Orange Blossom Brides

“C’mon. Just do it,” Max muttered under his breath while he waited for Bart to relieve his unsuspecting victim of his belongings.

If anyone had told Max that small-town life held as much drama as the big city of Atlanta where he had worked as a detective, he wouldn’t have believed them. He’d been involved in undercover stakeouts in the most dangerous sections of the city, where he didn’t dare take his hand off his firearm for safety’s sake. He’d dealt with demanding bosses, low-life criminals and every type of perp who claimed he didn’t do it. He’d taken it all in stride, until two cases, coming on the tail of each other, made him rethink his career.

He’d been called to assist a multiple homicide. A mother and her two sons. Victims of domestic abuse. Max hated family violence. Long estranged from his mother, he couldn’t help but think he could have ended up like one of those boys had fate not intervened.

Max had been on hand for many of the calls to the apartment. He’d always hoped the mother would leave the guy, for the boys’ sakes as well as her own. He’d encouraged the brothers to help their mother leave and had struck up a tentative friendship with them. From time to time, he stopped by the park near their building to watch them play baseball.

The mother finally decided to leave her boyfriend after he’d managed to mess her up pretty badly, and not just her that time. Once the guy went after one of her boys, she’d wanted out. Thinking he’d be gone all day at work, she’d gathered the boys and their few belongings. She’d made it as far as the car when her boyfriend came home unexpectedly. He went into a rage and shot them all, including himself.

The next case had hit even closer to home. A teen with an already growing record had stolen from his neighborhood convenience store and been caught on tape. Max and his partner went to the teen’s apartment, only to find him arguing with his mother. She told Max to take the kid away. She was done worrying about him. Hadn’t Max heard those same words, only from his own mother? Too many times to count.

They’d taken the kid to the station and booked him. As he always did, Max talked to the teenager, hoping he could get the kid to see the error of his ways. He never knew if he reached any of the young people he spoke to, but he hoped they would listen. Max visited the boy a few times, thinking he’d made some headway. Then, shortly after, Max learned that while in lockup the boy had been killed in a gang attack.

Max’s story had played out differently after he came home from juvenile detention. His mother had packed up and gone, leaving Max homeless. If not for his grandmother, who knew where he might be today? In jail? Or worse, like the teen he’d tried to help?

Max had wondered what he could have done differently to help the boys in both instances. Logically, he knew he couldn’t have done more. Still, the memories had haunted him enough that he knew he had to leave the city. That’s when he’d begun thinking about starting his own security business.

Life in Cypress Pointe promised to be calm, serene, even. Getting the security business up and running would take time, but he was eager to get going. Until Bad Bart.

Cliché? You bet. Bad Bart Bradbury had named himself and the nickname stuck. Pickpocket Bart was more appropriate.

He was a thorn in the side of the Cypress Pointe Merchants Association, Max’s current client. They wanted this scourge of society off the streets. When Max heard this description, he wondered what kind of menace terrorized the streets and why on earth his grandmother hadn’t warned him about the criminal element. Then he’d gotten his first glimpse of Bart. A scourge? Far from it. Slippery? Oh, yeah. But Max hadn’t met a criminal he couldn’t capture and bring to justice.

Determined to close the case file today, Max sported his new spy-cam sunglasses. A perk in his line of work. He loved playing with high-tech gadgets. When Bart proved to be a worthy adversary, Max had purchased the surveillance kit. With the camera mounted on his belt, he resembled another tourist jamming to an MP3 player when he was actually recording Bart’s movements. When Bart slipped up—and he would—the proof would be given to the association, his job done and a check sent to him in the mail.

Max regarded his subject, shaking his head. A nice enough kid, Bart worked as a busboy on the breakfast shift in a downtown restaurant. Five-eight, shaggy hair, maybe all of nineteen. Somewhere along the way he’d grown tired of his ho-hum life and decided picking pockets made him the center of attention in an invisible life. He didn’t keep the money or the items he pilfered—a wallet here, a cell phone there. Max knew the items “anonymously” appeared on the counter at the police station before anyone could nab Bart. He just wanted people to acknowledge him.

Maybe he needed a girlfriend.

Or an hour with Max’s grandmother. Laverne would fuss over him, urge him to stop his pickpocket ways and turn his life around. She’d given Max a talking to on more occasions than he cared to remember, and when he’d thought he’d burned his last bridge with her, he’d finally listened.

Squinting against the bright April sun, Max focused on Bart as he headed toward the new eatery in town. Max had observed that Bart finished his shift in the early afternoon, then mingled with the tourists who were out in large numbers looking for a place to eat or shop. Instead of following a mark, which was his normal M.O., today Bart waved at two women as they turned the corner to join him on the sidewalk. Max’s eyes narrowed and surprise kicked through him. No way. Miss Charity Coordinator herself.

He shook his head, not sure if he should growl or groan. Not wanting his quarry to escape without getting the action on tape, Max jumped up from the bench. With a determined stride, he crossed the pavement, edging closer to what he hoped would be the end of this assignment. So far, Bart’s elusiveness had proved to be a wrinkle in his plans. Max was so close to catching Bart. He couldn’t let Lilli Barclay interfere with his goal.

Oh, yeah, he’d remembered her name once the shock of seeing her had worn off. Then he’d dug around for more. What kind of self-respecting security consultant would he be otherwise? He’d called the historical society office. The lady answering the phone had told Max everything he wanted to know, from Lilli’s family, to where she worked and what coffee shop she frequented. Like he needed to know her coffee preference. But at this point, gaining the upper hand in every situation was the name of the game. And this pretty, pesky society babe constituted a situation.

Now he had to deal with her again, in a most inconvenient scenario.

Weaving through the tourists milling around the shop windows, Max focused on his target, stealthily moving closer, working hard to keep his distracted gaze from resting on Lilli. What was wrong with him? He loved this part of the action. The takedown. The adrenaline. But with her nearby, he found it impossible to concentrate.

Zooming the lens in closer to catch everything on tape, he saw Bart chatting with the two women as if they were all old friends. What was the guy up to? Putting his mark at ease so he could steal a purse when least expected? Could Lilli be his intended mark? He experienced an unexpected wave of protectiveness toward her.

Only Bart didn’t do anything. He stood with his hands at his sides, in the open, talking to a young woman with...pink streaks in her hair? Lilli stood beside them, listening to their conversation, her eyes going wide when she spied Max. He held one finger up to his lips. She barely nodded before turning her attention back to Bart.

Relieved she understood his signal, Max walked right past them, ducking into the first open door he found. He scanned the store, recognizing the cluttered gift shop as Milly’s Gifts and Things. A tourist haven, but a bad place to hide.

He strode to the large storefront window to continue his surveillance. Watching. Waiting for Bart to do something incriminating. But Bart just continued to talk. Max’s blood pressure spiked every time Lilli sent worried glances around her. She had no way of knowing she stood with his quarry.

Please don’t give me away.

“You need something, hon?” a cheerful voice asked behind him.

He glanced over his shoulder at a woman smiling at him. “No, just browsing,” he told her, turning back to peer out the window, trying to see through the array of dream catchers and crystal pendants reflecting the bright sunlight.

“Can’t do a good job of it if you’re looking outside,” she told him. “If you’d give me an idea of what you’re looking for, I’d be more than happy to help you find it.”

He turned to face the proprietress, an ample woman with her hands on her hips. He didn’t need this attention right now. He sidled to the exit, apologizing to the woman. “Uh, wrong store. Sorry. I’ll be leaving.”

Stepping out the door to the sidewalk, Max came face-to-face with Lilli. She opened her mouth to speak but he clamped a hand on her arm to lead her away and explain the situation. Her eyes rounded and a clip dropped from her thick hair, leaving it to fall around her face.

He leaned down, his mouth close to her ear. “Now is not a good time to talk. I’m working.” He couldn’t afford an obstacle. Especially an attractive one.

She frowned up at him, pushing her hair from her eyes. “Working?”

“Undercover,” he said, glancing over her shoulder. Bart still stood engrossed in conversation, unaware of the surveillance focused on him.

Her eyes grew wider. “Who are you after?”

“I can’t say,” Max said, still holding Lilli close.

His fingers brushed over the soft skin at the edges of her short-sleeved blouse. She hadn’t pulled away yet, her gaze still locked with his. All over again he felt the heady rush he’d experienced that night at the beach when she’d looked up at him with those wide, gorgeous eyes. The light from the bonfire had cast a shimmering glow over her face and he’d been sucker-punched right then and there.

He blinked away the memory and the dizzying connection between them broke. With reluctance, Max loosened his grip. A light blush covered her cheekbones and she fussed with her hair, moving back to put some distance between them.

Max bent down to retrieve her hair clip, his line of vision to Bart broken. He straightened and held the clip out of reach. “Here you go, Lilli.” He grinned. “Yeah. I remember.”

She snatched the clip from him. “Thanks.”

As Max looked around her again, he noticed the young woman with Bart peering in their direction.

She turned, following his line of vision before a surprised gasp escaped her. “You’re following Bart?”

“Shh.”

“What do you think he’s going to do?”

“Right now I’m worried about what he’s not going to do.”

“And that is?”

“Commit a crime.”

“Oh, please.” She snorted. “Bart?”

“He’s a criminal.”

“Well, clearly you don’t know him.”

His sharp gaze pierced hers. A mistake. Her beguiling eyes held him captive. A sea green the same striking shade found in the calm Gulf waters bordering Cypress Pointe. His breath left him in a rush as he tried to cover his reaction. “And you do?”

“Sure. Everyone does. This is a small town.”

How had he lost control of this situation? The green-eyed siren had to be the cause. “Here’s the deal. I have a job to do here. So please go back to whatever you were doing and forget you saw me.”

Jostled by a passing couple, Lilli’s purse slid down her arm. As she grabbed for it, Max caught hold of the strap at the same time. Their fingers touched and the same dizzying jolt from moments before zapped him again. She must have felt it, too, because her eyes grew wide and she shuddered, taking a step back. He still held his hand out toward her. “I was trying to help.”

She hugged her purse close to her midsection. “I’m fine.”

He lowered his arm. Shoppers passed them, oblivious to his plight. Another tourist brushed by Lilli and she moved out of the way, closing the distance between them again, distance he needed so Bart wouldn’t notice him. “You’re missing the whole concept of undercover,” he told her.

“Then enlighten me.”

“Maybe when I have more time.” Max moved toward the gift store, hoping to blend in with the crowd. He noticed the shop woman watching them through the window before she turned away. So much for going unnoticed.

“Please, go back to your friend and forget I’m here.”

“It’s too late,” Lilli informed him.

Before Max had a chance to slip away unnoticed, Bart and the other woman joined them. If Bart suspected anything fishy, he didn’t show it, beguiled by his smiling companion.

“Hey, Lilli, is that who I think it is?”

Lilli looked back and forth between Max and the woman, not sure how much to give away.

“Hey, Jewel. Um, yeah, it is.”

Max groaned. Just shoot me now and get it over with.

Jewel frowned, sizing Max up. “I thought you were kidding about his clothes. He’s—”

“Working.” Lilli spoke the word with emphasis. Okay, she might not like his clothes but at least she didn’t give him up.

“Leaving,” Max corrected, looking at Lilli to relate his secret thanks. “We’ll talk later.”

Lilli opened her mouth to respond, but not before a uniformed police officer approached them. Max watched Bart’s eyes flare in panic. Had the officer caught Bart in the act before Max?

“Excuse me,” the officer spoke to Lilli. He thumbed in Max’s direction. “Is this guy giving you a hard time?”

She stared at the officer for a moment, stunned. “No. We were talking.”

“We received a call that you might need help.”

“A call?” She glanced up at Max, confusion knitting her brow.

The woman from Milly’s Gifts and Things appeared at her door and pointed at Max. “That’s the man, officer.”

Great. Max couldn’t nab Bart if the police wanted to question him.

“He’s been skulking around,” the woman continued. “He came into my store, casing it. I just knew he was going to rob me until this young lady stopped him.”

“That’s not true,” Max told the officer.

“Then, clear as day, I saw him grab that woman’s purse,” the shop lady added, on a roll of accusations.

Max read a guilty verdict in the eyes of the people who stopped to watch the unfolding drama. He sure looked the part of a shady character. If he was a cop—and he had been—he’d believe the store owner in a heartbeat.

“No,” Lilli assured the officer. “He stopped to help me.”

“Help himself to your belongings,” the store owner countered. “I saw him grab on to her purse strap not five minutes ago.”

Lilli tried to defend Max, but the store owner didn’t believe her.

Max scrubbed his hand over his face, wondering how his simple surveillance had gone haywire. Trying to make his case to the officer, who tried to get everyone to stop talking at the same time, Max pleaded innocence. No one listened. The store owner started yelling about a bad element plaguing their town. By the time Max realized his stakeout was a lost cause, he’d taken his attention from his suspect for too long. Bart had disappeared.

“Where’d he go?” Max asked no one in particular. He turned in a circle on his bootheel, running a hand through his hair, frustrated no end.

He turned to face the crowd gathered around him. The officer frowned at him.

Max held his hands up. “I can explain everything.”

“Sir, let me see some ID,” the officer said, unimpressed with Max’s urgent declaration.

Max groaned. He went to pull his wallet from his back pocket. Only it wasn’t there. Stunned, his eyes locked with the pesky woman who’d disrupted his world twice today.

“Bart took my wallet.”

CHAPTER FOUR

STANDING IN AN OFFICE at the police station, Lilli watched Max as he paced in front of the police chief. The chief had suggested they all move from the sidewalk to the station to straighten out the misunderstanding. Especially when the crowd grew bigger.

Every so often Max cast a frown in her direction. While that should’ve bothered her, instead, her heart beat rapidly. If anything, Max had caused her nothing but trouble today. First, by refusing to be a volunteer groom, then when she’d inadvertently got caught in his stakeout. Shouldn’t she be upset with him? Her stomach flip-flopped. From all the excitement, she reasoned, not because of totally gorgeous Max. His dark, unruly hair kept falling over his forehead after he unsuccessfully brushed it back. Could he be any more adorable?

No. He’s making your job more difficult, remember? Because of him, she’d have to find another suitable volunteer groom. Her mother would not be happy that Max hadn’t jumped on board with her idea, which meant an earful for Lilli.

Yep, Max Sanders had made her life complicated. Again. But she did feel bad that he’d lost his wallet.

When they’d arrived at the station, Max had removed his sunglasses and glanced at her. She’d gotten up close and personal with those stormy gray eyes. For a fleeting moment his annoyance had vanished, replaced with...what? Curiosity? Interest in her, perhaps?

She’d tried not to react, but how could she not? He was seriously good-looking. Throw in the broad shoulders, six feet of muscular build—obviously the man worked out—and long denim-clad legs and...well, she noticed.

Yet she had to ignore his undeniable appeal and how it affected her. Even if she had wanted this tug of awareness to go somewhere, the unresolved past between them would make that impossible.

“I can’t believe he’s been spying on Bart,” Jewel fumed as she shot the hunky Max another glare. “Why would anyone want Bart tailed?”

Bart came across as a nice enough guy, but had trouble with his “confusion of ownership” issues. Amused by Jewel’s passionate defense, Lilli listened, letting her friend vent. She’d never seen Jewel this charged up before.

The chief, a tall bear of a man, with distinguished gray hair and a ready smile, moved their way to join the tail end of the conversation. He hadn’t changed much since the night he sat her in the squad car while he called her parents. At least this time she wasn’t in trouble. “Max was doing his job,” the chief explained.

Jewel simmered down, but her lips pursed in mulish displeasure.

“This is all just a misunderstandin’,” he assured them.

“Bart would never hurt anyone,” Jewel insisted. “Sure, he’s a little different, but that’s his appeal. Not everyone follows their inner voice.”

Not everyone’s inner voice told them to pick pockets, either. Lilli glanced over at her friend. “Since when did you become so interested in Bart?”

Pink covered Jewels cheeks. “I’ve run into him around town a few times. We went to high school together,” she explained. “Recently we reconnected. I even invited him to join us for lunch today...before we were interrupted. But he turned me down.”

Interrupted by Max. Lilli peeked over at him again, her stomach fluttering. For the second time in her life, Max Sanders caught and held her attention, but she resisted the lure. She had a lot on her plate, which didn’t include getting tangled up with Max again.

“The officer has your statements, ladies, so if you’ll excuse me, I should probably get back to Max.” The chief excused himself.

“Isn’t that peachy,” Jewel grumbled.

“He knows what he’s doing,” Lilli told her friend.

“Bart’s not even here to defend himself.”

Lilli decided not to point out the fact that his disappearing act looked suspicious. While Jewel complained, her attention went back to Max.

He stood only a few feet away, so she couldn’t help but hear the chief laughing while Max spoke in a low tone. He frowned and seemed put out, while the chief enjoyed the entire situation, especially when he handed Max a square brown object that could only have been the pilfered wallet. Max’s neck grew red as he shoved the billfold into his back pocket. Lilli chuckled at his disgruntled expression.

He headed in her direction. Uh-oh.

“Look, things got out of hand. Thanks for not blowing my cover.”

“Are you appreciative enough to be a groom?”

“No way.”

“You know, I could have told the officer you were causing trouble.”

“I still would have ended up here. Like the last time the police brought us both in.” His eyes narrowed. “You seem to have a special ability for getting me in hot water.”

“Hey, I didn’t plan to.”

“Today? Or years ago?”

“Neither. And I resent the implication.”

“You’re trouble, pure and simple.”

“And you’re not?”

The chief chuckled. “Should I leave you two alone to work things out?”

She grimaced. “No, thanks.”

The chief still grinned. “That’s good, ’cuz Max here doesn’t like being cornered.”

By his scowl, Lilli knew she’d managed that. Twice in one day.

“I still lost Bart,” Max groused.

“Are you implying it’s my fault he got away?” Lilli planted her fists on her hips. Max leaned toward her and she couldn’t deny the sparks flaring between them as they squared off. Every flash of potent energy threw off tantalizing heat, yet she didn’t back down.

“No, I’m flat-out saying it.”

They were still glaring at each other when the chief stepped between them.

“Bart’s a slippery one, I’ll give you that. But I have no doubt you’ll get the job done.” He slapped Max on the back, as if giving Max his cue to leave. Max’s neck grew red again. He sent Lilli a curt nod and strode off.

“Our lunch hour is completely blown.” Jewel told Lilli as they left the station. “But watching you push Mr. Security Consultant’s buttons? Worth not eating.”

“Did I do that?” Lilli asked innocently while batting her eyelashes.

“Like a pro.” Jewel held up her hand for a high five. Lilli slapped her hand against Jewel’s. “So really, what’s going on between you two?”

Lilli adjusted her purse strap, her gaze following the path Max had taken. “Nothing.”

Jewel snorted. “Yeah, right.”

“I sort of know him.”

Jewel’s eyes went wide. “Explain ‘sort of.’”

Lilli squirmed. “We met twelve years ago. Just once. At the beach.” She laughed. “I got him into trouble with the police.”

“Do I even want to know?”

“It’s a long story. Suffice it to say, he’s still holding a grudge.”

“And now you’ve reconnected. Interesting.”

Lilli frowned. “There’s nothing to be interested in.”

“So you say.”

Okay, so maybe she missed their verbal skirmishes already. She squirmed under Jewel’s smug scrutiny, not wanting to delve too deeply into the matter here in the middle of the sidewalk. Bad enough she’d provoked the guy. She didn’t want to uncover the reasons why.

“Let’s not go there,” Lilli said.

“I knew it. You’re totally crushing on Max.”

“Am not.”

“Are, too. Why are you denying it? What are you afraid of?”

Flashbacks of the night on the beach were quickly overshadowed by the catastrophe that had been her wedding rehearsal dinner. The pain and humiliation. Afraid? Yes. But she’d never admit it out loud.

“My relationship with Max, if you could call it that, is difficult.”

“Looks like it.”

“He’s infuriating.”

“That’s half the fun.”

Lilli glanced down the empty sidewalk. “I knew you’d say that.”

* * ** * *

BACK AT WORK, Jewel continued her running commentary about Bart while Lilli tried to concentrate on the Natural Puppy account. She’d hoped that Jewel’s evaluation of Lilli’s attraction to Max would prove wrong, but with reluctance, admitted she might be right.

What was she going to do about it?

As the question swirled around in her brain, an annoying chime sounded from her purse. Digging through the tan leather bag, she found her cell.

She squinted at the caller ID, sighing heavily. Her mother’s timing could be uncanny. “Mom, I’m in the middle of a deadline,” Lilli said by way of greeting. “I can’t talk about the benefit right now.”