Stolen(73)

He stepped out of the corner and removed his sunglasses, revealing his black eye. “A simple thank-you will do nicely.”

“I’ll thank you to stay away from me from here on out.” Caitlin turned back to Darcy. She was about to refuse all of the items and walk away, but then she thought about the woman’s commission. “I’ll take the dress. Sorry for the trouble, but I need you to re-ring it on my card.” Caitlin already wanted to kick Grady in the shins. Now the devastated look on the woman’s face made her want to aim higher. “It’s okay,” she told Darcy. “You haven’t done anything wrong. Please do not worry about this. It was a perfectly understandable mistake.” And it was also the last time she’d confide in a saleswoman whom she’d known ten seconds.

So much for shopping being fun.

“H-he said he was your boyfriend.”

Grady shook his finger at Darcy. “I said no such thing.”

“You certainly did. Or . . . at least you . . .”

“He implied it,” Caitlin said. “I understand completely.” She grabbed her credit card and the dress and hurried toward the door.

Grady swooped in front of her, bowed and opened the door in an overly polite gesture. “I’m only trying to be a gentleman.”

“Then you suck at it.” Caitlin wasn’t going to let him reframe this to make himself seem like the innocent victim, which appeared to be his MO these days—come to think of it, that had always been his MO. “Did you follow me to Boulder?”

“I didn’t even follow you into the shop.”

“So this is all a big coincidence.”

“Naturally. I have other business in Boulder. Don’t be so full of yourself, Caitlin. I’ve explained to you already that I haven’t given you a second thought since the day I met Inga. In fact, I’m here to see her sister, Asta. I was walking by and just happened to look in the window when you came out in that sexy little blue number. I decided to be the bigger person, and come in to say hello. After all, it wasn’t you who blacked my eye.” He peeked over at Darcy and pointed to his injury with a faux frown. “Besides, I feel terrible about you getting kicked off the case.”

“You’re the one who’s responsible for that.”

“No. That would be your boyfriend.”

“This is ridiculous. I don’t know why we’re having this conversation. You’ve got some nerve trying to buy me lingerie.”

“Again, I’m just trying to be nice. You were so upset with me the other day for the unfortunate incident in the bathroom.”

Darcy edged closer. Obviously interested in the tidbits she was overhearing.

“So I thought I’d make it up to you by getting you something nice.”

Darcy planted her hands on her hips. “You, sir, are no gentleman. And this is about the biggest load of crap I’ve ever heard. You walked in this shop one minute after she did and hid in the lingerie area. You led me to believe you were her boyfriend.”

“It’s not my fault if you misinterpreted my words.”

“I didn’t misinterpret anything. I remember what you said.” Darcy didn’t back down.

“What did he say exactly?” Caitlin asked, stepping shoulder to shoulder with Darcy who was proving herself more than worthy of her commission, and a perfectly good person to confide in after all.

“I said I should check with you about your bra size, and he said there was no need because he was intimately acquainted with your breasts.”

“36D.” Grady held up his cupped palms. “I remember them well.”





Chapter 38





Sunday, October 27

5:30 P.M.

Boulder, Colorado



From: You Don’t Know Me8

To: Dr. Caitlin Cassidy

Subject: Ty Cayman

Dr. Cassidy,

I’m very sorry about what happened to your father. I know you’re not the type to pre-judge. I believe you are a seeker of truth. Please check out the following attachment. I’m not sure what it means, but if anyone can make sense of it, you can.





Caitlin stared at the e-mail, her fingers hovering over the touchpad of her Mac as she debated whether or not to click.

The moms—as they were now officially nicknamed—were in the kitchen preparing dinner. It smelled delicious. She suspected pot roast. After modeling her new blue frock for them, they’d insisted she wear it to the table tonight. No one ever dressed for dinner around here, and the request had taken her off guard, but she didn’t mind humoring them. She knew they’d been bitten by the match-making bug, and there was no reason to disappoint. She glanced at her watch. There was still plenty of time before she had to change.