A Perfect Storm(13)

"Early to bed, early to rise and all that." She started for the front door and her shoes.

"You get up early?"

"I get up whenever I wake. And more often than not, I can't sleep. So-"

"Why can't you sleep?"

Impatient, she glanced back at him. "I'll tell you all about my sleeping  habits-tomorrow." She bent and pulled on first one unlaced sneaker,  then the other.

Arizona had "sloppy" down to a fine art. But it was a look that  complemented her attitude. "We still need to talk about the Green Goose.  How are we going in, what time, every little detail." Had Trace already  disabled her car? She wanted to leave sooner than he'd anticipated-not  that anyone could accurately anticipate anything with Arizona. "We have a  lot of ground to cover."

"I've got some ideas for that. We can talk about it tomorrow morning."  Her mouth curled in an acerbic smile. "Or do you have plans with Marla?"

Ignoring that, he said, "Why the big rush?"

She opened the door. "Told you. I'm tired."

Hot, humid air, thick with the threat of a storm, blasted him as he followed her out. He needed to think of a way to stall her.

Maybe if he hadn't been so touchy discussing his past …  But no, he  couldn't go there. As an alternative, he asked, "Where are you staying?"

Without looking at him, she said, "Just a motel."

Suspicions bloomed. "What motel?"

"A random dive." Halfway down the sidewalk, she glanced over at Marla's  house. "Should you be dogging my heels like this? You know your  girlfriend probably has her nose to the window, watching your every  move."

"She's not my girlfriend." He glanced that way, too, and saw a shadow  shift from the window. Damn. Catching Arizona before she reached her  car, he said, "Forget Marla. Why are you dodging the question?"

"What question?"

He growled out an impatient breath. "The question about where you're staying."

"I wasn't." She opened her car door to let out the heat and then leaned  on the fender. "Thing is, you haven't yet agreed to be my partner, so  why should I tell you anything?"

"Blackmail?"

Her eyes, now bright with mischief, looked even bluer out in the natural light. "Coercion."

Tension mounted in the back of his neck. He rubbed a knotted muscle, but  it didn't help. "I'll think about the partnership thing." And he'd talk  to Trace and Dare …

"Yeah." Her gaze went to his hand. "You do that."

With nothing else to say, Spencer stepped back, and she got into her  car. "Whenever you wake up is a pretty loose time frame. Can't you  narrow it down a little?"

She put the key in the ignition. "I don't know. Let's say between 5:00 a.m. and noon."

Would she sneak in again and watch him sleep? Not like he'd even be able to sleep with that possibility looming.

He gripped the frame of the open window. "I can track you down, you know. I can find out where you're staying."

"You think so?" She turned the key-and nothing happened. With a frown, she said, "We'll see."

And she tried the car again.

Dead. Completely.

Relieved, Spencer stepped back, wondering how she'd react.

It was something to see, the way her brows pulled down, her eyes  glittered, and angry color flooded her face. She pumped the gas, tried  again and, after visibly gathering steam, opened her car door and  stepped out. She slammed her door. Hard.

It didn't take a genius to see she was pissed. Really pissed. The darkening sky had nothing on her.

Deadpan, he asked, "Car won't start?"

Her locked teeth sawed together. "Let's go."

Fascinating. He'd never seen a woman as visually expressive as Arizona. "Where to, exactly?"

"Back inside." She headed that way but said over her shoulder, "Unless  you want me to lose it out here, for all your nice, domestic neighbors  to witness."

"Inside it is." A little amused, a lot pleased, he trailed behind her.

Unfortunately, Marla stepped out to her porch. Wearing a low-cut top and  a look of censure, she opened her mouth, and Arizona swung around to  her, snarling, "Don't." She sucked in a breath. "Just … don't." After that  dire warning, she stormed on into his house.                       
       
           



       

Marla stood there looking hurt.

Double damn. Apologetic, Spencer said to her, "Sorry. She's having a bad day."

Marla's impressive chest heaved a little. "I suppose she'll have a better night?"

"Marla," he chided. "I told you it wasn't like that-for you or her."

She gathered herself. "I don't understand you."

"You do, you just don't want to."

"It was good between us."

"Yes." And maybe if he hadn't met Arizona … but he had. "I need to go."

"Wait!" She licked her lips. "Do you think it's going to storm?"

With a quick glance at the sky, he said, "Probably." He knew right where this was going. "Your roof's still leaking?"

"Yes." She leaned on the railing, deliberately giving him an eyeful of  cleavage. "It's the ceiling in my bedroom. Any … suggestions?"

"Yeah. Put out a few buckets-and call a repairman as soon as you can.  With these old roofs, they're as likely to cave in as leak." He'd have  felt guilty for not offering any real help, except that her roof had  been bad since winter, and she didn't repair it because she'd rather use  it as a female ploy to get him back in bed.

Giving her a salute, Spencer went in. He'd barely gotten the door shut before Arizona was there, rising on tiptoe to blast him.

* * *

IN BATTLE MODE, Arizona jabbed him hard in the chest with one finger. "You told Jackson!"

"No." With his good mood quickly souring, he stepped around her.

She grabbed his arm. "You did! You said something to him, and that's why he disabled my car."

Infusing iron in his tone, Spencer said, "You realize you're calling me a liar, right?"

But she was too angry to relent. "I trusted you!"

"Baloney! You're about as trusting as a junkyard dog."

She gasped.

"But I did not tell Jackson, and I'd appreciate it if you'd quit yelling like a kid having a temper tantrum!"

Since he'd ended with his own yelling, the insult was ludicrous at best.

Fury colored her face and kept her eyes narrowed. "Okay, fine. Let's  just see." And for an additional dig, she said, "Jackson will tell me  the truth."

"You're going to call him?" That worked fine by him. She'd be the one to  let her erstwhile protector know the score, and at the same time she'd  learn the truth. Spencer gestured at her. "Feel free."

"I will!" She dug out her cell phone from her back pocket and hit a speed dial number.

Because he didn't want to miss a word, Spencer said, "Dare you to put it on speaker phone."

"Feeling nosy?" she sneered.

"I don't trust you to admit to my acquittal." He almost smiled, knowing  she wouldn't be able to resist his taunt. "Or are you afraid of what  I'll hear?"

* * *

"HA!" KEEPING HER ANGRY GAZE locked on his, Arizona hit the speaker  button. Her car was dead, and she knew it wasn't by accident. She'd been  around Jackson too long to miss the signs of interference.

Because she hadn't used the emergency number, Jackson answered with a greeting, instead of silence. "Hey, Arizona. What's up?"

At the sound of his voice, she brightened with triumph. "What did you do  to my car?" Did they really think they could bully her? That she was  too dumb to recognize how they worked? Fat chance. She wasn't an idiot.

"What's that?" A new alertness entered Jackson's tone. "Something's wrong with your car?"

Uh-oh. He sounded pretty sincere. "No use denying it," she pressed. "I know you disabled it somehow."

"Not me. Alani and I are at dinner with Dare and Molly." And then with suspicion, "Where did you say you are?"

Crap. Was it possible that the car's battery had died somehow? It didn't seem likely.

"Arizona?"

Deflated, she admitted, "I'm at Spencer's."

"Yeah?" A smile sounded through the call. "Doing what?"

"Never mind." Oh, this was awkward. And Spencer looked so smug. "My car  won't start. It's totally dead. You sure you didn't tamper with it?"

"Why would I? What are you up to- Oh, wait."

She heard muted voices, a brief conversation, and then Jackson came back  on the line. "Reckon it was Trace." And before she could get riled  about that, he said, "Why didn't you remind me that it was your  birthday?"