Page 12 of A Soldier's Pledge
When he disconnected, he looked up to see Anna watching him from the end of the kitchen island. “Who was that?”
“Steele. He’s bringing over our files and a shirt.”
“Shit, I’m sorry.” A blush stained her cheeks, and she avoided his gaze as she set up the computer and plugged it in.
“No sweat, baby. I didn’t bring anything to change into that’s all.”
“Because you didn’t know you were staying…”
“Exactly. But in the future, I’ll be prepared.”
“Ugh, you don’t even have a toothbrush. I have spares, let me get one for you.”
“Thanks, I appreciate it. I used my finger earlier, but it’s not exactly the best implement for the job,” he said and waggled his eyebrows making her laugh. Exactly his intention. Yeah, he had all the right implements for the important job, and if he had his way, he’d be using them again later.
Chapter Five
By the time Steele arrived, she’d explained to Ethan the difference between MLS and her listings and how it was all set up in her offices. Each of the agents had their logins to specific options, but only she and Jenny had access to everything—and Tag—but she doubted he’d be able to login even if he tried. She’d set him up with access since he was part owner of the business whether he wanted it or not, and she needed a backup person just in case. After what happened with Ryan she learned life was way too short.
Which of course made her feel even more stupid for pushing Ethan away for so long. Why did she think protecting her heart from hurt was better than living again? Sometimes she wondered at her own logic. Adria would tell her it was the pain talking. Since she still hadn’t gone on even one date yet after being widowed over four years ago, she’d probably know all too well. Her usual excuse was Scotty, but it was just that—an excuse.
Anna showered and got dressed leaving Ethan to look through the listings for the seven houses that were hers. It wasn’t long after she was done when the doorbell rang.
“I’ll get it,” he said, dropping a quick kiss on her lips before heading to greet his partner. She’d only met Steele once, but he seemed okay. Ethan warned her he could come off rude and crude, but not to take anything he said personally. She wasn’t worried; she’d been dealing with Tag and all his shit for the last two years, so she was more than used to obnoxious males.
When they came into the kitchen, Anna was a little surprised. Seeing the two of them in the enclosed space took her breath away. They could have been cover models, but where Ethan was light, Steele was dark, foreboding, but hot damn he was hot. Her cheeks heated, and she was glad mind reading wasn’t one of Ethan’s many talents. It would have been just plain mortifying.
“Close your mouth, sweetheart. You might drool on the keyboard.” Okay, maybe mind readingwasone of his talents. Her cheeks had to be flaming now since her face was burning up.
Steele saved her, as he stepped forward to shake her hand. “Hi Anna, nice to see you again.”
“Same here. Sorry to ruin your Sunday.”
“Nah. I was bored anyway. Besides, I heard you had Ethan leftovers.”
She laughed. “Hey, I thought you said you’d never cooked for anyone else.”
“I said no other woman besides my mother and grandmother. You need to listen better, and you talk about me.” He softened his words with a huge toothy grin.
“Whatever.”
“Uh oh, bro, you’re fucked now. She said that word,” Steele said with a smirk.
“What word?”
“Whatever. Don’t you go on Facebook? It’s in one of these meme things, one of the four deadly words in a relationship. You need to pay more attention.”
Anna couldn’t stop laughing. She liked Steele better with every word he said and the more confused Ethan looked. It was hysterical, and she needed to remember to tell Adria about it when they were in the office tomorrow. Thinking of Adria made her wonder if Steele was single. She could picture the two of them together, and having someone like Steele around, even with his cursing, would be good for Scotty, her son.
“I may be slow on Facebook, but I know that look when I see it. She’s setting you up with one of her girlfriends. Look out, bud,” Ethan said as he elbowed his partner in the side. Now they were both staring at her with scared expressions, and it was classic. Oh yeah, she had to figure out if he was single and then set him up with Adria. They’d be a great couple.
“I don’t know what you two are talking about. But I thought we had work to do.” Her comment had the anticipated effect, and they both sobered and got down to business. Steele pulled the files out his backpack and spread them over the top of the island. One by one they went over the information she had for each house that was one of her listings, marking off every possible combination of information from the date first listed, the home value and who initially listed the home.
After going through the seven listings that were hers, she brought up the MLS website and pulled the same information on the other two properties. Other than the MO they couldn’t figure out the connection between the other two break-ins and her listings. What they finally discovered upset Anna, since they’d all been listed by Hugh Johnson and Adria Harrison.
Ethan and Steele were convinced it had to be Hugh since there was no way they could talk her into thinking Adria was involved. Hugh being involved didn’t make sense to her either. He’d worked for them since her parents ran the company, and he had to be close to retirement age. A cranky old man? For sure. A criminal mastermind? No way. It surprised her that he’d been able to still get listings or even make sales, and she’d figured he must be more pleasant to the customers than his co-workers. Over the years, she’d had several complaints about his rudeness, mostly with the women in the office, but that was the extent of it. So again, none of this made sense.
It took them about three hours to go through everything while they debated back and forth about each and every piece of information. Anna wondered if this was how they always worked their cases and if so how they ever solved anything. But then again Willow Haven wasn’t a hotbed of crime, at least until now. Ethan had told her that he’d decided to stay after his discharge because it was so quiet.
