She planted her hands on her hips in what looked like indignation. “I thought I was a completely unattractive dork in high school because no guy would even look at me, let alone talk to me, or heaven forbid, ask me out. And you’re telling me that was your and Fox’s doing?”
“Guilty as charged.”
“I’ll kill him. Next time I see him, I’m doing him in.”
Liam grinned. “Cut him a little slack. He loves you a lot. Thinks you walk on water.”
“That, I definitely don’t do.”
Sadness overtook her entire demeanor. What had happened to leave so much pain in her soul? Just how big a jerk had the ex-husband been?
“Tell me about how you acquired wisdom en route to becoming older and wiser,” Liam asked, resuming their walk down a hallway lined on one side with windows that looked out on a garden. Right now, it was bare beds of dirt covered in patches of snow. Sloane shivered a little, probably from the cold radiating off the windows.
An urge to put his arm around her shoulders, to draw her close to his side, nearly overcame him. Nope, nope, nope. Not going there with her.
“I married a charming man who turned out to be a bastard.”
“How so?”
“Let’s just say he was honesty-challenged.”
“Example?”
She thought for a second. “Well, he said he liked kids. Wanted a family. Turned out he liked the idea of a family Christmas card in matching bad sweaters but not much more.”
“That sucks.”
“Oh, that’s not the worst of it. Turns out he can’t resist any hot female who looks at him twice, and he’s a compulsive gambler. Real winner I picked, huh?”
Liam shrugged. “I’m sure he had a few redeeming qualities that drew you to him.”
“You’re far too optimistic about mankind in general.”
It was his turn to snort. “I’m a cop. I see all the worst mankind has to offer. In fact, I find that most people harbor at least one good, ugly secret about themselves.”
“Oh, yeah?” Slone asked. “What’s yours?”
“I’m actually a superhero, but I can’t reveal my true identity to anyone. I keep my cape hidden under my street clothes.”
“Oh, that’s right. You’re Laser Man. I forgot.”
“That’s me, all right.”
Sloane winced a little. “Where were you when I started dating Ivan? I was completely fooled by him.”
“Sorry. I would’ve come to Denver and chased him off if Fox had let me know you were dating a jerk. Just like in high school.”
“Is that why you tormented the boys who flirted with me?” she exclaimed. “Fox put you up to it? I’m seriously going to have to have a word with him—”
He interrupted, laughing. “I swear, we had your best interests at heart. We heard them talking in the locker room and knew they wouldn’t treat you well.”
“What gave you the right to be my personal dating police?”
She didn’t sound angry, but he sensed danger in the lightly worded question. She wasn’t a defense attorney for nothing. He answered carefully, “You were my best friend’s little sister, and Fox had a bit of a temper back then. I was worried he would go too far protecting you and get himself into trouble.”
“Ahh. So you didn’t care about me. It was all about looking out for Fox. Got it.”
That wasn’t what he’d meant at all, but he wasn’t sure he ought to correct the misunderstanding. This Sloane was pricklier and quicker to jump on statements he made than the Sloane of old.
“Do you like being a lawyer?” he asked her, hoping to change the subject.
“I do.”
He could see how it fit her direct personality. “Are you going to hang out a shingle here in Roaring Springs?”
“I’ve actually just started up a nonprofit foundation with some of the proceeds of my divorce. I’m reviewing cases for prisoners who think they were wrongly convicted.” She warmed to her topic. “I can work from home and do some good while I’m at it.”
Her face glowed with excitement as she described having found a big mistake in a case she’d just reviewed. A wrongly convicted woman was due to be released from prison in a few days because of her discovery.
Sloane always had been softhearted. Loved to help people. Looked out for the downtrodden.
“And who looks out for you?” he mused aloud.
“I beg your pardon?”
Startled, he realized he’d voiced the thought aloud. “Nothing. Just random thoughts.” Badly in need of a distraction, he commented, “Mara must love having her first grandchild back in Roaring Springs.”
Sloane shrugged. “I don’t know. I mean, sure, Mara loves Chloe, but she’s not exactly the most maternal person I’ve ever met.”
“True.” Not like his mother, who was warm and nurturing. Fox always had preferred to hang out at the modest Kastor bungalow rather than at his own family’s luxurious estate. As for him, he’d liked the Colton mansion for its elegance and proximity to the ski slopes. And to Sloane.
“So. Does a defense attorney make enemies in the course of her job?” Liam risked asking.
Sloane frowned. “That’s a strange question.”
He shrugged. “I figure your clients would like you because you’re fighting for them.”
“They do, unless they’re guilty and want me to pull a miracle out of my hat and get them off. As a defense attorney, it was my job to give them the best possible legal defense, not hoodwink juries and pull television tricks to magically sway jurors to release a guilty person who’s been properly tried.”
He nodded ruefully. “Television gives people a distorted view of police work, too. They think I can solve any crime in forty-eight minutes between commercial breaks.”
“Is there much crime in Roaring Springs these days?” she asked curiously.
“Not nearly enough.”
“I beg your pardon?”
He glanced down at her. “Don’t get me wrong. Low crime is great for the residents. But as a detective, it can be a bit...boring.”
“What about that grisly murder a few weeks ago? I am so glad that Wyatt’s name was cleared.”
He nodded. “County sheriff’s office investigated it. Did a good job, too.”
“Poor baby,” she teased him. “You didn’t get to take part in any of that, did you? I can’t say as I wish for another murder to keep you occupied.”
He grimaced. “Me, neither. I’ll keep consoling myself with reading forensic investigation books.”
“Sherlock Holmes mysteries don’t count,” she deadpanned.
She remembered that he’d read all the Sherlock Holmes books over and over in high school? Wow. That was a pretty obscure detail to recall. Surely she hadn’t actually noticed him in that way back then—
Nah. No way. She’d barely known he existed. She wouldn’t know he existed now if she hadn’t physically run into him earlier.
He sighed. Better to keep things friendly and professional. Speaking of which... As tempted as he was to ask her if she had a security system installed