The SEAL's Surprise Son (The Admiral's Seals, #1) - Leslie North Page 0,23
she invited him to stay at her house, but she’d been too unsettled to risk it. The kiss unearthed feelings she’d long buried and thought dead. They’d burst back to life like a poppy opening in the June sunshine.
“Thanks for letting me sleep over last night,” he said quietly.
He’d already thanked her, so she just nodded. “Austin was happy to see you.” The boy’s smile had widened when Carolyn carried him into the kitchen where Zach was making coffee. And then her heart had melted as she watched Zach feed their son breakfast. They belonged together, all of them, but she couldn’t trust that the fairy tale of the happy family could come true for her.
No matter how hard she tried, how much effort she put in, her perfect life eluded her. She’d learned that lesson when her father ignored all her efforts to catch his attention. She’d thought if she could be perfect enough, he’d come home and be with the family again. It hadn’t worked. She feared the same might be true with Zach, so she didn’t want to get her hopes up despite how she felt about him.
“You’re doing me a favor,” she reminded him.
“It’s not a favor, Carolyn.” His eyes turned serious. “Can we talk in your office?”
“Sure,” she said and led the way. Her heart skipped a beat with worry. What did he want to say to her?
“I got a phone call not long ago from a buddy of mine on the police department.” The call had taken Zach by surprise. A former SEAL teammate at last night’s poker game was a police officer in Sheridan Falls and had recognized Carolyn when she went in to the station that morning.
“Oh?” She arched an eyebrow at him.
“We had a deal.” He gestured between them. “You’d let me be your sidekick during the investigation.” He was disappointed that she hadn’t told him about her plans.
“You went with me to Castle Jewels, and I let you spend the night. What more do you want?” She gave him an innocent look, all big brown eyes and dimples. She was beautiful, but he wasn’t going to be deterred.
“I want to know what information you shared with the police this morning,” he said.
She huffed out a sigh. “Fine. Late last night I got an email from my IT company. They found malware in my network, a particularly nasty kind that has to be implanted from the inside. This isn’t a random cyberattack. It’s personal and targeted at my business, which explains the canceled deliveries. I thought it might make the police take me seriously.”
“Did it?” he questioned.
“I got a ‘We’ll have our techs look into it’ response, which is better than nothing, I suppose. I just don’t know what to do now.” She paced in the small office as she spoke. “I can’t sit around and wait for whoever this is to come at me again. I’ve got to figure it out, and the police don’t seem eager to help.”
“Not enough evidence for them.” He understood that. The police had limited resources and couldn’t chase down a suspicion.
“I don’t know what would be.” She sounded exasperated, and he wanted to do something to assuage her worries.
“I know a top-notch tech guy. He’s a forensic computer analyst, some kind of expert in the field. He works with the police and other government agencies as well as in the private sector. I could ask him to—”
She cut him off. “Thanks, but those guys charge a fortune, and I can’t lay out that much money right now.”
“I’ll cover his fee,” Zach said. “Besides, he’ll give me a discount.” The last thing he wanted was for her to be concerned about money when so much more was at stake.
“No, I can’t let you do that.”
“Carolyn, I want to do this for you.” He’d do anything to bring this problem to a close—for her business’s sake, but, more importantly, because he didn’t want her to be in any danger. He could see from her expression that she was wavering. “Please let me.”
She wavered. “Maybe I could pay you back next month,” she said.
“That’s fine,” he agreed while thinking no way in hell would he take a dime from her. “I’ll give him a call. In the meantime, I think you should focus on the store and let the investigation go. It’s too dangerous for you. My brothers and a few guys we know can pursue it, but you need to keep your distance.”
“No way.” Her eyes