Page 50 of Tempt My Heart

"Okay," he said, raising an eyebrow.

"You were, um, in the ocean? Or, I guess, getting out of it."

"I think I'm failing to see the compromising part."

"Your swim shorts were nearly see-through. The bulge was... impressive."

He went silent for a moment before bursting out into laughter that she couldn't help but echo.

"No wonder you had a crush on me for so long." He licked his lips and smirked. "Liked what you saw, huh?"

A knock on the front door thankfully interrupted his teasing, and Ali was both relieved and anxious to see Denver on the other side.

He gave her a nod and smile before his face turned serious. Christopher led them into the kitchen and Denver relaxed into his seat at the rustic wooden dining table. With the well-fitted sweater and jeans combo he had on, he looked more like a model ready for a photo shoot than a tech whizz.

"Thanks for coming, man. We really appreciate it."

"Of course." He glanced between them, his lip twitching but deciding not to comment on her still-wet hair or the shirt that Christopher had forgotten he was buttoning about halfway up. "I have good news and bad news."

"Okay," she said, twisting her hands together until Christopher stopped her by taking one in his.

"So the good news is that I was able to find some security footage on your mom's street of Jared moments after the blaze."

Her shoulders slumped in relief.Gotcha, you son of a bitch.

"The bad news," Denver continued, "is I passed this info on to a buddy at the CYPD I trust and they went to Jared's place. He’s definitely cleared out of there. But they've issued a warrant and are checking traffic cams now. He might have had a few friends on the force but there’s no hiding arson.”

"So really we're no better now than before," Christopher said, standing with a sigh and pacing the floor.

"They actually did have one idea," Denver said, glancing between them."But I told them I wasn't sure if you'd be game for it."

"I'm open to trying anything," she said quickly and Christopher nodded.

"We need to draw him out."

Wasn't that what the cops were for?

"It might be dangerous," he continued,"and I don't know if you're done with the ruse by now." He flicked a glance between them and their linked hands. "Or maybe not."

Christopher rolled his eyes. "What exactly are you suggesting, Den?"

"I'm suggesting it looks like you two are fuc—"

“About the plan," Christopher clarified and she snorted.

"Right. They think you should go to the wedding together and convince Jared to meet you there. Then they can work with the force in Napa to pick him up."

"Just like that," she said dryly and he shrugged.

"Basically."

"I can’t imagine Rose will be thrilled to turn her wedding into a sting operation."

"So we don't tell her," Denver said, shrugging and then snorted when she and Christopher shot him identical looks of doubt.

"You don't think she'll catch on when they arrest Jared?"

"Always better to ask for forgiveness than permission, in my opinion."

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