Orange Blossom Brides. Tara Randel

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.