choice, she followed him. Harley sat on the end of the couch and she opted for the chair to his right. She set the tea on the table, unsure of how to start this conversation. Did they go straight to the investigation and ignore the elephant in the room? Or should they take the time to catch up after more than a decade of not seeing each other?
“So how have you been?” he asked, making the decision for her.
“Good,” she said on reflex. Since her divorce, people were always asking her how she was. She found they didn’t really want to hear the truth. “Most days, at least. A lot has changed since I saw you last, but I’m doing okay.”
Harley glanced down at her hand and his brows knitted together in confusion. Presumably he was looking for the wedding ring she’d taken off a long time ago. “I heard you married Lance, but I don’t see a ring.”
“I did marry him. My junior year of college,” Jade said. “It ended a couple years ago.”
Harley straightened, apparently unaware of what had happened. She was surprised the investigator hadn’t thoroughly looked into her past before he’d arrived. “I’m sorry to hear that,” he said.
Jade could only nod. She didn’t want to tell him about what had happened with Lance. It wasn’t a pretty story, but it had been in the news and anyone with a desire to could look it up. He could get all the details if he wanted to know.
“What about you? Any family?”
Harley chuckled and shook his head. “Oh, no. I spent eight years in the navy, traveling all over the world. There wasn’t much time for starting a family or even settling down in one spot. After I got out, I started my own business. That takes up every moment of your day for a while. Thankfully, things are running smoothly, without my constant supervision, now.”
Jade hadn’t been sure what Harley would do with his life. Some had bet their money he’d end up in jail. Others, that he’d accomplish nothing. She had seen more potential in him than that, and was pleased to hear he’d become an entrepreneur.
“So your company does private investigations? Like hired detectives?”
“Not entirely. Across our five locations, we do a lot of different work that falls in the security detail bucket. Personal security and protection, home security setup and monitoring, missing persons cases...lots of different things where the police can’t or won’t step in, for whatever reason. We specialize in government contracts and a higher end clientele who want to keep things quiet. Investigations are just one aspect of what we do at Dalton Security.”
Dalton Security? Now that he’d said it, Jade realized she’d heard of the company. Maybe in reference to the recent Bennett kidnapping case. That had been on every news channel she’d seen for weeks. Dalton Security had broken the case wide open and delivered the teen back to her parents.
It had never occurred to her that it was Harley’s business. It sounded like he was doing even better for himself than she had hoped. The nice suit and gold Rolex on his wrist were evidence enough of that. She was glad to hear it. Jade knew his mother had struggled to raise him on her own. The last she remembered, Harley’s mom had worked as a cashier at a grocery store and cleaned houses on the side.
“This seems like a pretty puny job in the scheme of things your company handles. Why would the CEO of Dalton Security—of all people—be working a case like this?”
Harley’s gaze met hers and she felt a shiver run through her whole body. When he looked at her that way, it was as though he could see straight through her, into her soul. There was nothing she could hide from him. She was an open book left out for him to read if he wanted to bother. It was unnerving and thrilling at the same time. For so long, she’d felt invisible.
Harley saw her.
“Isn’t that obvious, Jade? I took the case so I could see you again.”
The sight of Jade was breathtaking.
Damn it.
Harley hadn’t known what to expect when he walked up to her door. She had been a pretty teenager. Pretty enough to headline in every one of his high school fantasies, and a couple of his grown-up ones. A part of him had hoped that she wouldn’t be as attractive as he remembered. That perhaps she’d aged poorly or had taken up chain smoking. That would make it easier for him to do his job and walk away from the whole situation as planned.
But when she opened her front door today...he had to brace himself for the impact of how stunningly beautiful a woman she’d become. She still had the kind of naturally platinum blond hair that women spent a fortune on in the salon. It was just pulled back into a sleek ponytail, but the ringlets that fell down her neck were captivating. With her pale complexion and large eyes, she was like a flawless porcelain doll.
It was an incredibly frustrating sight for Harley, making the situation infinitely more complicated. Curiosity and boredom had brought him to Jade’s door. Her beauty could keep him around longer than was necessary to wrap up this case. He was painfully aware that the attraction between the two of them was just as intense as it ever was. The look in her eyes when she marched off into the kitchen told him that much.
To be honest, that was the last thing he wanted to know. Being attracted to Jade hadn’t ended well for him the first time. Not because it wasn’t reciprocal; he could’ve taken that. No, his heartburn came from the fact that even though she’d wanted Harley, she’d chosen Lance. That spoke volumes. Just because her ex wasn’t in the picture any longer didn’t mean anything had changed. She might still prefer a stuffed shirt over a guy like Harley. Fate had brought them back together, but it didn’t mean this time would be any different for the two of them.
And yet the way that Jade had looked at him when he said he was here to see her made him realize she had no clue how beautiful she truly was, or how he could still be attracted to her after all this time. That was a damned shame. What had happened to her since the last time he saw her that she could ever doubt it? What had her suitable, respectable husband done to break Jade’s spirit?
“You took the case just to see me?” she asked in obvious confusion and doubt. Jade seemed baffled by the whole situation. In fairness, he’d had several days to prepare to see her again, and she’d been thrown a curveball without warning.
“Let me rephrase that.” He backtracked, realizing the implications of his words. “I wanted to make sure your case was handled by the best guy at my company, and that means by me.”
Harley didn’t want Jade to think he’d come here just to profess his undying love and pick up where they’d left off. He hadn’t. He’d gotten over her a long time ago, whether he’d wanted to or not. Going through navy boot camp was enough to push anything other than survival out of his mind. The quiet moments were another matter. Those were harder to get through. That’s probably why he’d opted to spend most of his service overseas in the thick of things.
He couldn’t help but notice there was a slight flicker of disappointment in her eyes before she smiled and nodded. The attraction seemed to be mutual, even if fleeting. She still seemed conflicted by her attraction to him. “Of course. I appreciate your help with all of this.”
There was something in her tone that struck Harley as disingenuous. Did she not want him here, or was
