The Perfect Couple (Last Stand #4)(48)
Author: Brenda Novak

"Someone’s definitely hurt," he said. "But it’s not Sam."

"Then why are we here?" Assuming an air of total absorption, she moved past him as though she expected him to follow, but he didn’t budge.

Maybe he hadn’t been able to find the leads he needed to figure out where Sam was. But it wasn’t hard to guess what was going on with Zoe. In her passenger seat, he could see the sundress she’d worn yesterday draped over the bag he’d hefted around on their trip to L.A. There was also a blanket and pillow shoved down in the foot space.

"You moved out last night?"

When she turned, a pained expression rumpled her brow, but she shrugged. "As luck would have it, Anton and I aren’t perfect for each other, after all."

He hoped to hell he hadn’t caused the breakup with that little stunt he’d pulled in the hotel. "I could’ve told you that. But I’m still surprised by the sudden reversal."

"You could’ve told me that we weren’t right for each other?"

It was his turn to shrug. "I don’t like him."

"Apparently everyone could see we were a mismatch but me," she grumbled.

Just yesterday, he’d wanted to kiss her, touch her. And he’d made it a point to show her that, whether she’d initially realized it or not, she wanted him, too. Now she was toting her belongings around as if she had nowhere to go.

Shit…"What happened?" he asked.

She studied him for a second, then apparently decided to be honest with him. "It had nothing to do with you, so don’t stand there looking so guilty."

Nothing to do with him? That was hopeful. He was supposed to be helping her, not making her life more complicated. "Thanks for letting me off the hook, but I could use an explanation."

"There’s not a lot to say. People change. Needs change. This came in a…moment of clarity."

His phone rang again, but he ignored it. It had been ringing all morning. His clients were going nuts, but none of them had more pressing business than finding Zoe’s child. "Are you sure it’s the type of decision you should be making now?"

"It was mutual, so not my decision alone. And I don’t think there’s any question as to whether it’s the right one." Her gaze followed an SUV that turned in at the entrance and crept down a row of cars, searching for an open space. "The timing could’ve been better, of course," she added ruefully. "But the situation with Sam…It’s brought out the worst in both of us, made us recognize that we’re not very happy together."

"And the fact that we shared a hotel room didn’t set him off–"

"It didn’t even come up." She rubbed her palms on her jeans. "Please, don’t worry about San Diego. I owe you an apology for putting you in such an awkward situation to begin with. I should’ve gotten my own room."

She was establishing some emotional distance, and he told himself he should be relieved. He had no business getting involved with her. But logic rarely curbed desire, and it didn’t now. "I didn’t mind sharing."

"I know." She cleared her throat. "Shall we go in?"

Not yet. He had more to say. "Nothing happened when we were together, Zoe. You said I didn’t have anything to do with it, but if this breakup is your own guilty reaction to wanting me, you didn’t act on–"

"It’s not guilt. I have a history of picking the wrong guys, okay?" She motioned in a careless manner. "And this is yet another example. Breakups don’t hurt that much anymore."

This was the first woman he’d wanted to make love with since Sheridan, and she’d just told him she was too jaded to care. It was a warning sign–one he planned to take seriously. "Skye told me Anton’s different from your usual, uh, love interests."

"He is. Which is why I forced it. But I found that a loveless relationship isn’t much of an improvement over the kind I’ve had in the past.

Without love, there isn’t enough depth to survive a major challenge."

"So you’re okay with leaving him."

She hiked her purse up. "I won’t find any peace until I have my daughter back, but…I’ll survive the breakup. I’ve had plenty of practice in that area."

He lowered his voice. "Why didn’t you call me?"

"Because you would’ve offered to put me up."

"Didn’t you need a place to stay?" he asked with a glance at her car.

"That’s too much to ask of you."

He gave her a skeptical frown.

"And…I would’ve agreed," she finished.

"What’s wrong with one friend helping another?"

"You’re not my friend. You’re my private investigator." Her attention shifted to the person who’d just parked the SUV, but he wasn’t close enough to overhear. "And we would’ve wound up sleeping together."

He wished he could deny that he’d take advantage of her presence in his house, but if she looked at him the way she’d looked at him in that hotel lobby, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to resist. She’d been with Anton for months, yet she was as lonely as any woman he’d ever met, and she didn’t even know it. He wanted to satisfy her hunger–along with his own–but his track record wasn’t any better than hers.

He started toward the entrance, and she fell in step with him. "No comment?" she prompted.

"Who knows what we would’ve done," he said.

The man in the SUV was obviously in a hurry. Wearing a silly grin and carrying a bouquet of flowers, he cut in front of them as if he hadn’t even seen them. They stopped abruptly to avoid a collision. "New father,"

Zoe murmured.

Too intent to be distracted, Jonathan ignored the stranger. "So where’d you stay last night?"

"Near the airport."

His phone rang again. He glanced at the number on the caller ID, saw it was Robbie Babcock, the bail bondsman he’d been assisting in tracking down a skip, and silenced it. He’d return the call later.

"You’re not going to take that?" she said.

He didn’t answer her question. "Do you have a room for tonight?"

"Not yet. But I’ll get one."

He decided to let her do exactly that. She had too many scars. And so did he.

They stepped on the sensor that made the automatic doors whoosh open. "Now tell me why we’re here," she said.

"I read an article in the paper this morning that made the hair stand up on the back of my neck."

She faltered, then took two quick steps to catch up with him. "What was the story?"

He was a little concerned about how she’d react to this news, but he couldn’t shield her. And by marching to Franky Bates’s door, she’d already proven that she was tougher than he might have thought. "There was a fourteen-year-old boy found wandering in the woods near Placerville. He was abducted more than two months ago."