Secured Undercover by Charity Parkerson

even worse when she thought about the fact that his job at The Queen of Diamonds, his hiring her for the gala, and his interest in her clothing-line all started around the same time Chad drove his Porsche back into town and picked up his pursuit her as if he never left. Did she mean anything at all to him, or was it all a lie?
    She set his wallet down gently on the countertop before shoving both hands in her pockets. She stared down at the toes of her shoes and the pain he saw in her eyes before she looked down made his chest ache. He never set out to lie to her or involve her in any way. It was just one of those things that started out small and seemed harmless at first, but it grew into something huge and out of control. When she remained silent and refused to meet his eyes, he begged. “Please say something?”
    She finally looked up, meeting his eyes; hers were filled with tears. “Why? Why make me believe that you changed your whole lifestyle? Why ask me to make your dresses, and just everything, why?”
    “Because I’m stupid, because I can’t stay away, because I don’t know. Take your pick,” he moved in closer, running his fingers along her cheek before burying his hand in her hair. “Because I’m so in love with you that it makes me blind to consequences. It makes me not care what happens to anyone else in the world so long as you are happy, and you have all that you need; so long as you are with me .”
    A tear fell from the corner of her eye. He couldn’t stand it any longer. Lowering his head, he set his mouth over hers. She reached up, gripping his shirt with both hands, and his heart soared with triumph. He nipped lightly at her bottom lip and she allowed him in. He swore that the world tipped on its edge with the power of his love, and he forced himself to back off an inch to keep from attacking her. When he pulled away, his ragged breathing sounded loud in the otherwise silent room. Flower stared at some point below his chin.
    Flower took a step back. When she dropped her gaze back to the floor, his heart missed a beat. Even if she didn’t know him any longer, he knew her, and he knew that look. With shaking hands, she pulled her keys out of her pocket and unwound his from the chain before setting it next to his wallet. Her fingers lingered above it for a moment, as if she were saying a silent goodbye.
    “I would have done anything for you,” her voice came out small, like a child’s. “I feel like I have accepted you in every way. I would have happily spent the rest of my life with you even though you were living as a woman,” she paused, closing her eyes for a second; another tear fell from the corner of her eye and rolled down her cheek. “I love you that much. Years, Bradley,” she threw her hand up as if erasing her last statement. “I mean Brad . There were years you could have told me the truth. Did you think I couldn’t keep it to myself? No, don’t answer that because it doesn’t matter. What matters is that I’m done. I’m done with not having a single solitary person who wants to put me up on that kind of pedestal. I love you so much that I was thinking I wouldn’t mind a life too much where I designed the dresses and you wore them. What kind of crazy person does that make me? Don’t answer that one either. But you know what?”
    He shook his head, unsure of whether or not he was supposed to answer that one either. “I might be crazy, but I’m not a liar, and I wouldn’t have done that to you for anything in the world, even my business.”

CHAPTER SEVEN
    Something very odd was going on. The same police officer in charge of releasing Bob in Nashville was now holding them for questioning in Abernathy, Texas. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that she wasn’t some police flunky that pushed paperwork around for a living, but no matter how he looked at things, they didn’t make sense.
    “How much longer are we going to be here?” Shannon asked, shifting around