LITMIR.BIZ

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straight at her, despite Boner being the intended target. What fickle fairy did I tick off this morning?

      The men’s voices swirled around her. Fighting to breathe, she forced herself to calm down before she dissolved into hysterics.

      Instead of calm, sadness spread like a sedative through her limbs. The hard press of metal to her skin clarified the multitude of insecurities holding her back in life. How they dictated her behavior. Sadness morphed into irritation.

      On the horizon, the sun disappeared. Ally took a deep breath and sagged in Boner’s tight grip. She surged back up, slamming her heel into his instep. He grunted. His grip loosened. As hard as she could, she jammed her elbow into his solar plexus. Boner’s arms fell and she spun, driving the heel of her hand into his nose while smashing her knee into his groin.

      Boner crashed to the floor, curled in a fetal position and whimpered like a baby.

       Holy crap.

      “Ow, ow, ow…” She cradled her hand to her chest. Hitting someone hurt! She hobbled away.

      Lucas holstered his gun and handcuffed Boner. Marsing lowered his gun and stared at her like he’d never seen her before.

      She ignored him, slipping onto the deck and breathing in the moist evening air. Watching movies proved highly beneficial after all. Thank you, Miss Congeniality.

      Shivering, she wrapped her arms tight around herself. When she closed her eyes, sensory memory replayed Boner’s vice-like arms and the press of steel against her flesh. She snapped her eyes open with a startled whimper.

      “You okay, Ally?”

      Detective Marsing. She refused to turn around and let him see the tears in her eyes. “I’m fine.”

      His fingers encircled her arm. She stilled, waiting, but light footsteps sounded on the balcony.

      “Greggy, O.M.G. I am so sorry. I had no idea. I swear.”

      Marsing sighed, the puff of breath shifting her hair. “I know, Celia.”

      He dropped his hand from her arm and Ally turned. Tears streamed down Celia’s porcelain cheeks, blue eyes luminous in the deepening night. Even now, her hair hung in a perfect blonde curtain down her slender back. After her brush with death, not even a twinge of envy ruffled Ally.

      Marsing crossed to Celia’s side. “We need to work on your taste in men.”

      “That’s for sure.” Lucas glared at Celia as he joined them on the deck. “Where the hell do you find these losers?”

      “I didn’t know he was a…a…” Celia trailed off, paling under Lucas’ hot glare.

      Ally turned all the way around and leaned her backside against the balcony railing. She welcomed the distraction they provided from the lingering terror beating through her. Unwittingly fascinated by this side of ice-cold Lucas, Ally stared. The heat in his eyes and friction of irritation in his voice could set off a forest fire.

      “Maybe now you’ll show some intelligence with the men you screw.”

      “Lucas.” Marsing’s low growl of warning sent a hot shiver down her spine. Irritation, she told herself firmly.

      “Someone needs to save her from herself,” Lucas said.

      Marsing crossed his arms. “Are you volunteering?”

      Staring into Celia’s eyes, Lucas opened his mouth. His gaze drifted lower and he snapped his mouth shut. Ally’s eyebrows climbed. He shrugged a shoulder and strolled back into the condo, his cool nonchalance fooling no one. Except Celia. Ally took in her rounded shoulders and arms wrapped tight around her waist.

      In a previous lifetime, Ally would have just stood there feeling sorry for her. Not now. Not after everything she’d been through today. “Why don’t we take a little walk down the balcony while the boys take care of our uninvited guest?”

      She slid an arm around Celia’s shoulders and a vision sprang to mind, showcasing Ally as fat and ungainly beside Marsing’s Barbie-doll-perfect sister. Her mother had tried her hardest to mold her into a plastic-perfect image with rigid diets and ruthless exercise regimes. Utter misery and zero self-esteem was all she’d managed to achieve. Ally pushed the painful image away.

      “I didn’t know he was a bad guy,” Celia murmured, head down. “I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”

      “Everyone’s fine. There was no way you could have known. Don’t beat yourself up over something completely out of your control.”

      Celia sniffed a little. “You’re sweet.”

      Ally snorted. Their eyes met and they started giggling.

      “Good grief.” Marsing muttered. “My condo isn’t fine.”

      Celia’s giggles died and a dull flush stained her cheeks. “I know. I’m so stupid.”

      Ally swung around, the unfairness of his accusation stinging. Her stomach knotted. She hated confrontation, but she wasn’t going to let Marsing’s selfishness pass. Maybe Celia did have bad taste in guys, but she wasn’t psychic.

      “It’s not her fault your condo’s messed up.” Her voice trembled and she paused to take a deep breath. “It’s the fault of the creep in the other room.”

      “True. It’s your fault too.”

      “What?” Her eyes narrowed.

      “How is any of this Ally’s fault?” Celia placed her delicate hand on Ally’s forearm. “That’s not fair, Greg. I’m the one who brought him here, like the stupid airhead blonde everybody thinks I am.”

      “Or maybe…” Ally’s voice was low and silky. “The fault lies directly at the feet of a certain well-trained, armed detective.”

      He spun on his heel and disappeared inside.

      Ally glared after him, for the first time understanding the term “seeing red”. What a jerk.

      “Don’t pay any attention to him.” Celia smiled. “I’m sorry, I’m not very good with names and I don’t remember yours.”

      “Ally Thompson.”

      “Celia Marsing. Suppose we should go see what the boys are up to?”

      Ally glanced toward the open doorway.

      “It’s okay. As irritable as he gets, Greg won’t bite. Lucas, on the other hand…”

      “I don’t think biting you is what Lucas has in mind.” Ally flushed at her boldness.

      “What?” Celia’s eyes widened. “You think Lucas is into me?”

      “Definitely.” The steamy looks Lucas kept throwing Celia’s way were a fire hazard. “The man has the hots for you.”

      Light from the kitchen showed hectic color flooding Celia’s cheeks. Her wide eyes were hazy and unfocused, as if the very idea of Lucas desiring her got her all hot and bothered. With a small smile, Ally left her to her thoughts and headed for the kitchen.

      She paused in the open doorway. Uniformed police officers hauled Boner to his feet and dragged him out, moaning. He shuffled between them like a ninety-year-old woman without her walker. A few feet away, Lucas and Marsing were having an intense conference with an older man in a suit. His bushy eyebrows furrowed impressively as they talked, though their voices were too low to overhear. She hesitated in the doorway.

      “Ma’am?” Apprehension clear in his brown eyes, an officer stood a safe distance from her. Was he worried she’d knee him in the balls too? “I need to get a brief statement from you, if you have a few minutes.”

      She moved to follow him into the dining room but paused. A shiver of awareness touched her and she turned to meet Marsing’s gaze. Lucas lounged beside him and the older man had vanished.

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