Page 25 of Unveiled

Her pretty gray eyes narrowed on him. “First of all, don’t call me that. Secondly, I didn’t do anything.” She lifted a hand and gestured toward the street. “It was probably some kid playing or… something.”

He didn’t like that tone at all, or the worried look in her eyes. He was willing to bet there was a lot more to the story than whatever crap she was feeding him.

“Did you find whatever came through the window?”

“Not yet.” She shook her head. “I was more worried about getting the glass cleaned up and the window covered before our next clients get here.”

He nodded and bent to a knee, searching beneath the ruffled folds of white fabric.

“What are you doing?”

He tipped his head up to meet her curious gaze. “I’m looking for whatever they tossed in here.” He swept his arm under the low-hanging dresses on the rack, and his fingers brushed something hard and rough. He stretched his fingers and snagged the large rock, then climbed to his feet. He held it out for her inspection. “Found the culprit. What the…?”

Her eyes widened, and she snatched the rock from his fingers just as he noticed the word scribbled in black marker across its smooth surface.

Fraud.

She clutched the rock close to her chest, her whole body trembling as she glanced worriedly out the window. What was going on here? “Adalyn.”

Her gaze jumped to his, but she remained silent.

“What is that?”

She swallowed hard, then reluctantly passed it back to him. He shot her a hard glare before redirecting his attention to the rock in his hands. He turned it over, but there was nothing else. Just that one word. What did it mean?

“Any idea who may have done this?”

Her brows furrowed, and she chewed her bottom lip in thought. Finally, she gave a little shake of her head. “No.”

“You sure you haven’t pissed anyone off lately—besides me?”

Her angry glare threatened to cut right through him, and he felt a sudden stab of guilt. He hadn’t come to provoke her; he’d just wanted to talk things out a bit. With Adalyn, though, things never went as planned. It occurred to him that she might be more accommodating if he showed her he wasn’t the bad guy here. He held up his hands in a placating gesture. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. You should tell the police about this.”

She gave a derisive little laugh. “So they can do… what? Post someone out front to make sure no one throws another rock through my window?”

She had a point. There wasn’t a lot they could do. “They can at least file a report. Have you had any trouble recently?”

She froze, her mouth parted slightly as if something had just occurred to her. Almost immediately she snapped it closed, and her expression shut down. “No.”

He didn’t believe that for a second. If he pushed any harder, he’d be calling her a liar, and he didn’t want to drive the wedge any further between them. If she wasn’t going to open up to him, he’d just have to do it his way. “What can I do to help?”

“Don’t worry about it.” She turned to leave, but he reached out and caught her shoulder. Her muscles tensed under his touch, and he could feel the faint vibration of her body as he slowly spun her around to face him. Her gaze collided with his, and he studied her expression. Fear warred with trepidation in those liquid depths, and remorse seized him. She was obviously shaken from the incident, and he’d made the situation worse.

He stroked her shoulder lightly with his thumb. “Why don’t you let me fix this up while you clean? If you have any plastic sheeting, we can get this covered up until someone can get out here to replace the glass.”

She looked torn, and her gaze darted to the back of the salon. “We have another appointment coming in soon, and⁠—”

“Let me take care of it,” he cut in. “Please.”

Her teeth sank into her bottom lip, and she wrapped her arms around her waist before finally relenting with a single jerky nod. “We should have some in the back. I’ll go check.” She shrugged out of his hold and took a couple steps away before angling back to him, her voice as soft and uncertain as her gaze. “Thank you.”

The corners of his mouth lifted. “Welcome.”

He watched her slink from the room then turned back toward the window, inspecting the rock still in his hand. If this was an accident, he would eat the boots on his feet. The park was too far away and, though a kid may have been involved, it was surely no accident. He’d have to chat with the neighbors, see if anyone heard or saw anything.

Noise from behind prompted him to turn around, and he saw the younger woman standing there, watching him closely. He recognized her face—she was the same one he spoke with the other night, the one who’d told him where Adalyn had gone on a date.

And thank God she had. He owed her a sincere thank-you for that. What was her name again? He offered up a small smile and thought he saw a faint blush stain her cheeks, but his attention was diverted as Adalyn came around the corner.