She estimated that it would take her ten minutes to get to Christopher. She’d call on the way to tell Theresa, the sitter, that Christopher had an appointment with the pediatrician in nearby Luling. An appointment that had slipped her mind until the last minute. Though it would be a first for her to forget something like that, she hoped it’d be a believable lie. She didn’t have time for questions.
Elaina located her keys and threw open the exit door. She heard someone trying to get into her office. Carrie maybe. Or maybe the imposter. Elaina ignored the frantic knocks and raced out of the shop.
The winter air was a little more brisk than she’d figured, and a chilly gust temporarily robbed her of her breath. Goose bumps rifled over her arms. The cotton shirt she wore wasn’t much of a barrier. It didn’t stop her. She ducked her head against the wind and made a beeline toward her car.
“Going somewhere?” she heard someone ask.
It was a man’s voice.
Oh, mercy.
His voice, no doubt.
She didn’t freeze, though she had to fight her instincts to prevent that from happening. Instead, Elaina began to run toward her car. Even though her heart was pounding and her shoes were slapping on the concrete, she could still hear his footsteps behind her.
Elaina made it all the way to her car before she felt the beefy hand clamp around her arm. She struggled against the grip and slammed her purse into the man’s chest.
It didn’t help.
As if she weighed nothing, he caught on to her, whirled her around to face him, and he pinned her against the hood of her car.
She screamed. Or rather tried to do that, but he pressed his hand over her mouth.
No profile view of him this time. She caught the full brunt of those lethal looking granite-gray eyes. In fact, lethal described every part of him from his hard body to the expression on his face.
Because he used his body to restrain her, she had no trouble determining that he was strong. No extra body fat on this guy. She also had no trouble spotting the shoulder holster and gun that was only partially concealed beneath his leather jacket.
Still, it didn’t matter that she was outsized, out-maneuvered and outgunned. She wouldn’t give up without a fight. Especially since this man might go after Christopher. Thankfully, the Crystal Creek police station was just up the block from the shop. She’d yell for help and deal with the inevitable questions later.
First though, she had to get free.
She managed to grab on to his wrist, and she ripped his grip from her mouth. “What do you want?” she snarled.
“Elaina Allen, I presume?” He didn’t wait for her to confirm or deny it. “Let me introduce myself. I’m your long-lost husband, Captain Daniel Allen.”
Oh, there was some cockiness in that voice tinged with a hint of a Texas drawl, but there were also questions. And accusations.
She forced herself to meet him eye to eye. “You’re lying, and you know it.”
“Yeah. I guess I do know it. But the way I see it, both of us have told some big fish stories, and both of us have some explaining to do. You start first.”
Elaina was about to tell him that she owed him no such explanation and that he’d better let go of her at once or she’d scream, but then she heard Carrie. She peered over the man’s shoulder and spotted Carrie in the doorway of the exit.
Elaina cursed under her breath.
So did the man.
She met his gaze to try to figure out what he was about to do. It was entirely possible he might try to kill Carrie so there wouldn’t be any witnesses to Elaina’s own murder. If that’s what he had planned.
Elaina didn’t have to wait long to find out.
Much to her shock, the imposter lowered his head and kissed her.
Chapter Two
Luke Buchanan had to keep reminding himself that the woman he was kissing was a liar. Maybe even worse. But just the fact he had to remind himself of that riled him to the core.
Why?
Because he didn’t need a reminder that she tasted almost as good as she looked. And she did look good, far better than she had from the other end of long range surveillance equipment.
“Play along,” Luke warned her, pulling back only slightly.
His warning earned him a nasty little glare. Those ice-blue eyes tapered to slits, and he could have sworn she hissed at him. But maybe that was the brutal November wind that was assaulting them.
“Oh, good,” the skinny blond sales clerk said from behind them. “You found each other.”
Luke didn’t look back at her. He kept his gaze staked to the liar he’d just kissed.
The liar who tasted remarkably like cherry pie.
“Who are you?” the liar demanded.
“Your husband,” he lied back. “Trust me, you’ll want to go along with that for now. It’s in your best interest.”
Since his body was still against hers, he felt her go board stiff. She no doubt would have questioned him, or slugged him so she could escape, if the sales clerk hadn’t stopped right next to them.
“This is so exciting,” the clerk declared. She walked closer and grinned from ear to ear. “I’m a sucker for happy endings.”
Well, this wasn’t one of them.
Luke knew the clerk was Carrie Saunders. Age twenty-four. Born and raised in Crystal Creek. He was reasonably sure that Ms. Saunders didn’t have a clue that she was working for a woman who’d fabricated an entire life. So, in a sense Carrie Saunders was a nonplayer. Or at least she would be once Luke got away from her. He definitely didn’t want her or the local police to get suspicious, and he needed to get his wife alone so they could have a little chat.
“You wouldn’t mind if Elaina left for the day, would you?” Luke asked the other woman. He kept his tone playful and needy, as if he truly were the long-lost husband who’d returned to his loving family.
“Take as much time as you want,” Carrie insisted. She wagged her finger at Elaina. “I don’t want to see you anywhere near this shop for at least a week. Oh, and if you need someone to babysit Christopher, just give me a call.”
Luke assured her that they would, and he slid his arm around Elaina’s waist to get her moving. She had that deer-caught-in-the-headlights look, and for a second, he wondered if she was going to try to run away.
“Don’t even think about it,” Luke mumbled. “You’re leaving with me.”
He
