Change of Heart - By S.E. Edwards Page 0,15

stresses, not an ounce of humor in his words.

“Can you tell me who those men were?”

“They are… well, the easiest way to think of them is as former acquaintances.”

I perk a dissatisfied eyebrow. “Former acquaintances who break into your apartment at night?”

“Look, it’s complicated. All I’m focused on right now is getting you out of this mess.”

“I appreciate the concern,” I say drily, “but why should I be in any trouble?”

“If they saw you with me, you might be.”

“Why?”

Rich rakes a hand through his hair. “Maybe they’ll think you’re my girlfriend or something.”

I laugh. “I didn’t take you as the dating type.”

“I’m not,” he stresses, suddenly tense. “But who knows what they’ll think. Right now, we have a bigger problem than that.”

“Oh?”

“Your purse. You have your wallet in there, don’t you?”

I nod. “Yeah. I told you in the car.”

“We have to go back and get it.” Rich closes his eyes and rubs the bridge of his nose. “I’m an idiot for not thinking of it earlier. I told you those men aren’t thieves—and they’re not. But, if they find your purse in there, they might look through it, see your wallet, pick out your driver’s license…”

“…and connect me to you,” I finish. I feel a dull stab of fear in my stomach.

Rich grunts. “That’s right. None of this is your fault, Penny, and I don’t want you getting caught up in my problems.” Suddenly, he flashes me an easy grin. “After all, I think you’ve already had just about all of me you can handle.”

Despite myself—despite the situation—I chuckle. “I’d say so.”

“So, from my perspective, the sooner we get you away from here, the better. That way, you can go back to the way things were before you met me. Agreed?”

“Agreed,” I confirm. Then I have a new thought. “Wait! If those men were yelling so loud, wouldn’t one of your neighbors have heard? Wouldn’t somebody have called the cops?”

Rich shakes his head. “There was a gas leak in the building a week ago. The developers paid for everybody to stay at a hotel until they fixed it. This morning,” he points to the ground, “is the first day any of us were supposed to return.”

“And you took me there last night?” I say, appalled.

Rich spreads his hands in front of him. “Hey, the leak was fixed. All right?”

“But if everybody was supposed to be gone, how did those men know you were in there?”

“That’s what I’m still trying to figure out.” Rich glances outside. I see the sun just starting to light up the sky from beyond the horizon. “Come on. If we hurry, we might be able to sneak in before too many people are around.”

***

“How do you know it’s safe to go back?” I ask as I settle into the passenger’s seat. “What if those men are still there, waiting for you?”

“They won’t be,” Rich assures me. “I was on the phone with a friend who lives close by. I asked him to scope out the place. He said there’s no one there.”

“He can get into your building?” I ask, skeptical.

Rich shrugs. “Those men did.”

“All right,” I say. “Fine. So we go back, go inside, hope there’s no one waiting for you, get my purse, and that’s it?”

“And that’s it,” Rich agrees. “You’ll never hear from me again.”

The casual way he says that raises the hairs on the back of my neck. He isn’t telling me something. Though maybe it’s disappointment I feel. Last night with Rich was amazing. I know not to look for anything deeper between us, but nobody had made me feel the way I did last night in a long time.

But I have my own problems to deal with without getting caught up in his.

“Fine,” I say. “But can you at least tell me what those men wanted from you? Are they dangerous?”

Rich gives me a sour smile. “Did they seem like the safe type to you?”

I shake my head. “No, but you said you know them. And you told me they’re not thieves.”

“There are worse people out there than thieves, Penelope.” So, we’ve gone back to full first names, have we? “And the most dangerous hand holding the knife is the one you trust near you.” He gives me a long, level look. “Do you understand?”

“I’m not a child,” I huff. “You still haven’t answered my question: What did they want from you?”

Rich shakes his head. “Remember when I said the less you know about this, the better?”

“Better for you, maybe. But