Damn, she’d jumped into this arrangement with Rockfort Security without knowing that Max Lyon was a bulldog when it came to digging answers out of suspects. Well, she wasn’t exactly a suspect. Maybe witness was a better way to put it. But she was a witness who didn’t know if the secrets buried in her past were relevant or not.
You’re lying to yourself, she silently admitted. Maybe you’re here because you’re tired of hiding from yourself. But was she really ready for that?
Keeping her head down, she focused on the computer screen, opening messages that she might have skipped if she’d been pressed for time.
***
Max fought the urge to shift in his seat because he knew Olivia would catch the movement. It was unsettling to be sitting across from her like a married couple relaxing in the evening.
And in this house, of all places. Back in high school, he’d imagined the lives of his classmates. He’d pictured their houses and the conversations they might be having around the dinner table with their parents.
And he certainly hadn’t pictured the most stunning girl in school living in this house. He’d just assumed that Olivia Winters went home every night to one of the McMansions that had sprung up around the county or at the very least to one of the upscale developments in Columbia or Ellicott City. He hadn’t known she lived in a farmhouse with rusty plumbing and wood floors that needed refinishing. All those years ago he hadn’t realized that in some ways she was as much an outsider as he was himself.
Max stole a glance at her. She was looking at her iPad screen like it held the secrets of the universe, her fingers on the inefficient built-in keyboard. He knew she was hiding from him. Hiding in plain sight because getting up and leaving the room would be like admitting she couldn’t handle the two of them here together.
Of course, he was doing the same thing, if the truth be told. It was clear there were things she didn’t want to talk about. And the same was true for him.
Was he going to come out and ask her if she remembered the time they’d actually bumped up against each other when they were both in high school? It had been at a fast-food restaurant in Columbia, a pizza place on Route 108. She’d been there with one of her girlfriends. Maybe even Angela, although he couldn’t be sure, because his focus had been on Olivia. The girls had been at a table, sharing a large pizza, and two guys had come up and tried to start a conversation. Not local guys, because he didn’t recognize any of them. Olivia and her friend had done their best to ignore the unwanted attention. But Max had been across the room, and he’d heard the increasingly personal comments and invitations to go someplace where they could get to know each other better. It was obvious that the nice, polite high school girls hadn’t known how to handle the situation.
Finally Max had gotten up and crossed the room, moving in on the boys with cool deliberation. At first they’d looked ready to fight with the guy who dared to interfere with their plans for the two babes. Then they’d taken a second look at Max and caught the recklessness below his calm exterior. Maybe they’d decided that tangling with him might get their teeth knocked down their throats. Pretending it was what they’d intended all along, they’d backed away, and the girls had gratefully thanked Max. He’d been torn, but he hadn’t taken the opportunity to sit down with them. Instead, he’d gone back to his own table, without a glance over his shoulder. As if he wasn’t burning to get to know Olivia Winters better.
Well, now he had that opportunity. But where would it get him? They were together for the moment. But when this case was over, she’d be going back to New York.
Max knew she hadn’t loved the idea of playing house with him. He hadn’t loved the idea either, but it was the plan that made the most sense if he wanted to mingle with her former classmates without drawing attention to himself. Actually, the pretend engagement had been Shane’s idea. And Max had wondered if the suggestion was some kind of perverse payback for Max giving him a hard time when he and Elena Reyes had been tracking down a thief and a killer at S&D Systems. The takedown had involved a scam—which had been Elena’s idea. She’d put herself in a lot of danger by using herself as bait, but they’d gotten to her in time. And now she and Shane were a happily married couple. Like his other partner, Jack, and his lady, Morgan Rains.
Neither of the two married guys had been willing to play Olivia’s fiancé, which was how Max had gotten the job. And maybe in a secret sort of way, he liked it. Who wouldn’t love being seen as the lover of a top New York model?