tell Jolie the story of how she met Gray.
Jolie reacted in all the right ways. She gasped at the image of Natalie being followed from the coffee shop. Her eyes widened when Natalie described the man emerging from the stairwell. And she let out a relieved breath at Gray’s well-timed rescue.
Natalie paused for dramatic effect. “And my rescuer? He asked me out.”
Jolie’s lips flattened into a line.
Not the response Natalie was after. “I thought you’d be happy for me.”
Jolie glanced away.
“What is it? You said yourself that I needed to meet different men. And this one is … wow.”
“I wasn’t thinking of some guy who suddenly appears in a parking garage.”
“He works at Kendall.”
Jolie’s frown grew deeper. “How do you know that?”
“He said Devin hired him to be part of the security department, and he had a key to the garage.”
“Devin hired …” Jolie pulled in a long breath and shook her head. “Going out with him doesn’t seem like a very good idea.”
“You’re not warning me about workplace romances, are you? You, of all people?” She never would have expected this kind of response from Jolie, who had just gotten engaged to Natalie’s brother Devin … who also happened to be her boss.
“It just doesn’t feel right, that’s all. You don’t know anything about him.”
“I know he’s nice and good-looking and he saved me from a guy who was a little bit creepy and wore really bad shoes.”
Jolie normally would have laughed at a comment like that, but she didn’t even crack a smile.
“I don’t believe this. I thought you’d be happy for me.”
“I just think you should be careful.”
“Careful?”
“You have to admit, you’ve picked some losers.”
“But Gray isn’t like those other guys.” Natalie couldn’t even count the ways he was different.
“How do you know that?”
How did she know? “I don’t know. I just do.”
Once again, Jolie gave her head a slow shake. “He could be something totally different than what you think. You might really start to like him only to have him turn around and leave.”
Like all those other guys …
Jolie hadn’t said it, but she might as well have.
Natalie wanted to protest, but at the moment, the words were totally out of reach. If she was honest with herself, she had to admit Jolie was probably right. Her friend knew what kind of men she’d dated. She’d heard the horror stories, even witnessed some of Natalie’s epic fails.
She tried her best to give Jolie a smile and plucked a gorgeous midnight-blue silk dress with a dramatic draped neckline from the rack. “You’re right. He can’t be as good as he seems.”
Jolie tilted her head and offered an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, Nat. I know you thought I’d be happy for you. I just don’t want to see you hurt again.”
She couldn’t blame Jolie. “I know. I’ve done a good job of picking jerks over the years, haven’t I?”
“It’s not only that. You know, things have so been … crazy. Call me paranoid, but I don’t want any of that to rub off on you.”
She understood where her future sister-in-law’s worry was coming from. The Kendall family had faced enough danger in the past two months to make anyone a bit wary, even someone as plucky as Jolie. She and Devin had been through a lot and so had Ash and Rachel.
She gave Jolie a smile. “You don’t have to worry about me.”
“But I do.”
“Well, stop it. I know things have been weird, but no one is going to want anything from me.”
Jolie didn’t look convinced.
“Really. Ash is a cop, Rachel a crime scene investigator and Devin is CEO of the company. Fair or not, they’re going to make enemies. And with everything we believed about the past blowing up, they’ve had a lot to deal with. But no one is going to target someone like me. I’m not part of the investigation. I was only six years old when … you know, they died.” She paused to take a breath. She didn’t normally talk about her parents’ twenty-year-old murders, not even to Jolie, and it took a second for her to compose herself and go on. “I have no power outside of the public relations department at Kendall Communications. I’m a threat to no one.”
“I’m not so sure.”
“I am. The biggest thing I have to fear is giving my heart to another man who’ll stomp on it and throw it away.” And in worrying about that, Jolie was right.
“Natalie?” Her future sister-in-law’s voice was steeped in concern. “I didn’t mean—”
“It’s okay. I know I don’t have the most reliable taste when it comes to men. But at least I do know my dresses, and this one that Rachel picked out for me is divine.” She turned the hanger of the midnight-blue dress in her hand and the skirt flowed with the movement as if dancing on air.
Jolie tilted her head to the side and studied Natalie. From the look on her face, she wasn’t falling for the dress distraction. “You’re not going on the lunch date, are you?”
She didn’t want to say the word, but she knew she had to. “No, of course not. That would be stupid.”
“I’m glad. The whole situation feels weird to me. Especially now, with all that’s been going on. I don’t think you should risk seeing a guy who conveniently shows up out of the blue like that.”
“I didn’t say I wasn’t going to see him again.”
The warning was back in Jolie’s eyes.
“I don’t have his phone number, okay? I have to see him to tell him I’m not going to lunch.”
“Natalie …”
“Don’t worry. I’ll just find him at the office tomorrow. Nothing bad will happen to me.” She started for one of the tiny dressing stalls off the mirrored salon. “How about I try on this gorgeous dress, and we’ll go see if we can find Rachel? I want to see that gown.”
She closed the door behind her and leaned back against it just in time to hide the stupid tears brimming in her eyes.
Chapter Three
The barista raised a brow, the silver hoop skewering
