Chapter Ten

“Mild concussion and a gorgeous bruise on my ass.” Bev shifted positions on her couch—to ease the ache—as she spoke to Megan.

Her friend hovered over her, checking her pupils.

“Meg, seriously, I’m fine.”

Megan backed away and put a hand on her hip. “You look like hell. What’s the lawyer think?”

“The lawyer thinks you should start calling him Finn. And I agree she looks like hell.”

He walked in from the kitchen with this announcement. He placed a pill and a bottle of water on the coffee table in front of her. “The lawyer also thinks the patient needs to take her pill. I only agreed to bring you here instead of letting them admit you to the hospital because you promised to be a good patient.”

Megan raised an eyebrow and stared Bev down.

“Stop staring at us, Meg, and Finn, stop being so bossy. I’m taking the damn pill.” She sounded whiny to her own ears, but her head still hurt like hell. She was saved from any further discussion about her sorry state when Meg spoke.

“Okay, Finn. What do you think of all this?”

“I’m waiting for the report from the arson investigator before I let myself think anything. I don’t want to speculate, but the timing is suspect. Obviously. You just inherited a fortune, and then someone blows up your office.” He rubbed his forehead. “Christ, you could have been killed.”

Tears formed in Meg’s eyes.

Bev reached for her friend’s hand. “I’m fine. I didn’t blow up. It was just my office. I’m sure it was an accident.” She directed a frosty look in his direction. “Not helping, Counselor.”

He took the hint. “Actually, there isn’t any way to tell yet. The fire chief couldn’t see anything amiss in what was left of your office. He said you had a kerosene lantern in there and it could be as simple as bad wiring in the wall. Small fires get out of control when you add kerosene.”

“Every office at the marina has a kerosene lantern in case of power outages. It would be stupid not to.”

“Don’t get defensive. No one is saying this is your fault. Accidents happen,” Meg said as she moved next to her on the couch and put a hand on Bev’s arm. “Seriously, how do you feel?”

She was losing what little control she had. Tears sprang to her eyes. “I feel horrible. My beautiful little office is gone. I’d just paid another year on the lease. Everything important was in that office.”

Meg dropped her hand. “Everything important? You could have been in there.”

“I know, I know. I just can’t break down right now, and if I think too long about it, I will. Ma and Joe would have been there if I hadn’t sent them on vacation. They always have their coffee together in the office in the morning before I get there. Thank God they aren’t here.” She hated she could hear the tears in her voice. Pushing them away, she said, “I’m focusing on what I can control.”

She turned to him, who was looking at her with an odd expression. She couldn’t worry if he thought she was crazy. She needed to act. “Okay, Counselor. Let’s get this done.”

“I’m not exactly sure what you want to get done. The actual signing and you taking over has to happen in my office with my assistant as a witness.” His phone rang. He answered quickly. “Hi, Jules. Yes. Will you courier over what I need please and also call Mr. Bastien? I need to reschedule his deposition for next week.”

As he hung up, she observed he wasted little time in handling things. She thought of the signing of the will. “Great. I finally make the decision and now I have to wait.” She sighed. “I need a drink.”

Megan popped off the couch. “I’ll get it.”

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea with the medication…”

Megan walked back in with a glass of milk. “Relax, Finn. When she says she needs a drink, it always means milk. She’s weird. You get used to it.” Megan shrugged and sat back down. “Do you feel like anything special? Do you want me to bring you some food? I work the dinner-to-close shift tonight, but I can bring you anything you need before work.”

She closed her eyes. “Thanks, but no.” She took a sip. “What happened to Cary? He and I were talking before the blast. Is he okay?”

“A couple of scrapes, but he’s fine,” she said. “Are you sure you don’t want anything?”

“No, thanks. You get ready for work. I’ll be fine.”

Meg gnawed at her lip. “I don’t want to leave you alone.”

He nudged Megan. “The lawyer is here, remember?”

She let out a little laugh. “Right, you’re here. Sorry. I’m a worrier. I’ll feel better she’s not alone tonight.”

With his sexy brown eyes, he looked down at her. “Don’t worry; she won’t be alone.”

Meg giggled as she walked to the door. Bev couldn’t seem to look away from his gaze.

“All right. I’m outta here. See you tomorrow.”

She couldn’t come up with anything more than a mumbled good-bye for her friend. She remained transfixed by the smoldering look he was giving her. He lowered himself to the coffee table directly in front of her and continued to stare. She grew uncomfortable under his scrutiny. She decided to put him on the spot.

“Why are you staring at me?”

“I’m worried about you, Beverly Winslow.”

So completely unexpected was his response she had no reply. Her mouth dropped open a bit as he brushed the hair off her forehead. She stared into his eyes as he made the tender gesture. He spoke to her in a gravelly voice that caused warmth to spread throughout her body.

“I’m really glad you’re okay,” he whispered.

“Me ,too. I think blowing up would have sucked.”

He laughed. “That’s an interesting way of putting things. Even before we met, I knew you’d be fascinating.”

“Why did you think that?”

“From the moment Reginald mentioned your name, it was my job to research you. I got the facts. No traffic tickets, all A’s in college and grad school, volunteer at a local school giving lectures about wildlife. I could go on listing, but that wasn’t who you are. You’re loyal. You put family and friends before yourself. You’re funny and smart and a little weird. There is more to you than that, but I’ve spent enough time with you. You’re somebody worth getting to know.”

“You investigated me?”

“Yes.” He shrugged. “I apologize, but it was part of my job.”

“And probably completely legal.”

“I don’t do anything illegal. Ever.”

“So what else can you tell me? My checking account balance?”

“Your balance just got three hundred million dollars fatter, and it doesn’t matter to me at all. The only thing that matters is we figure out what to do now. We should schedule the signing of the papers, but more importantly, we need to keep you safe. Blowing up your office is the work of an insane bastard. If it wasn’t an accident, we have to assume this has to do with the money.”

“Goes without saying.”

He nodded. “We need to come up with a plan to proceed, but I wanted to let you know I’d done some digging on you. I like things out in the open. I didn’t want to keep anything from you. I speak my mind and I appreciate the same from my friends.”

“So, we’re friends now?”

“Clients can be friends, too,” he said softly.

She liked him. She wished she didn’t. It would be easier. But she felt herself wanting to confide in him. She angled her head. “You know plenty about me, but I got virtually nothing on you.”

“You trust me. You already admitted that.” he said. “And while we’re figuring this mess out, you can fill in the blanks about me for yourself.” He tapped her hand until she looked back up at him. “I don’t lie. You’ll always know where you stand with me. That’s important for me in my work and in my personal life.”

She offered her hand. “Okay, friend. I’m in agreement. Let’s work on this mess, as you put it.”

He shook her hand gently. “Friend,” he agreed. The now familiar warmth spread through her. He seemed to feel it too and didn’t let go.

Mesmerized, she let herself lean toward him. He looked like he would kiss her, and she was on board for that kiss. Suddenly he backed up and let go of her hand.

“We should decide how to make the announcement to the world,” he said. “It has to be something you’re comfortable with.”

She tried to clear her swimming head, to tell herself she didn’t want this. But her whole body was telling her otherwise.

“Okay, what are your thoughts?” she asked just as his phone rang.

“Let me get this, and then I’ll lay it out for you.” He swiped his phone on. “Hey, Jules, what’s up?”

The conversation was brief, and she could tell that he wasn’t happy about the topic. He clicked off after a terse good-bye. “That was my assistant. The fire chief called my office.”

“What did he say?”

“The arson investigator finished her preliminary report.”

“And?”

“It wasn’t an accident.”