Page 21 of Freedom's Kiss
Envelope in hand, he held it high over her head.
She jumped up and snatched a fistful of nothing. “Give it back.”
“Gonna tell me what it is?”
Using his shoulder as leverage, she made another leap for the envelope. Too bad for her he had an impressive reach. Standing in front of him, she effected an Eileen impression—hands planted on her hips. “You’re a bit of a bully, you know that?”
He grinned but didn’t lower the envelope. “My sister, Amber, would agree with you. But seeing as neither of you have been able to say that to me with a straight face, I’m not taking it to heart.” He lowered his arm but hid the piece of mail behind his back. “Now, are you going to tell me, or shall I guess?”
“Oh, I’d love to hear that.”
Rising to the challenge, he concocted the ridiculous. “You have a jailbird pen pal you’ve fallen in love with.”
She folded her arms across her chest and pretended to be bored by picking at her nails, a shadow of a grin crossing her face.
“Not it, huh? Are you sure? Could be in this letter he’s sent a way for you to break him out so you two can be together forever.”
He’d have to go even more absurd to get her to crack. “Your talent for cooking is only a front. In reality you’re planning on using my food truck as a cover for a smuggling ring, and this letter is confirmation from a ‘supplier’ that everything is set up.” He matched her folded arms, letting the envelop peek halfway out from his creased elbow. Pushing his lips down, he forced an injured expression. “I’m hurt you’d use me in such a way.”
“Everything all right in there?” Eileen called from the other room.
Olivia’s eyes widened and jumped to his. “Yeah, Mom, everything’s fine,” she called over her shoulder. She took a step closer to him and lowered her voice, her words rushing out on a frantic note as she held out her palm. “It’s a surprise for my mom. She can’t see it yet, or her Christmas present will be ruined.”
He handed the letter over and whispered, “I’m glad to know you aren’t just using me or that you’ve fallen in love with a convict.”
She rolled her eyes and dipped her head to replace the letter to her pocket, but he didn’t miss the way her teeth peeked behind her curving lips. Lifting her head, her smile settled, and she regarded him with the same animation he’d seen earlier. “Actually, I’m so excited, I don’t think I can wait to open this.”
“Need an excuse to get out of here?”
She looked at him, then to the wall separating the kitchen and the living room, then down to the envelope in her pocket, and finally back to him. “Yes please.”
“Done. Just let me rinse these dishes and get them into the dishwasher real quick.” He turned on the faucet and let the water run over the bowls, the leftover grits swirling down the drain. He placed the bowl at an angle on the rack in the dishwasher and finished loading while Olivia wiped down the counters and stove top with a damp rag. She rinsed the rag and then wrung it out and hung it over the sink divider. Grabbing a tea towel off the oven handle, she dried her hands and then offered the towel to him.
He ran the towel over his fingers and rehung it, then pulled his keys from his front pocket and moved into the living room. A period drama played on the TV, but David paused the show when Adam made his way to the side of the couch. “Mr. and Mrs. Arroyo, it was a pleasure to meet you both. I hope you’ll forgive me for pulling Olivia away again, but we have a few more details to go over at the food truck.”
David and Eileen rose, the first shaking his hand, the second wrapping him in a motherly hug.
“Thank you for helping my little girl realize her dreams.” David’s grip was firmer than his voice.
“She’s very talented, sir.”
“See you later, Mom and Dad.” Olivia waved as she opened the front door, and Adam followed her out.
Lengthening his stride to catch up with her, he tugged on an apron string still tied at her lower back. “Don’t get me wrong—it’s a cute look, but you sure you want the world to see the wholeI Love Lucything you’ve got going on?”
She stopped at the passenger-side door of his Jetta and reached behind her to finish untying the knot. “You saw how nosey my mom is. If she’d gotten a peek at this envelope, she’d have stopped me and started a game of twenty questions.” Lifting the apron up over her head, she opened the car door then settled into the seat, giving him a pointed look. “And she’s a better guesser than you.”
Adam put the keys in the ignition and started the car. Looking over his shoulder, he backed out of the driveway and then shifted into drive and pressed the gas pedal.
Olivia turned, pressing her shoulder into the back of the seat. “I mean, seriously, what kind of guesses were those? How’d you come up with writing love letters to an inmate and heading up a smuggling ring from a food truck?”
He flicked on a blinker. “My past life, remember? I’ve defended some interesting people, to say the least.”
Even from his peripheral vision, he didn’t miss the way her face lighted with curiosity. “Why the career change, if you don’t mind me asking?”
He fingered the white paper envelope lying in her lap. “You may not be curious as to what’s in there anymore, but I am. Open it.”
“Does this mean it’s my turn to make guesses? Why did ace defense attorney Adam Carrington suddenly leave behind a lucrative and prestigious career to sweat behind a hot grill in a mobile kitchen?”
He turned to meet her eyes, giving her the same glare he’d used when cross-examining a hostile witness. “Open the letter, Olivia.”
She raised a palm in surrender. “Okay, okay. Don’t get testy.”
Shimmying a finger into the corner of the envelope, she pulled, the sound of ripping overshadowing the hum of the car’s AC. She lifted out paper folded in thirds and smoothed it over her legs.
Adam drove nowhere in particular but cast quick glances at Olivia. For the first time since he’d met her she’d gone completely still. Feeling the pit in his stomach sink, he knew.
Something was very wrong.
