love you.

“You promised you’d be back in plenty of time for Tie the Knot,” Lilly reminded her.

“No, dear. I promised to do everything in my power to get back in plenty of time. My ladies are counting on you.”

Her ladies.
Lilli rolled her eyes. Just because they were her mom’s ladies didn’t mean Lilli should inherit them. “So are you saying you won’t make it back in time?”

“If your father hadn’t left his tennis bag on the floor right by the balcony of our suite, I wouldn’t have tripped over it.”

“Dad is with you?”

A slight pause. “He was.”

“Why?”

“I told you. Aunt Marian got herself into a little legal entanglement. Your father came here as her attorney.”

That made sense. But still, her parents, together?

“As I was saying, I nearly pitched right over the railing. I could have died. Instead I only hurt my arm.”

“Your arm?”

“It’s a sprain. I told that man a thousand times not to leave his things in the middle of the floor. He never listened. Briefcase, gym bags, shoes, you name it. It’s been like this—”

Lilli had heard these complaints before and knew if she didn’t cut her mother’s tirade short, she’d go on all afternoon.

“Does it hurt?”

“Does what hurt?”

“Your arm.”

“My arm? Oh, my arm.” She paused on a well-timed moan. “My wrist hurts and there is some swelling, but I don’t need a cast. Could you imagine trying to accessorize? The sweet doctor taped my wrist and said I need to stay put for now so I don’t aggravate it. Although I can’t complain—even though your father abandoned me to go back to work. Between you and me, I think your father is trying to kill me.”

“I doubt it.”

“It seems that way.”

Yeah, it always did with them.

“Mom, you should be here. The fund-raiser is your baby.”

“The prep work for the fund-raiser is already done. I have lists and committees all set up. All you need to do is step in and take over. Oh, have you read the information about the Wingate collection yet? I can’t believe my old friend Clare came through for me. Especially since I asked her on a whim. It’s the pièce de résistance of the benefit.”

And an additional responsibility to take Lilli away from her job.

“Her late husband presented her with this antique jewelry collection the night before they were married at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York. It is rumored to have been smuggled out of Russia by one of the last royal family members of Czar somebody-or-other. I’ve seen the necklace myself, just once, and it is stunning! We’re not only going to display the necklace, but also the matching earrings, bracelet and ring, as well. After the benefit, Clare is letting us show the collection at the historical society office.”

Celeste stopped to catch her breath. While her mother saw another successful event, Lilli saw a logistical nightmare go from bad to worse.

“Now, Lilli, as I was saying—” On her mother’s end, a knocking sounded in the distance. “Hold on, dear. Someone is at the door.”

Lilli held on while her mother put the phone down. From now on she vowed to let her mother’s calls go to voice mail.

An untimely growl sounded from her stomach. Lunch had been a quick stop at a to-go burger joint and Lilli hadn’t made much of a dent in the burger before they’d returned to work, hurrying inside so Jim didn’t make a scene. She scanned the office. With Jim safely ensconced in his office, she slid open her top drawer, snuck a fry from the box tucked away inside and nibbled.

Her mother finally came back on the line. “I called for fresh towels. Did I tell you they have the most extravagant amenities here? Why, yesterday—”

“Mom, where are you? You said Aunt Marian needed you.”

“She did. We rendezvoused at the spa.”

“That’s your emergency?”

“We didn’t come here until after her troubles. Now she has some personal issues we needed to discuss.”

“At a spa,” she reiterated in a flat tone.

“What better place?”

Lilli tried to ignore the throbbing in her head. “I need to get back to work.”

“Oh, of course. Well, then, one last thing, dear. Did Max agree to be a volunteer groom?”

The question sent a chill through Lilli. “Not yet.”

“What do you mean ‘not yet’?” her mother asked in her steely tone.

“He wasn’t exactly receptive to the idea.”

“And you explained why he should volunteer?”

“Yes, but he still refused.”

“Hmm. That’s hard to believe. Police Chief Gardener assured me he’s a lovely man to work with. And he was perfectly pleasant when he came to set up the security system.”

Max Sanders? A lovely man? “I wouldn’t go that far.” Handsome, yes. Focused, most definitely. But lovely? No possible way. And she couldn’t imagine a man’s man like the chief using the word
lovely
to describe Max. Or anyone else, for that matter.

“Keep working on him. I don’t have any other single men to choose from.”

“I can give you a list.”

“No, Lillian. Get Max to commit. I hired him for security and he has to be there now that we have the jewelry collection. Don’t let him get away.”