Bailed Out (The Anna Albertini Files #2) - Rebecca Zanetti Page 0,44

this.”

“How about you stop digging and I promise that if Tessa gets caught up in this, I’ll confess to the murder and keep her off the hook?” Aiden turned to rinse out his mug in the sink.

I handed mine over to him. “That ruins my plan of a big wedding and five to seven kids of yours. So, no.”

He grinned and turned to face me, leaning against the sink. “It’s fun to joke about, but my life doesn’t lend itself to that ideal, and you know it.”

I lifted one eyebrow in a move I’d learned from my mother. “I figure you’re a work in progress, if you want the truth. Or maybe you’re just a phase. I don’t know yet.”

A dimple flashed in his right cheek. “You think I’m a phase you’re going through?”

I looked him up and down, truly enjoying our banter. “You’re a hot bad-boy. That’s a well-known phase for a lot of good Catholic girls.”

His chuckle warmed all of the private places he’d explored on me that morning. “You know, my Grams would’ve loved you.”

Well. Direct hit right to the heart. Yep. “I think my Nana O’Shea already loves you,” I said instead of jumping his bones and begging him to marry me. I was not even remotely ready for happily ever after, even if he was in a different situation. My body wasn’t agreeing with me right now, though. “In fact, don’t most women adore you?”

“Huh. Not touching that one.” He took my hand and started toward the door. “Considering my bike is in a bunch of trees right now, do you mind dropping me off in town on the way to work?”

“Sure. What’s your plan then?”

“To call the guys and have somebody come help me with the bike.” He waited on my front porch for me to lock my door and then took my hand again.

I paused. “Is Tessa in danger?”

He studied me for a moment. “I don’t think so. She didn’t see who killed Danny, and apparently she wasn’t in his life, so she should be fine.”

That was a relief. We wandered to the driveway where I’d left my Fiat.

A blue car idled across the road, set against a backdrop of pine trees. A long camera poked out, already snapping photographs.

Aiden shoved me behind him, and tension vibrated down his back. “What the hell?”

The driver snapped several more pictures and then sped off.

Aiden looked over his shoulder at me. “Any clue who that was?”

I slowly shook my head. “You or me?”

He shrugged, anger glimmering in his eyes. “Dunno. That wasn’t an undercover cop car, and it didn’t belong to anybody I know. The driver wore a hat and was too far away to identify.”

“Was it the car that ran you off the road last night?” I asked.

“Nope. That was a truck, actually.” He sighed. “I could be wrong, but private detective seems the way to go. But was he looking at you or me?”

I shivered. “I don’t know.”

“It wasn’t Jareth Davey,” Aiden said, pulling me abreast of him and tucking me safely against his warm and solid body.

“You don’t know that,” I said over the new lump in my throat. Davey had found me last month and left a note at my place. Right now, apparently he was no longer in California. Maybe it was time we finally had that showdown.

Aiden stared down the now empty roadway. There wasn’t anything else to say.

Chapter 16

I alternated all day at work between stressing about the weird photographer in the car and wanting to dance a little jig that Aiden and I were back together. Or at least trying to be together. After a hectic morning of court hearings and then an hour of investigating a case through our computer system, I finally had time to call Tessa.

“Yo,” she answered, sounding sleepy.

“Yo. Did I wake you up?’

“No. Well, not really. I’m laying out on Donna’s back deck and might’ve fallen asleep, even though her douchey neighbor keeps peeking over the fence. What is up with that dude?”

I remembered Donna saying something about the old fart being a jerk. “Do you think I have a hero complex with Aiden?” I asked, leaning back in my chair.

Movement sounded as she obviously turned over on the lounger. “Yeah. Is that bad?”

I reached in my desk drawer for some lip balm. “I’m not sure. It might blind me to problems.”

“Do you feel blind to problems?” she asked.

I swiped the tube across my mouth and then tossed it back in my drawer.