What Is Hidden by Janice Kay Johnson

Author:Janice Kay Johnson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2022-10-05T20:05:47+00:00

* * *

JO BEAT ALAN to the diner, which surprised her. She suspected he always liked to be there to set up, whatever the situation. She did ask for the booth in back again, although took the side facing the front door. When she saw him walk in a couple of minutes later and their eyes met, she slid out and into the side that meant her back was to the door. Then she drank in the intensity in his unwavering stare and the sight of his tall, powerful body.

“You didn’t have to do that,” he said, when he sat down.

“No?”

“But thank you. I like to see what’s coming.”

“Surely nothing that alarming when there’s probably not a man in town who would have the nerve to come after you.”

“Call it habit.” He reached for the menu but didn’t start perusing it. “Anyway, you’re presupposing anyone who came after me has any brains.”

Jo chuckled. “You’re right. How silly of me.”

He flashed the grin that altered his face so drastically, deepening lines between his nose and mouth, making his eyes glint.

“I just came from a little standoff,” he told her. “A few of the local geniuses had decided a guy who moved to town just before Christy Dodswell disappeared had to be the killer. It was four to one.”

Hiding a spurt of worry, Jo studied him anew. “You don’t look as if you’ve so much as bruised your knuckles.”

“Nope. I talked some sense into them, although God knows how long that’ll stick.” He smiled past her, even before she realized their waitress was approaching.

Both ordered. He never had glanced at the menu, which meant he’d eaten here more than the once when she’d seen him.

“That’s your pickup loaded with lumber out there?” she asked, even though she knew it was. Who else had Virginia plates on a shiny black Ford F-150?

“Yeah, I’m going to tear down the detached garage and build a new one. Seems like a good time to do it. I’ll need to have the trusses and what have you delivered, but I can start with the framing. At least around here I don’t have to worry about rain.”

“Bank says it’s eighty degrees right now,” she said. “You have more chance of getting burned to a crisp.”

“Not me, but you would.” He studied her. “I don’t suppose you tan easily.”

“Or at all.” She wrinkled her nose. “I’m tempted to buy stock in a few suntan lotion companies.”

That rusty laugh seemed to come more easily than it had the first time she’d heard it. And she was too pleased, given that there was no chance of starting anything with this man. In fact—their last two meetings had ended with him being a jerk.

She frowned. “So what’s the deal with this? Are you planning to issue some bad news? A few warnings to mind my own business?”

His mouth tilted slightly. “Neither.”

“Then...”

“I wanted to see you.”

The few words spoken in a soft, gravelly voice hit her hard.

“I...”

He seemed to don a mask, in that way he had.

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