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She gently elbowed him. “Seriously. Focus. My sister could be in real trouble here.”
He cleared his throat. “You’re right. I’m sorry. Just, seeing you in my shirt—it …”
“I know, and maybe later we can …” She paused, purposely torturing him.
Tristan waited with bated breath for her to finish her thought, hoping she was thinking what he was thinking.
“… talk.” She smirked and then laughed when he groaned in disappointment. “Okay, maybe one good night kiss,” she offered.
He nuzzled her ear and spoke lowly into it, “I hope you’re open to negotiations.”
She shivered from his touch. “Maybe,” she stammered.
Tristan kissed her cheek before backing off, pleased with her response. “Okay, show me.”
She held up her phone. “This is from a news article twenty years ago in North Dakota.”
Tristan squinted to make out the man in black and white, standing next to an attractive middle-aged woman. He definitely saw hints of Skip in him. But it was the headline that mostly caught his eye. “Local Man Suspected of Swindling Thousands from Widow.” Tristan’s head snapped up. “Do you think he’s still at it?”
“Most definitely. According to Jules, Skip Larson has been evading police for years. All while taking advantage of women. There are more articles from more towns across the country. They basically all say the same thing. He’s just changed his last name.”
“We need to report him to the police.” Tristan got up to grab his phone.
Calista grabbed his hand. “Wait.”
Tristan cocked his head. “Why?”
“Tristan, this town will eat Stella alive if they find out about this. Think about what your parents alone will do to her.”
He let out a disgruntled breath and sat back down. No doubt in his mind his parents would make Stella’s life a living hell. “You’re right. So, what do we do? We can’t let him take advantage of your sister.” Tristan prayed he hadn’t already.
An evil glint appeared in her eyes. “I say we run the jerk out of town and then we tip off the authorities.”
Tristan always worried a bit when Calista got that look, but he knew whatever she had planned, he was going to be all in. Even if it meant another trip to the police station in handcuffs. “What do you have in mind?”
Calista looked taken aback. “Are you sure you want to get involved? It could ruin your reputation if this ever gets out.”
Tristan rested his hand on her cheek, reveling in the feel of her smooth skin. “The only opinion that matters to me is yours. If you want to take this bastard down, I’m there with you every step of the way.”
“Well then,” she purred. “I think you just earned yourself a long, slow kiss good night.”
That was the best news he’d heard in years.
CALISTA
MY LIFE WAS BECOMING MORE and more unexpected. Yesterday, I was driving to my ex’s house, where I spent the night. Today, Tristan and I were on our way to take down a criminal. This time, though, we were in Jonathon’s Mercedes. Tristan’s truck was too recognizable. And for some reason I couldn’t fathom, one in five people in this town seemed to own the G-Class, so it offered us some anonymity.
The most unexpected thing was my inability to keep my eyes off Tristan in the driver’s seat. Memories of last night made me smile. We’d taken Quinn sledding at midnight, just because we could. The almost-full moon in the bright, starry sky was begging us to come out and play. Tristan’s property had the perfect hill for it. And his old-fashioned wooden sleds with red metal runners made it even better. They reminded me of the sled I had as a kid. It was my dad’s from his childhood. The glistening snow and the rush of flying down the hill reminded me how much I used to love winter, and this town. Oddly, feelings of homesickness had crept in. Weird, given my recent move back to Aspen Lake. But my heart hadn’t yet accepted the relocation.
Tristan kept grinning, while skillfully traversing the snow-packed roads. I wondered if he was replaying the good night kiss that had occurred after Quinn went to bed. Or maybe he was thinking about how good it felt to wake up next to each other—on the sectional. I definitely wasn’t ready to share all of myself with him physically. We had too many emotional things to figure out.
But lying in Tristan’s arms last night and listening to the beat of his heart while the fire crackled in the fireplace felt amazing. Especially when he gazed adoringly at me like that’s all he ever wanted to do. I’d forgotten how one look from him could say so much. He didn’t have to say a word last night in the low light. I knew exactly what he was thinking. He loved me. I believed him, but it was hard to reconcile the past with that fact.
Not sure how many men, though, would join me in my current venture, which could get a little dicey. I wasn’t even sure how it was going to turn out. But I had to act now. The snowstorm had played in our favor. It had kept Stella at home and ol’ Skiparoo away. I’d made Stella promise me she would stay home with Quinn while Tristan and I were “grocery shopping.” I mean, we would definitely hit up the grocery store after our takedown of Skip, so we weren’t lying. Although, I’m pretty sure my sister thought we were using grocery shopping as a euphemism for sex. But whatever. As long as she stayed at home, she could believe what she wanted. I just hoped she would believe me about Skip and see how foolish she was behaving. More than that, she needed help. I was going to do my best to convince her to seek therapy. That was, after I told her that her Australian boyfriend was a scam artist from North Dakota. Yikes.
“Thanks for doing this with me,” I said as we crossed over to my side of the lake. I was pretty sure I had come up with a plan that was the least likely to get us arrested. At least I hoped so. Not that I wouldn’t finally get a police record and prove the town right about me to save my sister, but I thought it best for everyone involved if I tried to keep it on the down-low. Although I had been pretty excited about my plan to show up and pretend like we were FBI agents and then “arrest” Skip and dump him off at some remote location. However, impersonating a federal officer is a federal crime and carries with it a hefty prison sentence and fine. I wasn’t sure Tristan’s last name could save him from that. And Deidra would probably get fired if I ended up in a federal prison. So, we were going with a more direct route.
Tristan glanced my way and smiled. “Someone has to keep you out of trouble.”
