“You don’t have to pretend not to notice,” she said as the elevators doors opened to the courtyard. It was a frosty cold night but Molly headed right into it, slowing at the alley to wave at Old Man Eddie, who was sitting on his crate. He wasn’t with Caleb this time but a woman, which was new. Her hair was silver leaning toward light blue, her skin the texture of an apple doll, and she and Eddie were laughing at something one of them had said.
“This here is Virginia,” Eddie said in introduction. “She’s my new girlfriend. We met when she stopped by for some of my special mistletoe.”
Eddie’s “special” mistletoe was most likely pot and if Archer caught the old man selling it to the geriatrics again, he and Spence would get into it like they did every year. “I thought you agreed to stop selling your . . . mistletoe,” Lucas said.
Virginia smiled at Eddie. “He’s not charging me. Today’s our one week anniversary.”
Eddie winked at her. “Just wait, I’m saving my good stuff for week two.” He looked at Molly and gestured to Lucas. “This guy treating you right?”
Molly took a quick glance at Lucas. “Oh. It’s not like that.”
“Huh.” Eddie sent a disappointed look to Lucas. “I thought you had more game than that.”
“Game?” Virginia asked on a laugh. “Honey, last night you kissed me and farted at the same time.”
“It was the tacos from the food truck. Tacos gives everyone gas. But hey. I can still kiss, right?”
Molly laughed and kept walking. Lucas followed, slowing a minute later at the courtyard fountain. It’d been here since the mid-1800s, back in the days when there’d actually been cows in Cow Hollow. The building had been constructed around it, and legend stated that if you stood before the water and wished for true love with a true heart, it’d happen for you.
The myth was perpetuated by the fact that there were more than a few couples who either lived or worked in this very building who claimed the legend had come true for them, some of them being his good friends. Because of that, he liked to give the fountain a wide berth.
So of course Molly stopped in front of the fountain.
She stared at the water for a minute, her hands shoved in her pockets, where he could hear the jingle of a few coins. Was she going to wish for love? He hoped not, but something of his thoughts must’ve shown on his face because she arched a brow.
“Nervous?” she asked.
“Of course not.” Skill Number One for his job—being able to lie his ass off.
“Ever been in love?” she asked.
He paused, not wanting to go there. But in the end, he figured she deserved a real answer. “Yes,” he said.
He could tell by the look on her face that this wasn’t what she’d expected. “You’re surprised,” he said.
“Yes.”
“You don’t think I have emotions?”
“I don’t think you admit to them very often.”
“I don’t.” He shrugged. “But it doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened.”
Taking this in, she cocked her head. “So you’ve been in love. What went wrong?”
“She was killed in a car accident.”
“Oh my God.” She shook her head. “I’m so sorry. How long ago?”
“Eight years.”
She nodded and took a step closer. “Is that why you don’t do anything too deep relationship-wise now?”
He shrugged. “I’ve had some losses but I’ve also let people down that I care about. I don’t like that feeling, so I guess I’ve just conditioned myself to not get invested past a certain level. Like you.”
“How do you know what I do or don’t do?” she asked.
“We’ve worked together for two years,” he said. “I’ve never seen you invest yourself. Am I wrong?”
She hesitated and then shook her head. “You’re not wrong.”
“Molly!”
They both turned in time to see Molly’s friends coming out of the coffee shop calling out for her.
“Whoa,” Sadie said as the women came close, looking into Molly’s face. “Your skin’s glowing.”
Molly slid a quick glance at Lucas, confirming that she put the “glow” blame firmly on him.
Sadie slid her speculative gaze from Molly to Lucas, who she stared at for a long beat. Not much got by her. There was a warning in her eyes, one he understood perfectly.
Hurt her and you’ll die slowly and painfully.
He got that, but she had no idea that there was already people waiting to kill him if he hurt Molly, and she’d have to get in line behind Archer and Joe.
Molly had put her hands to her cheeks. “I’m not glowing. That would be weird.”
“Not weird,” Haley said. “It’s nice. You look pretty. But you also look . . . different, that’s all. You haven’t glowed like that in a long time.”
“It’s just windburn.”
“Wouldn’t mind some of that windburn,” Haley said wistfully.
“We’re having dinner,” Pru said, rubbing her big baby bump. “You two want to join?”
“I’m still working,” Molly told her.
Sadie smiled and squeezed her hand. “Just take it easy, okay?”
“No worries, I’m fine,” Molly said and then the two women exchanged a long look.
Lucas did his best to read it, but even having a sister and his mom, he was most definitely not fluent in Women Speak. He knew people sometimes saw Molly as a fragile little flower, but in his mind she wasn’t fragile like a flower at all. Not even close. She was fragile like . . . a bomb.
“I just pushed myself a little too hard in the gym this morning, that’s all,” Molly said.
“You need to come do yoga with me sometime,” Elle said.
“Maybe,” Molly said. “If it’s cold yoga and I get to wear sweatpants and just lie on the floor.”
Elle laughed. “Sweats are a cry for help.”
“Hey, there’s no reason a cry for help can’t be comfortable. ’Night, guys.” Molly walked off and Lucas followed, feeling all the eyes following them. But Molly didn’t seem to give it a second thought.
A few minutes later they were buckling into his car when his phone rang. Seeing it was Joe, he clicked off his blue tooth so it wouldn’t blast the conversation into the interior of the vehicle. “Talk,” he said.
Molly looked over at him, brows raised. She always complained about the guys and their phone manners, but the truth was, they were just usually in a hurry and trying to be efficient, and he didn’t get the problem with that.
“I’m at the pub with Kylie,” Joe said. “Saw you leave the courtyard with Molly. She’s not answering my call. What’s going on?”
Shit. What was going on? Well, let’s see. Fact number one: he’d kissed Molly until he’d nearly forgotten his own name. Fact number two: she’d kissed him back. Fact number three: that kiss—no, better make that kisses, as in plural—had been the best thing to happen to him in recent memory, and all he could think about was hauling her over the console and into his lap and taking more of what she’d so sweetly offered. “I’ll have to get back to you,” he said.
“Negative,” Joe replied. “Tell me now.”
Right. Okay then. He held up a finger to Molly signaling that he needed a moment and stepped out of the car, shutting the door and walking a few feet away so as to not be overheard. “I already told Archer. She’s taking the case outside of work and there’s no stopping her,” he said quietly.
Joe was quiet for a beat, then he said something, muffled. Lucas realized he was talking to Archer.
Perfect.
Joe came back. “And you’re not going to tell her what you’re up to.”
“What is this, sixth grade?” Lucas asked. “Why can’t you guys just tell her I’m here to have her back?”
“Because then she’ll think we don’t trust her.”
“As you clearly don’t.”
“It’s complicated,” Joe said.
No shit.
“Look, just take care of her, okay? It’s simple.”
It wasn’t simple. Nothing about this was simple. And neither was Molly. She was simple like . . . like quantum physics. “Tell me what happened to her.”
“Why?”
Lucas pinched the bridge of his nose and drew a deep breath. Brother and sister were more alike than either of them wanted to believe. “Look, you want me to keep her safe, I’m going to keep her safe. But I’m missing some key intel here.”