What The Heart Finds (15 page)

“It was a lot of
things,” Eric said, looking serious. “Dad's liver
eventually gave out from all the booze and he died...”

“I'm sorry,”
Lena said, covering his hand on her knee with her own. “How old
were you?”

“Eighteen,”
Eric supplied, oddly distant in tone. “At that point, I needed
to get my shit together and take care of Liam. I got the garage back
on its feet and we lived in the apartment. Working on cars every
spare moment to make ends meet. Put some money away.”

“I cant imagine
Liam working on cars. Grease all over his grandpa sweaters,”
she smiled.

Eric laughed, turning his
hand over and entwining his fingers with hers. “He was actually
an even better mechanic than I was but he hated it. That's why the
money needed to be put away. For college.”

“Oh,” Lena
said, perking up a bit. “where did he go?”

“He didn't,”
Eric said, rolling his eyes.

“But he's so
brilliant,” Lena objected.

“He didn't want to
go. He's a genius but he just never had much ambition to go along
with it. He just always kind of wanted a quiet life with his books.”

“So you bought him
a bookstore,” Lena said, her tone thoughtful. What a gesture.
She couldn't imagine that kind of family obligation.

“Don't give me that
look,” Eric smiled. “It wasn't some grand gesture. That
money was his. So I used it to get him something he would appreciate
more than a college experience. He never needed classrooms,”
Eric said, sounding proud. “he learned everything in those
books of his. I swear he never paid any attention at all in school
and just passed with flying colors.”

“He's lucky,”
Lena said, thinking of how much time she spent scribbling notes and
filling out flashcards and making charts and scheduling study
sessions. “I never left my dorm I was studying so much.”

“On scholarship?”
he asked, but sounded like he already knew the answer.

“Yeah,” she
said, looking down at the table. “my family never would have
been able to afford college.”

“And look at the
life you made for yourself,” he said, his tone encouraging.

The waiter walked back
then, balancing plates on his arms with impressive dexterity, saving
her from having to talk about her past any more.

“Caprice salad,”
he said, laying a small white platter on the table with slices of
tomatoes and mozzarella topped with basil leaves. “Mushroom and
eggplant tortellini,” he said, placing a bowl down. “Penne
with pesto,” he said, dropping another bowl down. “And
last but not least, roasted Tuscan vegetables,” he said,
putting down the last plate, piled with asparagus, onions, peppers,
and zucchini. “Lenny said all plates are to share and that you
have to leave room for dessert.”

“Everything looks
great,” Lena said, smiling at the server. “Thank you.”

“Enjoy your meal.”

Lena looked over at Eric,
her smile playful. “Oh my god... where do we start?”

Eric tilted his head to
the side for a moment before reaching for his fork and picking up two
penne noodles. He carefully lead it over to her mouth, watching her
as she opened and he slipped his fork inside. He pulled the fork
away, looking at her with intense eyes. “Good?”

Lena nodded, taking her
eyes off of his and reaching for her own fork. No one had ever fed
her before. She always thought she would find it demeaning or
awkward. But it had been unexpectedly sexual.

They carefully plowed
through the food, eating almost every bit of each plate before the
waiter returned for their dessert order.

Lena watched Eric with a
raised brow as he poured two shots of espresso into his coffee and
started to drink it, black. “You're gonna enjoy that ulcer,”
she commented, adding cream and sugar to her coffee.

Eric smiled, looking at
her with in-drawn eyebrows. “Liam says the same thing. So do
you have room for this chocolate concoction Lenny has planned for
us?”

Lena looked at him over
her coffee cup, her face a mask of seriousness. “Oh, there is
always room for chocolate,” she said and Eric chuckled,
stretching his arm across the back of the chair, his fingers playing
with the ends of her hair.

The check came too
quickly, Lena feeling uncharacteristically disappointed. She glanced
sideways at Eric for a split second before moving her hand out from
under the table, with every intention on paying the bill herself.

“Don't even think
about it, baby,” Eric said, his tone low and amused. But firm.
There was no way she was going to get away with it.

Lena watched as he
slipped a credit card into the book and slid it toward the end of the
table. She didn't even want to think about what the tab was.
Especially with the wine. It had to be in the hundreds and that
thought made her too-full belly feel sick.

“What?” Eric
said, leaning closer and kissing her cheek. “Never had a man
pay for dinner before?”

“I usually try to
pay.”

“Of course you do,”
he said, his tone somehow both teasing and kind.

“Well... society
being what it is... when a man pays for a meal he generally expects
more than a thank you.”

“Boys,” he
said, his voice a bit disgusted. “expect more than a thank you.
A man is just happy to spend a few hours in your company.”

Lena felt herself smile a
bit, leaning down and resting her head on his shoulder for a quick
second. The side of his face leaned on her hair until she realized
what she was doing and sat up, moving slightly away.

What the hell was that?
Lena watched at Eric quickly filled out the receipt, feeling unsure
of herself. She was never the touchy-feel-y type. She didn't just...
snuggle up on guys in the middle of a crowded restaurant. That wasn't
like her at all.

Eric scooted toward the
end of the booth. “You ready to head back?” he asked.

No. Not at all. “Yes,”
she said, sliding out and falling into step beside him.

He walked her back to the
inn, holding her hand and stopping just outside the front door. He
looked down at her for a moment as if trying to figure out what he
was going to say.

He leaned forward,
kissing her forehead quickly and dropping her hand. “Thank you
for coming to dinner with me,” he said and turned and walked
away.

Thirteen

Lena stood there watching
him get into his car and drive back to the garage. He sat inside it
for a long minute before getting out and going inside.

That was probably the
most unexpected thing she had experienced in years. Who would think
that the town womanizer would show up at her door with flowers, take
her to a fancy restaurant, have meaningful conversation with her,
then drop her off with nothing but a chaste kiss on the forehead?

What had gotten into him?

Lena turned back toward
the hotel, going inside. The bell above the door was stuck all
wrapped up in itself and silent for a change. No one was at the front
desk which usually meant it was Emily's night to man it.

She stood there for a
long moment, her heart racing in her chest, her head a bit fuzzy from
the wine and the strangeness of her evening. It was the perfect
opportunity. She needed to get into the computer. No one was around.

She listened for a few
seconds, hearing a rowdy crash from the kitchen and Emily's voice
above it, yelling, “Damn it all to hell.”

Lena took a shallow
breath and slipped behind the desk. She moved the mouse on the
surface of the desk, her fingers feeling tingly and foreign. She
really, really did not have the nerves for this kind of work. Next
time Elliott wanted a spy, he could hire an actual one.

The screen came up,
bright and blinding. With no password protection. Which was really,
really careless even though it made her job a lot easier. She was no
hacker. There's no way she could get in if there was a password. But
customers had their personal information saved on the computer. It
was careless to leave it so accessible.

Lena pushed past the idea
that before she arrived, there had never been any cause for
suspicion.

She felt suddenly guilty.
Like she was betraying a trust. Which was ridiculous seeing as she
barely knew these people. But it was there, making her blood roar in
her ears and her heart slam in her chest. It was wrong. They had
accepted her. Been kind to her. And she was breaking into their
computer system.

She brought up the
financial records, quickly flipping through the pages, trying to get
as much information as quickly as possible to write down as soon as
she got back up to her room.

She had just seen
something odd, something she couldn't quite point out, but knew it
was off when, very loud and very angry, Emily's voice said, “What
the hell do you think you're doing?”

Lena's hands froze on the
mouse, her throat feeling swollen and constricted. She was caught.
That was it. Her worst fear was realized.

“What are you some
kind of friggen identity thief?” Emily yelled, reaching over
and hitting the power button.

The screen went dark in
front of her, making her own reflection visible. Guilty, terrified.
“Emily, I can ex...”

“No,” Emily
said, her tone seething, viscous even. “I don't think you can.
I want you out. Right now. Go up to your room and get your shit and
get the hell out. Now,” she said when Lena didn't immediately
move.

Lena felt her face flush,
her stomach queasy. She lowered her gaze, unable to face the
accusation in Emily's eyes. She walked quickly up the stairs,
unlocking her door and throwing all her clothes back into her
suitcase as quickly as possible, everything in a tangled mess. She
threw her laptop into it's bag and rushed back down the steps.

Emily was standing at the
side of the desk, blocking the entrance behind it. Her arms were
crossed over her chest. She could feel her shooting daggers at her as
she walked past, slumped forward and looking every bit as guilty as
she felt.

Lena walked quickly down
the front path, wanting to get off of the inn property before Emily
decided to call the sheriff on her. That was the absolute last thing
that she needed. That would be a fun one to try to explain to
Elliott.

She dragged her bag
behind her, moving toward the corner of town, sneaking behind the
school and going to sit on the playground.

She grabbed her phone out
of her pocket, going into her work email and quickly typing a message
to Elliott. She had to get it over with or she was going to make
herself sick over how to tell him.

Got caught trying to
get information off of the computer system. Obviously was thrown out
of the inn.

• LE
  

There.
That was good enough. At least he wouldn't be expecting any more
information.

Lena
moved over to the swing, sitting down on it and looking around
anxiously. Like the townspeople would be showing up at any moment
with pitchforks and torches. She hung her head, taking a deep breath.

She
just needed to figure out her next step. She needed someplace to
stay. Preferably away from the eyes of everyone in town. Because she
was sure that by noon tomorrow, everyone would hear about Lena
Edwards the identity thief.

Lena
shut her eyes, rubbing at them with her fingers. It was too
humiliating to even think about.

So
she wasn't going to think about it. She was going to think about
where to go from here. She needed a place to stay. Or she needed a
way to get out of town. As soon as possible.

She
stood up, grabbing her bags, and walking back toward town from behind
all the buildings. Like a criminal.

There
was really only one place to go. One place that had her car. That
maybe could be fixed sooner than expected. Or, if that wasn't
possible, maybe she could pay him to lend her one of his cars. They
could meet up and exchange whenever hers was fixed.

She
crossed down the middle of Main Street, all the lights in town off
except for a few down at the inn. Even across the distance, she could
swear she felt Emily's eyes watching her.

She
got as far as the door, looking at the doorbell for the second level
where he lived, before she chickened out. What could she say? How was
she going to explain what was going on without seeming like a
complete fraud? She put her bags down and sat on the ground, leaning
against the cold building.

She
could lie. She had been doing plenty of that. She might even be able
to pull it off now. Tell him there was an emergency at work. That she
needed to get back as soon as possible. Get him agree to the car swap
deal. She doubted he would fight her about it.

But,
god, she felt bad even asking.

Especially
after such a nice date. It felt wrong.

She
felt the tears well up hot and urgent before she could push them
away. It had been a long, long time since she felt so hopeless. In
her sort of twisted version of reality, having money in her bank
account was supposed to fix everything. It was supposed to ensure
that her life didn't just completely turn upside down and fall apart.