THE PERFECT TEN (Boxed Set)

think he scares her. Trish didn’t want to bother you, so I told her I’d get a ride and come get her, but you’re only fifteen minutes away. I’m close to an hour once I get the car going.”
    Zane looked over at Angel. She was standing a foot away now, staring out the patio doors. In the minute since he’d answered his phone she’d withdrawn. The distance between them felt as wide as the ocean crashing against the beach outside.
    “Okay, Heidi. I’ll get her.”
    He snapped the phone shut. “Angel...”
    She held up a hand to stop him. “I’m torn between thanking you for that and apologizing for letting it happen. I shouldn’t be doing this, but it’s not your fault and I won’t let it happen again.”
    He closed his eyes then opened them. When would his life get any easier?
    “Look, Angel, there is no fault. I want you, and I’m pretty sure you feel the same way, but this probably isn’t the time. Not until we solve your problem.”  Because she wouldn’t listen to what he had to say until then. He would convince her that she belonged with him.
    “If you say so.” She looked at the phone in his hand. “Is something wrong?”
    He hadn’t realized he was gripping the phone so hard. “I’ve got to go pick up Trish. Do you want to go with me?”
    “No. I’d rather stay here,” she said.
    Zane sighed. Trish had to be picked up now. Before she got hurt.
    “Will you promise me you won’t leave the apartment?” he asked. “I don’t think I can take too many more surprises today. When I get back, I want you to tell me why you took off earlier.”
    “I won’t leave,” she said, then added, “I promise.”
    Based on her posture – arms crossed, back straight, chin high – a casual observer would think her confidence had returned. Not Zane. He’d noticed her habit of chewing on her bottom lip when she was nervous. “That’s not all I asked for.”
    Disappointment filled her eyes. “I can’t tell you the truth about why I left earlier and I’d rather not lie to you.”
    They’d tackle this when he returned. “After I get Trish, I’ll pick up something to eat on the way home. What would you like?” 
    “Pizza?”
    Her predilection for one food group amused him, but he had a tough time smiling with his heart in his throat.
    He hated walking away from her right now, but knew better than to leave Trish for long when she was partying hard.
    Angel must have misread his reluctance as concern that she’d disappear.
    “Don’t worry. I’ll be here.”
    Would she?
     
    Chapter 28
     
    Angel dug through the basket full of clean clothes next to the dryer. A blazing red shirt with a chest pocket was perfect. It suited her blazing fury. She hadn’t quite figured out who she was angrier with, herself or Zane, but red covered all bases.
    Had she completely lost all sense of priority? Okay, she’d admit the truth. He’d been right. She did want him as badly as he obviously wanted her.
    She should have known that once Zane Black touched a woman there would be no other man after him. Not that she wanted another man, but once she went into the WITSEC program – or ended up back in prison – they’d never see each other again.
    How was that fair to Zane?
    It wasn’t. Not any more than it was fair for her to be the only one to benefit by his lovemaking tonight. Staying here lulled her into complacency and had her starting to think Zane was right. That she could solve her problems and stick around.
    If he knew everything, he’d realize how wrong he was.
    Should she tell him everything?
    Why not? She trusted him.
    She propped a hip against the dryer, considering the pluses and minuses of doing that. If she told him about Mason, how she ended up at the compound, and about the coins, Zane would believe her. Then he’d bring in the police who would bring in the FBI. Everyone would listen to her and maybe even believe her.
    Until she failed to produce someone to corroborate her alibi.
    The FBI would also bring in Mason who would have to explain his fingerprints on the plastic coin sleeves.
    What would she do in Mason’s shoes?
    Claim that he and Angel had been intimate right before she disappeared from work. That some sleeves from his own rare coin collection had gone missing, but he hadn’t put it together until now.
    No matter how ludicrous an idea, they’d buy it once he marched out all the philanthropic things he did each year and how he’d never had so much as a traffic ticket. Then