Emotions he couldn’t afford. “The kiss started out a diversion,” he admitted. “But ended up something else entirely.” And every single word of that sentence was 100 percent true. He looked over at her, and in the ambient lighting of the car’s interior, waited for a response.
But fascinatingly enough, it was her turn to do a tap dance around the truth. “I was doing fine,” she said.
“Sure you were,” he said. “You were doing fine at getting caught. You know, I thought your brother was the most stubborn person I’ve ever met, but he’s got nothing on you.”
She shrugged, clearly taking that as a compliment. “I could’ve handled myself.”
“I have no doubt,” he said. “But you’re not an ‘I.’ You’re a ‘we.’ If any of us at Hunt had pulled that stunt tonight, Archer would have had our ass in a sling.” He opened his car door. “Let’s go get the rest of this over with.”
The village was lights out, locked down. Molly nodded to the now locked gate. “How long would it take you to break in?”
They both knew B&E was Joe’s specialty, but Lucas was no slouch. “Two minutes. Ish.”
“Move,” she said, nudging him aside. “I can do it in one.”
And she did. And though it should have annoyed the shit out of him, it had the opposite effect. Watching her work the lock on that gate in the promised sixty seconds dressed as an elf turned him on even more than the costume.
They walked quietly and quickly through the dark village to the trailer office. Also locked.
Molly looked up at him with hope and excitement and he gestured for her to have at it.
Again, she got them inside in less than a minute. She beamed up at him, eyes shining with adrenaline and pride, and he had no idea what came over him. He slid his hand around the nape of her neck, pulled her to him, and kissed her. It was unsatisfyingly short, but no less potent for it, and when he pulled away, he had a surge of male satisfaction at seeing her eyes now slightly dazed.
“What was that for?” she asked.
“I don’t know. You drive me crazy.”
She nodded. “I get that a lot.”
“I meant crazy in a really great way.”
She stared up at him, nibbling her bottom lip, appearing to be struck mute by this confession. She didn’t know what to make of him.
Which made two of them.
She turned from him and eyed the office. Typical rectangle shape, stuffed with a shabby couch, three seen-better-days desks, and a filing cabinet. “What do you think?” she asked.
What did he think? He wanted to sprawl the elf out on one of the desks and taste every inch of her. That’s what he thought.
She looked up, caught his expression, and paused. “Do I want to know?”
“If you knew, you’d be running for the hills.”
She paused, as if she was debating pushing him on the issue.
Do it, he thought.
But she shrugged it off and pulled open a drawer. “Oh boy.”
He moved to her side in time to see that every drawer she pulled out was empty, including the cabinet file.
“Think he cleans out every night?” Molly asked. “Or was that for our benefit?”
“I don’t know. But we’re going to find out.”
She nodded and did a slow circle, her eyes running over the entire place.
No paper trail. No computer.
Nothing.
“What now?” she asked softly.
“We come back,” Lucas said. “Your next shift. There’s got to be some point in the evening where this office is left unattended. Maybe during bingo. I’ll get in then.”
She looked over him. “Sounds dangerous.”
He shrugged. He’d been in far worse circumstances.
She just looked at him.
“What?” he asked.
“I don’t like the feeling that I’m putting you into a dangerous situation.”
He let out a low laugh. “You know the nature of some of the jobs we take on. This is nothing.”
“You’d better not get hurt. Not on my watch.”
He was torn between laughing again and fighting a sensation he didn’t quite recognize, but whatever it was, it sent a warmth through his chest. Been a long time since someone had worried about him. Well, okay, his family worried about him, but he did his best to keep them in the dark on the actual danger level of his job.
Molly knew. And she understood.
And she worried about him.
And it wasn’t just tonight either. Four nights ago, she’d caught on to the fact that he’d been out of commission after stupidly mixing pain meds and alcohol, and she’d personally taken on the matter of his safety by getting him home.
That was new for him. And not entirely unwelcome. He’d been feeling off since getting shot. Off and alone. But actually, if he was being honest, it’d been longer than that, a lot longer. He’d cut himself off from feeling too much after losing Carrie and then a few years later, his brother, Josh in an arson fire.
But he was feeling again now and he knew that was Molly.
What he didn’t know was what to do about it.
Back at the car, Molly closed her eyes with a tired sigh. “You’re staring,” she murmured.
When she’d climbed into the passenger seat, the little elf costume had crept up her thighs again. A very nice view, but mostly he was hoping she wasn’t in pain. She was, though, he could see it in the tightness around her mouth and eyes, but God forbid he reveal an ounce of empathy; she’d likely kill him. “Does it make me an asshole to tell you that I like the way you look in that costume?” he asked.
She let out a low laugh. “Well you’re honest at least.”
He started to ask what the “at least” meant but her phone rang. She answered and listened a moment. “Joe, I can’t take tomorrow night for you. I told you that already, I’m working on something—” She paused and sighed. “So let me get this straight. You’ve got a really great girlfriend and she’s taking you on some fantastic mystery surprise date tomorrow night with the promise of God knows what afterward and you figured what the hell, Molly doesn’t have a life, I’ll get her to take my night. Is that it?”
Lucas winced for Joe.
“No, really,” Molly said in that same conversational voice. “By all means, let me help you make your already awesome, amazing life even better. I’ll handle it.” She disconnected and leaned her head back, closing her eyes. “Don’t,” she said quietly.
“Don’t what?” Lucas asked.
“Tell me I’m not nice. I already know it.”
“I wasn’t going to say that.”
“Because I am nice?” she asked dryly.
“Because you already know you’re not nice.”
At that, she snorted.
“And Molly? You do so have a life.”
She opened her eyes and met his. “You think so, huh?”
“Yes. You have a lot of good friends, and you’re always doing things like girls’ night out and shopping and spa stuff. And you have a good job that keeps you busy, and a family you care about.”
“I do have good friends,” she agreed. “But I don’t let any of them too close because I’m bad at that. And my job isn’t fulfilling me, which has me chasing down a bad Santa that no one but me thinks is bad.”