If You Know Her: A Novel of Romantic Suspense

going tosay hi—and do me a favor, yank your head out of your ass and don’t mention Nia. Lena doesn’t need to know she …”
    “Know what?” Law asked, his mouth twisting in a wry smile. “Need to know you were talking to a beautiful woman or that your beautiful wife looks just like her dead cousin …? Which don’t you want her knowing?”
    Ezra glared at him. “Again, take your head out of your ass and figure it out. What in the hell is your problem, anyway?”
    As Ezra headed over to his wife, Law rubbed the back of his neck and wished he could figure it out. Shit. That woman—she came around and his brain went the way of the caveman. He stopped being
able
to think.
    Hell, why was he acting like he’d caught Ezra and Nia going at it? He knew better. Ezra would cut off his arm before he’d hurt Lena like that. Swearing, he glanced out the door. Saw Nia pacing aimlessly around the square.
    Then, without a backward glance, he slipped outside.
    He just needed to talk to her. A minute. Without anybody else, see if maybe he could manage to get his brain cells functioning on any level resembling normal.
    She should have known she couldn’t be alone.
    Not in Small Town USA. Or Ash, Kentucky, as it were. Ash, Kentucky, was the epitome of Small Town USA, too. And there, damn it, was the epitome of some things that could go very, very right in Small Town USA, she guessed, watching as Law Reilly ambled her way, that loose, easy gait, all lean, long limbs, the sunlight glinting off his hair
    Damn. He was pretty, she thought, the observation winging up out of the blue to catch her off guard. She had an eye for attractive or appealing types—it was justpart of her job. He was definitely attractive and appealing. Usually, neither one was enough to hit her low in the gut, though. Something about him did—hit her low and hard, making her go all warm and tingly.
    Except she didn’t have a right to be feeling this way, and she knew it. Pushing it aside, she tried to focus on anything
but
those warm tinglies. It was harder than she’d thought it would be, considering her ex-boyfriend hadn’t made her feel much of anything.
    His hair had grown out since the last time she’d seen him. Almost down to his collar, and shot through with threads of gold, darker strands of brown. Nice hair, she thought. Nice face … nice eyes. Nice everything, really.
    Just looking at him did bad, bad things to her. And damn, that was a shock.
    It had been a long, long time since she’d felt anything other than grief, or rage. That low-level sexual attraction was a pleasant surprise … for a few seconds anyway.
    Then guilt kicked in. She couldn’t do this—couldn’t feel this.
    She was here for a reason, and even if she was inclined to lose her head for a few minutes, she sure as hell couldn’t do it with him. Definitely not with him.
    She’d made a complete fool of herself with him already, and she wasn’t here to look at him, wasn’t here to repeat those mistakes.
    Definitely wasn’t here to ogle him … but that’s what she was doing.
    Her mouth was dry, she realized. Turning away from him, she tried to find something else to stare at. Something else, anything else. There wasn’t anything else. Just a lousy picnic table.
    Desperate, she settled on it, clutching the edge of it in her hands. It was worn smooth from years of use—damn good thing, too, because the way she was grippingit, she would be lucky if she didn’t have a forest of splinters in her hands.
    “Can’t be easy.”
    The table groaned a little as Law settled down beside her. Shooting him a look from her eyes, she said, “What can’t?”
    “Seeing her … ah, Lena. Ezra mentioned that, she … well, looked like your cousin. I’m sorry. I …”
    She sighed and rested her elbows on her knees. “Stop, okay? I figured out why he didn’t want me going in that café.”
    “So why did you do it?”
    She shrugged. “Couldn’t stop myself.” Closing her eyes, she buried her face in her hands.
    “What was she like … your cousin?”
    Nia lowered her hands. “Joely?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Why? Why are you asking?” She turned to look at him, trying to figure out where he was going with this, what he wanted.
    Law shrugged. “Why not? You look pretty shaken. Just sitting here isn’t going to help. Talking might.”
    “And why in the fuck should it matter to you if I’m shaken or not?”
    He watched her, a look of compassion on his face, and