Karma (2 page)

He let out an exhale and wiped his forehead with his sleeve, grateful the long day was almost over. The air-conditioning in the old building was on its last legs and the precinct was as sweltering inside as it was outside. Yet Liza had been completely cool.

Dare rubbed the back of his neck, where a steady pain had begun to throb. It drove him nuts that she made excuses for her screwed-up brother. Hell, he knew what it was like to have a troubled family member and not once had Dare made excuses for Ethan. Then again, that immovable attitude had kept him estranged from his brother when he could have been working toward reconciliation. Good thing he and eventually their middle sibling, Nash, had come around. The difference was, Ethan had changed and made an effort to fix the past. Brian McKnight showed no remorse and Liza didn’t seem to care.

Dare groaned. It shouldn’t bother him. Wasn’t his problem. But she was a bright, educated woman. A talented architect. She had to know right from wrong and yet she consistently bailed out a man who, brother or not, she ought to have wiped her hands of a long time ago. Brian needed to be held accountable for his actions.

And Dare wanted Liza in his bed.

He jerked his head, wondering where
that
thought had come from. He’d never denied his attraction to her, at least not to himself. He’d always wanted her, even though he knew she was out of his league. But that hadn’t been on his mind at the moment. Or maybe it had been. He’d been waiting for her arrival, his entire body on alert.

The scary truth was Dare almost looked forward to the times McKnight got hauled in, because it gave him a chance to see her. Scarier, he’d cut school all those years ago and gone to that damned party because it had been at her house and he’d had the chance to see the girl of his teenage dreams. But Liza hadn’t been home that day and Dare’s life had been forever altered by the events of that afternoon.

More than a decade had passed, one in which he’d seen major growth, both in his personal and professional lives and in his feelings for Liza. Before she’d been a teenage crush, someone he’d thought of and, yeah, jerked off to. But now? He’d grown up and each time he met up with her, she got to him on a level no other woman ever had.

He saw Liza as a woman who could bring him out of the darkness he hid inside him and into the light. He shook his head hard because wasn’t that a nice dream. One that would never happen. Though he liked to think of Liza as an angel, that wasn’t her at all. She enabled her brother, thereby condoning his behavior—
all
of his behavior, the past included, which made her no better than his brother. Or Dare, no matter how hard he tried to be a better man.

Yet that didn’t stop Dare from wanting her, and damned if the yearning wasn’t more than just physical. He was curious about who she was and what made her tick. Why last time she’d been at the station late at night she’d been wearing high black boots with killer heels covering legs encased in tight denim, her long hair cascading in sexy curls down her back. A far cry from the ladylike outfit she wore today. Of course he was equally attracted to her no matter what she had on.

Not that it mattered.

Because despite everything, she’d never once looked at him as more than a pain-in-the-ass cop she had to deal with whenever her brother found himself in trouble.

He glanced at his watch and exhaled in relief. He was officially off duty. Dare grabbed his keys and rose from his seat.

“Heading home?” Sam asked.

Marsden was a few years older than Dare and a darned good friend.

“Yeah. Shift’s over,” he said.

“Sure you don’t want to wait?” Sam asked, eyeing him curiously.

“For what?” Dare asked.

Sam let out a whoop of laughter. “You really want to play dumb? Fine. Don’t you want to wait until Ms. McKnight’s brother is released? She’s waiting for him in the outer hall.”

Dare clenched his jaw, which didn’t help his building headache. “And why would I want to do that?” Yeah, he was playing it dumb. Why the hell would he want to admit to his feelings and set himself up to be the butt of Sam’s jokes.

“Because I see how you look at her, man. Only a blind fool could miss it.” Sam leaned against the desk, eyeing Dare with way too much humor.

Okay, no need to admit it. Apparently Dare wore his feelings on his uniform. Fucking swell.

“Then I suppose you’ve also seen how she doesn’t return the sentiment?”

“Jeez, you men are dumb!” This from Cara Hartley, another cop and good friend. The three tended to pull the same shifts and hang out together when they were off duty.

“Where’d you come from?” Dare asked.

Cara laughed, her dark ponytail flipping over her shoulder. “I’m stealthy. I walked over while you two were talking about Liza McKnight. But you’re still both dumb.”

Dare shook his head and stifled a groan. “I really don’t want to know what you’re thinking.”

“Yeah you do.” Cara deliberately bumped her hip against his. “You think she doesn’t notice you. I’m here to tell you you’re wrong.”

He blinked in surprise.

Sam’s grin was so wide Dare was surprised his face didn’t split. Dare didn’t need the two of them on his case about a woman.

“The thing is, every time you talk to Liza, you judge her for bailing out her brother. So tell me why she should think you’re hot for her. Not to mention why should she want to bother with you.”

Dare reached for the back of his neck once more, the muscle spasms getting worse. “Can we not talk about this?”

“Nope. It’s on the table and it’s staying there until I’m finished. Now let’s say you happened to…I don’t know…change your attitude toward her? Something tells me she just might alter hers.” Cara raised her eyebrows over her blue eyes.

Despite not wanting to give Cara a green light to get into his head, Dare mulled over her words.

“You thinking what I’m thinking?” Sam asked Dare. “That our girl here makes sense?”

Cara glanced at Sam with a pout on her lips. “I’m not your anything,” she muttered. Cara being Cara hated any hint of condescension toward her as a woman. Touchy was her nickname.

“And I’m not thinking anything,” Dare said. Nor was he conceding his feelings out loud.

“Just remember, I have a feeling you can turn this around. If you want to that is.” Cara shrugged.

“Is that feeling your female intuition?” Sam asked. “Because Cara’s is usually damn good,” he reminded Dare.

Cara grinned, nodding her head in agreement. “Thanks for the compliment, Sam. Maybe I’ll let that earlier rude comment slide. I might even let you buy me a drink at Joe’s on Wednesday night.” They usually hit Joe’s for Ladies’ Night since they were all off on Thursdays.

Dare laughed, but Sam was right. Cara’s gut instincts, on the job and off, were usually on target.

“Got a plan?” Sam asked Dare.

He rolled his eyes. “I’m going home, like I said.”

“But—” Cara shook her head and groaned. “Never mind, do what you want. Nobody ever listens to me, even though I’m always right.”

Sam grinned.

“As long as you’re leaving, I’ll walk out with you,” Cara said to Dare. “I’m off duty too. You coming, Sam?”

He shook his head. “Not until McKnight’s been released on bail. Catch you guys tomorrow.”

Dare nodded Sam’s way. “Night.”

He headed out alongside Cara, who talked about the weekend Police and Firefighters’ Festival where they would man the policemen’s booth in order to raise money for the youth center where they all volunteered. Dare laughed at her jokes and admired her sense of humor, but being with Cara did nothing to make him forget about Liza, whom he just happened to pass as he left the precinct. She sat alone, waiting for her brother’s release, alternately looking pissed and vulnerable, bringing up protective instincts Dare had never felt toward any other woman before.

Liza drummed her fingers against her purse as she waited for Brian to be brought up from the holding area. She wondered if the cell in the back of the police station had a plaque engraved with her brother’s name on it. Heaven knew he’d been hauled in often enough. Just the thought was enough to give her a stomachache.

She shook her head and stifled a groan. “At least be honest with yourself,” she muttered. It wasn’t her brother’s most recent arrest making her stomach churn.

It was
Dare Barron
. The cop who always seemed to be around when her brother was brought in. The sexy man
who alternately looked at her like she was the hottest thing this side of a hot fudge sundae or the dumbest enabler on the planet.

Like she wasn’t aware of what she was doing? She was. She just had no choice. Brian was family. He was her brother. Besides, she owed him.

However, she didn’t have to explain herself to Dare, even if he did have “big bad cop” written all over him. His dark brown hair with flecks of gold and those gorgeous brown eyes were enough to melt her on the spot. But that didn’t mean she had to answer to anyone but herself. That’s how it had been for longer than she cared to remember. But now, as an adult, she wouldn’t trade her independence for anyone ever again.

She rose to her feet, annoyed Brian hadn’t been brought up yet. She couldn’t imagine what the holdup was. The attorney she kept on retainer had shown up and done his job, and Brian’s arraignment had been blessedly brief. So where was he?

Finally she heard her name called by a gruff male voice. She turned, hoping to see her brother. Instead, she saw Dare on his way out the door with a pretty female police officer by his side. Liza knew the woman’s name was Cara Hartley. She was a year younger than Liza’s twenty-nine, while Dare was three years younger, making him twenty-six. From the way Cara and Dare were laughing together, they were close.

An unwanted ribbon of jealousy unwound in Liza’s stomach, and she ruthlessly forced it aside. Whether Cara and Dare were friends or something more, it didn’t matter. Liza had her hands full with her delinquent brother. The last thing she needed in her life was an attraction to one of Serendipity’s finest.

Her brother’s arrival reinforced that truth and she rose to meet him. He must have sobered since she’d seen him in court because he appeared more withdrawn and down instead of chipper and happy to see her. Since she’d paid his
bail and signed all the appropriate papers, they headed out the door together. Liza’s stomach growled, reminding her she’d been at the courthouse and the police station for the better part of the day.

She waited until they were settled in the car before turning to her brother. “Hungry?” she asked.

He nodded. “But I need a shower more. I can’t go anywhere looking like this.”

Now he was worried?

His white-collared shirt was wrinkled and dirty and he looked like he’d been on a twenty-four-hour bender. Which wasn’t true. Liza had seen him at work earlier this morning, at McKnight Architecture, the firm her grandfather had founded and where Brian also worked. Brian was an accountant, and as one of the bookkeepers, his job had few direct responsibilities. He had a supervisor to oversee his performance, something her father had made sure of during his tenure.

“You can take me home, and while I shower, you can go pick up something for dinner,” Brian said.

It wasn’t a suggestion, Liza noted.

She gripped her fingertips tighter around the steering wheel. “How about I drop you off home and I head out to get dinner myself, like a human being? You can fend for yourself. I bailed you out, Brian. Isn’t that enough?”

He reached over and squeezed her arm. “You know I appreciate you, Liza Lou.” The nickname was a throwback to their childhood when he’d first seen
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
.

Liza used to wear her hair up in a high ponytail, reminding him of Cindy Lou Who. She’d liked the nickname then. Now all it served to do was remind her of the brother she’d lost. She wasn’t even sure when he’d taken that wrong turn. It just seemed that from the time he’d reached adolescence, trouble found Brian. Or maybe it was Brian who found trouble.

She clenched her jaw tight before speaking. “If you appreciate me, how about you take a good look in the mirror.” She reached over and flipped down the visor, revealing a covered mirror that she also opened for him. “Who are you and what have you done to my brother?” she asked softly.

He shook his head and closed up the visor. “You know the cops in this town are hard-asses,” he muttered. “They have it in for me.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Why weren’t you at the office this afternoon?” she asked, ignoring his stupid comment.

“I had a business lunch.”

“At Joe’s Bar?” she asked sarcastically.

“Nothing wrong with buying a client a drink.”

“What client would that be?” And since when did his job as a bookkeeper require him to schmooze with any client?

Brian let out an annoyed sound. “I don’t have to answer to you,” he said, folding his arms across his chest and looking out the window.

She ignored him once more. Nothing positive could come from engaging him in an argument. Besides, they were almost home.

In the distance, she saw the house on the hill, the main landmark in the town of Serendipity, looming in the distance, proud and majestic against a cloudless sky. There was a time Liza had visited the house often, back when she’d been friends with Faith Harrington, who’d grown up there. Faith’s parents had lived there until last year when her father had gone to jail for securities and investment fraud, and Ethan Barron had purchased the house on the SEC auction block.

Dare Barron’s brother.

How could she stop thinking about the man when he cropped up in her mind every time she turned around?

Liza shook her head and forced her thoughts elsewhere. Anywhere. Like back to the landmark she’d just driven past and its previous occupants.

Liza had attended school with Faith, at least until Brian had started acting out and had gotten himself tossed out of public school. Livid that the institution to which they paid their taxes had treated their son so badly, Liza’s parents had sent
both
kids to private school in a neighboring town. They’d ripped Liza away from her friends and her life, not that either of her parents had cared about that. Brian was always their main concern.