Buried in Secrets (Carly Moore #4) - Denise Grover Swank Page 0,84

at Jonathon Whitmore’s house. He insinuated Ashlynn slept around a lot, but Jonathon might be the father.”

Marco was silent for a moment, and I pulled into the parking lot of the park.

“There’s another possibility about who the father might be,” he said when I turned off the car.

“Jim Palmer?” If I were honest, I’d considered it deep down.

“It wouldn’t be the first time a youth leader took advantage of a young girl.”

“But she graduated a year ago.”

“How long had he been a youth leader?” he asked.

“Good question. I asked Ricky, but he wasn’t sure. Sounded like he’d been a leader for as long as Ricky’s been a member.”

“And he’s a senior?”

“Yeah.”

“So Jim would have overlapped with Ashlynn for at least two years.” He shrugged. “If she was a member.”

“I’m pretty sure she would have been involved whether she wanted to be or not. Thad wasn’t at the youth group landscaping project, and Ricky said their dad would be pissed if he found out. It sounds like Rob Crimshaw wants his children in the youth group.” I remembered our lunch and reached for the bag in the back seat, then handed it to Marco. “The salad’s mine.”

“Thank God.” He grinned as he opened it. “Whatever you got me smells delicious.”

“I know you like Rockman’s grilled ham and cheese.”

He laughed. “I’ll have to find time to work out later.”

“Don’t you worry. I’ll give you a workout.”

He turned to me with shock in his eyes, and truth be told, I was surprised too. I’d never been so flirty with a man before. I’d never felt safe enough to let down my guard.

He leaned over and cupped my face. “Don’t take this as a complaint, but this is going to take some getting used to. You have no idea how much I’ve wanted to do this over the past few months. How many times I’ve had to restrain myself.”

“A few months?”

He grinned. “Maybe longer. I’m trying not to scare you off.”

“I’m here, Marco. I’m not going anywhere.”

He kissed me, a feather-light press of his lips that left me hungry for more.

Still cupping my face, he pulled back. “This not getting arrested for public indecency thing might become an issue.”

I laughed. “Then maybe we should get out and sit on opposite sides of the picnic table.”

“I can’t promise I won’t lunge over the top.”

“I can’t promise I’ll shove you away.”

He grinned. “I guess we’ll take our chances.”

I grinned back. “I guess we will.”

We got out and walked over to the table, but Marco snagged my hand and tugged me closer so we were walking side by side. His gaze roamed my body. “I’m not used to seein’ you in a dress.”

“I used to wear them all the time when I was a…”

He pulled me to a stop. “Do you want your old life back?” The worry in his voice nearly broke my heart.

I did, didn’t I? But when I thought of my old life, it felt lonely and empty. I’d had comforts I didn’t have now—a nice apartment, nice clothes, a nice job. But everything had felt strangely hollow. My life here, however imperfect, felt so much richer, mostly because of Marco.

“I want you, Marco. Wherever that brings us.”

Emotion filled his eyes, and he pulled me to his chest, holding me for a long second before he kissed the top of my head and released me. I took his hand again, needing that connection to him, and we resumed our walk to the table.

“Jim Palmer’s house is for sale,” I said.

He jerked his head down to look at me. “Already?”

“Yeah. Apparently, his wife didn’t waste any time.”

We sat down on either side of the picnic bench, and he handed me the bag and pulled out his phone.

I reached into the bag and pulled out my salad container. “What are you doing?”

“Give me a second.” He started tapping and scrolling while I set his Styrofoam container in front of him. He whipped his screen around to face me. “The house has been on the market for nineteen days.”

My mouth fell open as I stared at the listing on a real estate website. “Right around the time Chuck found out he wasn’t the father.”

His body tensed. “Shit.”

We sat in silence, until I finally said, “Selena told me that Pam lost it a few weeks ago. A sales clerk was supposed to hold a crib for her at a thrift store, but it got sold while they ate lunch. Pam was outraged and threw a fit. Totally unlike