Maggie finally blinked and looked away. “I gather Brian was Ellie’s mentor. When he heard I’d offered her a showing at the gallery, he freaked.”
Josh frowned. “You think she’ll stay the hell away from him after this?”
“She says she will. Problem is, he doesn’t seem to want to stay away from her.”
“Do you think he’s dangerous? Does she need protection?”
“I wanted her to get a restraining order, but she refused. She says he would never hurt her.” A look flashed across Josh’s face that startled Maggie. “You think she’s wrong, don’t you?”
“Women make that sort of mistake a lot,” he said tightly.
“And you know this because …?”
He shook his head. “It’s not important.”
“I think it is,” Maggie contradicted, seeing the evidence in his stormy gaze.
But before she could press the point, Linda Sue came back with their food. The heavenly aroma and the gnawing sensation in her stomach forced her to push her questions aside for the moment. When she picked up her burger instead of prying into his life any further, there was no mistaking his relief.
Maggie met his gaze. “I won’t forget what we were talking about,” she told him, determined to put him on notice.
“Have a French fry, sugar. They’re just about good enough to make you forget everything.”
“Nothing’s that good,” Maggie countered, but she popped one into her mouth. It was excellent. Crisp on the outside, tender inside and sprinkled with just the right amount of salt.
“Well?”
“Not bad,” she said, deliberately playing down the tastiness.
His eyes locked with hers. “Oh, really? That’s the best you can come up with?” He picked up another fry, dipped it in ketchup and held it to her lips.
Maggie swallowed hard, then accepted the unspoken dare. She licked the ketchup off the fry, then slowly took it into her mouth. When she did, Josh’s fingers brushed her lips.
And that had the effect he’d desired. She promptly forgot everything except the sensation of his work-roughened finger skimming across her lower lip. The jolt shot right through her. Something told her she’d be remembering that long after she was home—alone—in bed.
6
Maggie hated nothing more than having her curiosity aroused and then not satisfied. Once the impact of Josh’s touch finally wore off sometime in the middle of the night, she recalled why he’d deliberately set out to distract her. He’d wanted her to forget all about his inadvertent mention of his past.
Unfortunately, there was nothing she could do this morning to track down any answers. She was scheduled to open the gallery at ten and was hoping to hear from Ellie that everything was quiet at her studio. With any luck at all, Brian had gotten the message that he wasn’t to return.
When she arrived at the gallery, she found Dinah already waiting on the doorstep. Maggie regarded her suspiciously.
“What brings you by this early?” she inquired as she unlocked the door and turned off the security system.
“You called last night. I just came by to see what you’d wanted.”
“How did you know I called? I didn’t leave a message,” Maggie said.
“That’s the wonder of modern technology. Answering machines reveal all sorts of things. Cord insisted we have a top-of-the-line machine so we could screen calls.”
“Were you home when I called?” Maggie demanded, suddenly irritated. What good were best friends if they didn’t pick up the phone when you needed them most?
Dinah blushed. “We were, but we were otherwise engaged.”
Maggie knew she should have seen that one coming. “Is this honeymoon of yours ever going to end?”
“Goodness, I surely do hope not,” Dinah replied, a grin spreading across her face. “So, what did you want? I figured it couldn’t be that important since you didn’t leave a message.”
“It was an emergency, as a matter of fact,” Maggie retorted. “So I had to call someone who actually answers the phone when it rings.”
“Warren?”
“No.” Maggie hesitated, then reminded herself that she was dealing with Dinah, the intrepid reporter who’d made world leaders squirm. There would be no peace until Maggie revealed who she’d turned to. “Josh.”
Dinah’s eyes widened. “Really? How absolutely fascinating!”
“Is that all you can say?” Maggie asked in disgust. “Aren’t you the least bit curious about the emergency?”
“Did Josh handle it?”
“Yes.”
“Then that’s all that matters. I’m more interested in why you chose him.”
“He had technical expertise I required, along with a truck.”
Suddenly Dinah looked worried. “You weren’t disposing of a body, were you?”
“Good Lord, no. You really do need to rein in that imagination of yours.” She frowned at Dinah. “And what on earth makes you think Josh would have the technical expertise needed for that? What kind of background does he have, anyway?”
Dinah shrugged. “He’s an edgy kind of man. Something tells me he has all sorts of dark secrets.”
“And yet you’re encouraging Amanda O’Leary to get all cozy with him,” Maggie said wryly.
“I am not encouraging anything between him and Amanda,” Dinah said impatiently. “That’s your imagination working overtime. The woman made an offhand comment about how hot Josh is, and you’ve pictured some sort of relationship blossoming ever since. Since you claim you’re not interested, I have to wonder why it even matters to you.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Maggie insisted irritably. “At least, not the way you mean.”
“Is there some other way it could matter?” Dinah asked, amusement dancing in her eyes.
“Would you just drop it?”
Dinah chuckled. “Happy to, now that I’ve got the answer I was looking for.”
“You don’t know squat.”
“That’s what you think,” Dinah replied mildly. “So what happened that had you calling for reinforcements?” she asked, pushing to get the topic back on her track.
Maggie described the scene she’d come upon when she’d gone to visit Ellie. “I wanted to get a new lock installed and those paintings of hers away from there before that Neanderthal came back and tried to destroy any more of them.”
“They’re here now?”
Maggie nodded. “Secured in the vault in back. I’m not taking any chances that he’ll figure out they’re here and decide to come by to ruin a few more.” She shuddered at the memory of the fury in his eyes just before he’d stormed out of Ellie’s studio. “The man’s scary.”
Dinah studied her with increased concern. “For you to say that, Maggie, he had to have been awful. Notify the police.”
“I can’t. I promised Ellie I wouldn’t do that, at least for now.”
“I think you’re being foolish. At least tell them to keep a closer watch on the gallery,” Dinah pleaded.
“The vault’s