She stared at her reflection in the mirror. The image staring back looked bloodless, with too big eyes and wet spikes of bangs dripping into her eyes.
Who was the caller? Not Eric. The voice sounded uneducated, husky, burred by too many cigarettes or alcohol, or both.
Had Eric gotten someone else to do his dirty work? Was he expecting her to run to him for protection? Or, was he just trying to mess with her head?
One thing was certain. She’d had enough of Halifax Bank. She was going home. Now. Eric had won this round.
Rage welled up through Shay’s anxiety as she reached for the restroom door, shouting, “Bastard!”
Two startled faces met her as she emerged. She ignored them and swept past.
*
James almost didn’t recognize Shay when she burst through the doors of the bank as if someone were chasing her, and headed in the opposite direction. Dressed in a navy blue suit with a hemline his mother would call matronly, she looked middle-aged. “Shay?”
When she swung around he saw that the bangs were the same, as were the changeable tortoiseshell eyes that widened with his approach.
Bogart ran ahead, barking in delight at the sight of the friend who’d emerged from the bank. James gave him enough leash to reach his goal.
A pretty smile lit up Shay’s face as Bogart bounded forward, certain of his welcome.
James rubbed a hand over a back pocket of his jeans as he followed. Damn. He was sweating! He would have considered any other man making this miserable move a loser.
Shay bent down to greet Bogart and got a lick in the face with a very wet tongue in response. “What are you doing here, fella?”
“Don’t I deserve a welcome, too?”
Her gaze ranged away from the dog to find James standing over her. Her smile faltered. “Officer Cannon.”
“The bad penny,” he agreed with a small smile.
As their gazes locked, James tried to remember what he’d been telling himself on the drive over to Raleigh. All he could remember now that he was gazing at her was that every time he thought about her his johnson stirred.
The bank doors opened behind them, spilling out several other employees. Two women paused to gaze openly at Shay and the dog she was petting. The youngest woman smiled at James. “That’s a really nice dog you got there.”
James nodded, gathering up the slack in his leash. “I share him with Shay these days.”
Two of the women exchanged glances. “You and Ms. Appleton are acquainted then?” A leading question if there ever was one.
He gave her his best smile. “Oh, we’re more than that. Bogart and Shay are in love. Have a nice evening, ladies.”
As they moved on Shay came slowly to her feet. James looked good, better than her memories of him. Tall and solid, he was devastatingly virile in ways that models often aren’t. Still, he was the very last person she expected to see.
She tried not to sound breathless as she asked, “What are you doing here?”
“Bogart and I have been sent over to a place east of Raleigh to get some training next week. Seems all your spoiling has ruined him for police work.”
He was surprised to see the look of stark dismay that came into her expression. “Joke, maybe?”
“Oh.” She smiled but it didn’t have much energy. It pained him to think she had been so battered by life that she couldn’t take a joke.
Still, James wasn’t about to apologize. There’d been too damn much of that already in this relationship.
He handed her Bogart’s leash. “I need a burger. You coming?” He turned on his heel and started walking back down the street to where he’d parked his cruiser.
It was a daring move, but he didn’t know how else to engage her without starting an argument on a public street.
He was halfway to the corner before Bogart came bounding to his side. A second later Shay was there, too, looking straight ahead. He glanced sideways at her and smiled. So far, so-so.
They paused when the light changed.
“How did you find me?” Shay tried to keep the strain of the last minutes of her day out of her voice but it vibrated there anyway.
First I ran a background check on you and came up empty so I put a professional on it. That didn’t sound like the way to start the evening.
He settled for a version of the truth. “I looked you up. Found out you work for Logital Solutions. So I went by there this afternoon.”
“I see.” Shay ran a mental list of who might have told him what. “You spoke with my boss?”
“No. After I was politely told by your company’s HR person that they don’t give out information about their employees, a lady named Angie came over and put a note in my hand. It was this bank’s address. I hope you don’t mind.”
Shay shrugged.
“She added her cell number, and said if things didn’t work out to give her a call.”
That forced a laugh from Shay. That was so Angie.