A Bad Boy is Good to Find(46)

“Well, obviously Conroy’s family had its…Its challenges. But just imagine spending the day on the bayou, eating from the hand of Mother Nature, surrounded by the glory of creation…”

Lizzie couldn’t suppress a snort.

“Hold on a minute.” Con held up his hand. Finished his mouthful. “People down here live just like people in New York—we have TVs and cars and telephones.”

“You had electricity in that shack?” Lizzie raised an eyebrow.

“Sure.” Con sounded indignant. Then his mouth turned up at the corner. “Okay, so it wasn’t turned on all the time, but it was there. Like Maisie said, we’ve got spiritual light from within, we don’t need wattage.” He winked.

Lizzie couldn’t help chuckling. How did he always manage to make her smile? He was smiling too. In fact, he looked a bit too cheerful for someone who’d just learned his father was dead and his brother had disappeared off the face of the earth. Lizzie didn’t know whether to be annoyed or relieved or worried.

As if he heard her thoughts, Con turned to Maisie. “Did you find anything out about my brother?”

Maisie wiped her fingers on a paper napkin. “Gia was on the phone all afternoon. We couldn’t find a single trace of him. Social services never heard of him. Is there another name he could have used?”

“I don’t think so.” Con stiffened.

Lizzie swallowed. “Maybe he went to stay with a friend and they left social services out of it?”

“The woman at social services suggested we check records, you know, births, marriages…”

“Deaths.” Con’s mouth flattened into a line.

“There’s no reason to believe he’s dead.” Maisie said it softly. Tilted her head to the side. How sweet and caring of her. Her blue eyes sparkled with moisture, and a simpering smile flickered across her pale pink lips. Lizzie’s skin prickled with irritation.

So Maisie was starting her campaign to seduce Con. They were perfect for each other, both had the emotional depth of an alligator.

Lizzie grabbed Con’s hand. “We should go into town and check the records tomorrow.” It wasn’t so much an act of reassurance as one of self-defense. This was turning into The Con Beale Show, and she was getting sidelined. If she didn’t watch out, he’d end up marrying Maisie in the final moments of the show and no one would notice she was missing.

Taking her cue, Con shifted closer and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. He kissed her cheek. Damn. Why did his lips still spark a tingling reaction that sneaked right into her? His infuriating spicy smell crept up on her too.

“I’d like that.” His lips were almost on her ear. “I’m glad you’re with me, Lizzie. I couldn’t go through this alone.”

Her heart squeezed.

Yeah, yeah, cue the violins. “I’m exhausted. I think I’ll hit the sack.”

Would he follow her? Or would he stay down here chitchatting with Maisie?

“Me too.” Con helped her to her feet.

She heaved a sigh of relief.

Of course, being Con, he took his time thanking the chef for the meal and working the room until everyone was smiling.

He really was her exact opposite, wasn’t he?

As he finally took her hand and led her up the stairs, the horrible drama of the day’s events started to pound in her head.

This was all her idea.

What on earth would she say to him now?





Chapter 17





Up in the room, Lizzie stripped down to her black underwear, grateful to have fewer layers between her and the muggy night air. She didn’t bother to suck anything in. He’d hardly care what her body looked like after the day they’d had.

Con undressed while she sat on the bed, scratching at the mosquito bite on her ankle.

He washed his face and underarms at the basin. Filled a glass and drank it. Gargled and spat, rinsed it, then held it up. “Want some water?”

She shook her head and drew up her knees, wrapping her arms around them. “You scare me. How can you act so calm after today?”

“What do you want me to do? Break down sobbing?” He tossed his towel over a chair and strode toward the bed. “Move over.”

She moved, making room on the bed for him. She couldn’t make him sleep on the floor after what she’d dragged him into today. Didn’t even want to.

“Would you like a hug?” she asked shyly.

“Why? You think that’s going to make me feel better?” He stretched out on the bed, muscles cracking. His onyx stare made hair rise on the back of her neck.

“No, of course not. I don’t know.” She turned on her side and faced away from him. Her emotions had been pretty much stretched to the limit today, and there was a real danger she might cry. She bit the inside of her mouth hard and dug her fingernails into her palm.

“Hey.” He rested his hand on her hip. Her skin tingled under his fingers. “I know you just wanted to have a little fun with me. You didn’t know what you were getting into.”

“That’s for sure.” Her words emerged on a sob. She gritted her teeth as a tear crept from behind her squeezed eyelids.

“Don’t cry over me. I’m fine. In fact, I’m glad we’re here. I’ve been shit scared of this place for years. Now I’m back, it’s just another place. And the old man is dead. It sounds a terrible thing to say, but that’s a weight off my mind.”

Lizzie turned to face him. He let his hand slide over her hip, soft and reassuring.

“But it’s all on camera,” she said, her lip quivering. “Surely you don’t want the whole world to know…?” She swiped at a tear on her cheek.

“I don’t mind.” Con looked calm. He smudged her tear away with his thumb. “In a way I’m glad the camera’s here, so I can set the story straight. I have a feeling I’m going to be a different person after this whole experience.”

“You are? How?”

“Because I’m not pretending any more. I’ve been pretending since the day I left that patch of ground you saw today. Pretended I was older to get a job, pretended I was someone else so I could get arrested in Mississippi and they wouldn’t send me back here. Pretended—”

“You got arrested on purpose?” she cut in.

“Sure.” He picked up a curly strand of her hair and toyed with it. “Free food, school classes, you know? I used another guy’s name so they wouldn’t send me home.”

“Oh.” Another tear fell. Con leaned in and kissed it away. His lips soft and warm on her skin.

“I lied about my experience to get work as a mechanic. I’d finally found something I was good at, that I had a real knack for, but I didn’t have any qualifications. I got used to working the angles, being whoever I needed to be to get by.”

His face was inches from hers and she could smell his skin, musky and soothing. He leaned in and kissed her again, this time on the nose.

A strange crumpled sensation pulled at her stomach. Why wasn’t she mad?