Page 2 of Love Expert

“But you told me to come out.” She stumbles onto the porch and swings her light toward my house, blinding my son until his eyes slam shut.

“Ma’am!” With my heart in my throat, I charge halfway up the stairs. “Put the flashlight down and your hands behind your head, then I want you to turn and press your nose to the wall.”

“Daddy?!”

“I don’t have any weapons.” Panicked, the woman releases her flashlight so it bounces against the porch and, for a brief second, shines right up at a face that imprints itself on my brain. On her long mahogany locks and wide, almond-shaped eyes. It’s brief, just a single second in time, then it topples over and lands again, the bright light pointed out at the street. Trembling, she lifts her arms and spins to face the wall. “I’m allowed to be here.”

I holster my gun and stalk up the remaining few stairs, dragging her hands up and slapping her palms to the wall. Then I grip the back of her neck and run my free hand along her ribs.

Her hip.

Her thigh.

“D-did you say your name is Caster?” she stammers. “Detective Caster?”

“Dad?” Jeremy’s voice wobbles. “What happened?”

“Nothing, buddy.” I switch hands and search her other side. “This is private property, and I know for a damn fact you’re not the owner .” Satisfied she’s not carrying, I spin her around and press her back to the wall. “What’s your name?”

A police cruiser skids into the driveway, tires slipping on loose gravel, the headlights brutally highlighting just how desperately Mrs. Sava’s place needs a new coat of paint. New shingles. New window trim. New porch railing, too, probably.

“Billy, you good up there?” Ramone, my partner on the job, bellows from across the lawn. “What’s happening?”

“B-Billy?” The woman’s golden eyes flicker between mine. “Billy Caster? You’re a cop now?”

I look her up and down as anxiety slides through my belly and my brain screamsno way, no chance, no how!“I asked for your name.”But I know it already. Right? Even though it’s impossible.Unreasonably irritated,I snag her wrist and slap a cuff over the delicate bone. “Until you’ve identified yourself, I’m gonna consider you a trespasser, and the fact I’ve had to ask more than once already is reason enough to take you down to the station and waste your entire night inside a cage.”

“Maggie?” Ramone slams his door and strides across the yard, up the stairs, and across the porch until his chest touches my shoulder and his eyes narrow in my peripherals. He studies her for a beat, staring, squinting, grunting, then he flashes a wide, way-too-fucking-friendly smile and shoves me aside. “Maggie Sava? Girl, is that you?”

“Ramone?” She stares right back. “Ramone Devereaux?”

“Yeah!” He undoes her handcuff and slaps it against my chest, then he grabs her hand and yanks her in for an aggressive hug. “Jesus, girl. You grew the hell up!”

ROUND TWO

BILLY

“Maggie Sava?” I grind her name through tight teeth, my nose barely six inches from Ramone’s while MagnoliaMaggieSava uses a dustpan and broom to clean up the mess she made now that the lights are on. “But she left.”

“Now she’s back.” He’s too fucking smug. Too happy. Tooappreciative. “She looks good, huh?” He bounces his brows, grinning the way he does thatalwayspisses me off, especially as he admires her ass in a pair of tight jeans. “It’s been twenty years since you were last in Plainview, huh? Longer even?”

“About that.” Straightening, she tucks long brown locks behind her ear and wanders to the trash can, stepping on the pedal opener and depositing shattered shards of ceramic inside. “Do Plainview policealwaysturn up on private property, intimidate women in the dark, and almost arrest them even when they’re legally allowed to be where they are?” She releases the lid and hits me with an unkind glower. “Or am I just lucky?”

“You were skulking around in the dark, and Mrs. Sava died in July.”

“I know when she died,” she bites right back. “She was my grandmother, after all. I was searching for the fuse box, but seeing as how I haven’t been inside this house since I was a kid, I’d say myskulkingwas entirely appropriate.” She tosses her dustpan to the small round kitchen table and sets her hands on her hips. “If anyone was in the wrong place, I’d say that person was…” She tilts her head my way, burning me with her beautiful golden eyes. “You. Why were youtrespassing onmyproperty, Detective Caster?”

Ramone giggles.He fucking giggles,and smacks my arm. “She might be a lawyer. Did you go and get yourself a fancy law degree, Maggie?”

“No.” And still, her fiery glare remains firm. “I didn’t. But do you need to see my grandmother’s will, Detectives, or am I free to walk inside my own home again?”

“Aww. You shouldn’t be so hard on my boy, Billy, here.” Ramone slaps me on the back. “He’s the best neighborhood watchdog you’ll ever get, and he’s got like, a ninety-eight percent accuracy rate.”

Unimpressed, Maggie’s glower turns more severe.

“This place has been empty for a while now, which makes it an easy target. He saw you in here, and I guess he reacted.”

“Yeah, he reacted.Poorly.” She folds her arms across her chest. “Whatever happened to knocking on a door andaskingif a person needed help?”