Read Online The Honeymoon Cottage (A Pajaro Bay Romance) by Barbara Cool Lee - Free Book Online

particular habits that stand out." She might have been more wary if Dennis had been more handsome, more flashy. "He was just average, in a non-threatening way. He looked so nice."
    "Of course."
    "What do you mean, of course?"
    "He's a con man. He's going to be easy to like, easy to get along with, agreeable and, yeah, 'nice'."
    "But I should have realized." She found she was wringing her hands, and deliberately unclasped them. "Looking back, there were red flags everywhere. His interest in my job, in how I handled my money, my computer. His vague explanations about his own job and where he went all day while I was at work."
    She sighed. "I was an idiot. I was on my way to meet him to elope and go to Hawaii—I had my wedding dress on a hanger in my cubicle—the day the police came. They had thrown me a party. I was sitting at my desk finishing up some work on the quarterly report. I remember I was stuffed full of pineapple cake and wearing a pink lei around my neck and... was happy." It had seemed like her life was falling into place so easily. Everything was so effortless.
    She shook her head. "And then the police appeared at my desk and hauled me away in handcuffs in front of everyone. The head of the department had discovered the theft. Someone using my computer codes had transferred over a million dollars to a bogus account in the middle of the night. Then the account was closed and cashed out before I got to work that morning. I worked on those computers and I still don't know how he pulled it off. He might have used a worm," she muttered, going over the details in her mind again. "Something to track my keystrokes. But how he got it on the computer at work I can't imagine."
    She pulled her mind back to the facts. "I should have known. Should have seen it coming. But he just seemed so... comfortable. He made me feel relaxed."
    Unlike the man sitting next to her, prickly and overbearing. It wasn't just his uniform—the constant reminder that he had the authority to check into her background, to dig up every bit of dirt from her past. The problem was more than that. It was him. His presence making the car feel too small, too close. She looked out the window and realized they were parked in front of the cottage.
    "I'm sorry you have to go through all this, Camilla. If there's anything I can do to help you, I will." His intense gaze pinned her to the seat, but finally she forced herself to turn away.
    She unfastened her seat belt as nonchalantly as possible and opened the door to get out, then hesitated. "Coffee?" she asked tentatively, wondering if she was nuts to actually invite him in. "It's instant, but it's drinkable."
    He nodded and got out of the car, too. He seemed hesitant, too, and that relaxed her for some reason. He wasn't as cold as he seemed, maybe. Maybe that was what was drawing her to him. That almost-hidden vulnerability peeking through his armor.
    He came around the front of the car to meet her.
    "Why me?" she asked. "That's what I keep asking myself. Why did he pick me? It's almost like he planned to leave Oliver with me, like he planned to leave me alone with this junky cottage and his son. Why would he do that?" On a roll, she recklessly voiced her real fear: "Was he able to see something in me that made me deserve this?"
    He smiled. "You sound like one of our town's aging hippies. Do you really believe you have some kind of karma that attracts trouble to you?"
    "Maybe I deserve trouble," she mumbled, then wished she could take it back.
    He leaned in closer, and those eyes glinted as he picked up on the importance of what she'd said. "Why would you deserve trouble?" he asked, his voice so soft she felt herself leaning closer to him to catch the words.
    She shrank back. Oh, Captain Knight was a good interrogator, wasn't he? That's the way these cops were. They always found a way to mess up your story. Picking away at you endlessly until you slipped up. She took a step back and straightened up. She turned