Page 53 of Just My Luck

Every single item had been moved, tossed somewhere else, or crushed underfoot. She bent down to pick up one of Eddie’s toy trucks, which was now missing two wheels and a front end.

“I’ll buy him a new one,” Lincoln murmured next to her. “Everything they fucked up, I’ll fix.”

“They?”

“Whoever it was. Probably Tanaka’s people.” He looked pale and almost ill, but he wasn’t her primary concern right now.

“How did he know I live here? How does he know about me at all? Did he figure out who I was at the Kona Queen?” Panic made her heart thump.

“Hey, one step at a time. We’ll figure this out. I’ll replace everything.”

She whirled on him. “Are you going to replace our sense of security?”

“Yes. I’ll put in an alarm system. It’ll be done by tomorrow if I call my team right now. I’ll buy the house next door and move some bodyguards in. Whatever it takes.”

His guilt was written in those tense lines along his mouth. She understood, she did. But she was also furious.

“Lincoln, there are some things you just can’t fix with money. Anyway, this isn’t your fault. It’s mine!”

“Yours?” He looked shocked as he picked up a fallen surfboard and set it back in its corner. Thank God, her favorite Arakawa Firecat was unscathed. “You can’t blame yourself for what these criminals did.”

“Of course I can! I can’t ever just stick to the basics and stay out of trouble. Look at this place! I should just burn it down myself! It’d be easier than trying to put all this shit back. Put that down!” She stopped him as he picked up a handful of Legos that were scattered across the room like little land mines. “Just leave it. We’re here for one reason only, remember?”

He scrubbed a hand through his hair, looking so miserable that her heart went out to him. “I’m so damn sorry for all this, Zara. I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”

“How? No.” She held up a hand. “That’s not the point now.”

He nodded, then shoved his hands in the pockets of his trousers. “You’re probably wishing you’d never met me right about now.”

She considered that possibility, extending the moment until she saw him wince.

“No,” she finally said. “I’m not blaming you for this, and I don’t indulge in regret. I’d rather put my energy toward solving problems. Now come on, let’s see if we can find that good luck charm in Mia’s room.”

They picked their way through the mess, which she tried not to look at too closely. What a disaster. She wasn’t the tidiest person in general, but this was too much even for her. Mia’s room looked as if a family of squirrels had moved in and tried to make nests out of all her clothes. Her school books were splayed on the floor, her laptop was teetering on the edge of her desk.

Zara waded through the knee-deep layer of clothes and slid the laptop to a safer spot. She gazed at the shambles before her.

“To be honest, this is just a few degrees more chaotic than Mia’s usual mess.”

“Really?” Lincoln, who hovered in the doorway, wore a shell-shocked expression. He’d probably never seen a messy house in his life. He probably had an army of housekeepers who kept everything in order. Wasn’t he a clean freak before all this?

“I’m just going to call her. This is ridiculous.” She pulled out her phone and dialed Mia’s number. No answer. She tried again, and once again got her voicemail. “Mia, call me back right away. You know you’re supposed to answer no matter what’s going on, that’s part of the deal of you having a phone. Right away, you hear me?”

She tucked her phone back into her pocket and turned to look at Lincoln. “Thoughts? Ideas? Want to dive in, or should we consider a plan B?”

He looked from her to the disorder of Mia’s room, noting the curtain that divided her space from Eddie’s. “What’s behind there?”

“That’s where Eddie sleeps.” Suddenly, she felt deeply self-conscious. “I know, she should have her own room. But we’re lucky to have this place. My Dad bought it with legit money, so they didn’t seize it along with everything else. And Mia and Eddie are used to it, so I didn’t want to move them. It’s a little small for all of us, but we make it work and⁠—”

He stepped forward, nearly tripping on Mia’s gaming console, and took her face in both his hands. “Stop. You don’t have to explain. I think you’re incredible.”

She stared into those deep green eyes and lost her breath. “You do?” she whispered.

“I do. I’ve never met anyone like you. And I really, really want to kiss you right now, but I feel like I’ve brought nothing but trouble into your life and I don’t want to⁠—”

She saved him from his conundrum by kissing him herself. With those firm, determined curves, his mouth had been tempting her ever since the last time they’d kissed.

The way he instantly laid claim to her lips made her melt against him. She lost herself in the way their bodies fit together, the warm hardness of his chest and thighs. Maybe he had brought trouble, but she’d never been afraid of trouble. She just liked to choose her own flavor.