Chat or something."

Encouraging her again to make Pepper her confidante?

Rowdy sighed. "If you need to talk to me...?"

"No, I don't." It was bad enough that she'd told Reese about Trace. No way would she tell Pepper and Rowdy, too.

"What are you going to do, though?"

"I'm going to stay out of the way as much as I can."

Dash said, "I'll keep you company."

The men moved to stand against the wall a few feet away-out of sight of the officers.

Poor Rowdy. He really didn't like anyone in law enforcement, and yet his sister would soon marry a cop. Not that she thought Rowdy would let that get to him for long. Rowdy was a survivor because he knew how to adapt to changing situations.

He would adjust to this, as well.

Putting Rowdy from her mind, Alice sank down to sit on the bench. She was both hurt that Reese had given her such an accusing look and nettled that he hadn't taken her at her word. In the car she'd shared her biggest secret, so he should trust her now.

Settling down beside her, Pepper nudged her with her elbow. "What's going on with you two?"

"What do you mean?" Alice hedged.

Pepper gave her a long, droll look.

"You guys shoot sparks one minute, and antagonism the next. Are things not going well?"

"It's complicated." There were so many things on her mind, Alice couldn't even sort it out to herself. She had mostly forgiven Reese's sexual interrogation, and she'd confessed about killing Murray. But now, in the face of his continued distrust, she had to wonder if she'd made a monumental mistake.

"You know," Pepper said, "I've always found that things seem less complicated once I share them. Of course, Rowdy is the one I always shared with, and he has a great way of breaking stuff down so it's not so overwhelming."

"He does," Alice agreed. "He's such a...plain speaker."

Rowdy never hesitated to tell her things, regardless of how intimate they might seem to her. But she couldn't tell him about Reese playing games in bed.

Given that Rowdy was a dominating personality, she could only imagine how he'd smile over Reese's methods of getting info.

Pepper looked down at her feet, offering in an offhand way, "If you'd rather talk to him, I understand."

"It's not that." Maybe she shouldn't have told Reese about Trace. Surely he wouldn't say anything to the lieutenant, not after being warned away.

What would Trace do if Reese didn't let it go?

Because somehow, she just knew Reese wouldn't.

Her head throbbed with possibilities.

"Alice?"

She squeezed her eyes shut. "I might have really screwed up."

"How so?" And then, with suspicion, "What did Reese do?"

"Nothing." Yet. But if he pressed the matter...

"I'm not buying it." Pepper studied her. "Reese did something, and now you're upset. God, he can be such a jerk."

"No," Alice denied. "He's not a jerk, but he is occasionally autocratic. And stubborn. And maybe a little too protective."

"Yeah?"

Grinning with interest, Pepper asked, "What else?"

"Actually, he's pretty wonderful."

When he wasn't being distrustful or asking her too many questions. Her face flushed at the reminder of how he'd gotten his answers. "Most of the time, anyway."

"Not perfect-same as everyone else, I guess, huh?"

Not perfect, but close. "I guess."

Alice nudged her again, playfully this time. "I won't pry, but remember what I told you. You can trust me if you ever want to talk."

Maybe a different perspective would help. She eyed Pepper's encouraging smile and figured, what the heck. "Reese used sex against me."

Pepper's smile slipped.

"Come again?"

"He wanted to know things...about my past. Things that, I take it from the lieutenant's dictate, won't be discussed here after all."

"Wow." Fascinated, Pepper sat back.

"I wondered what that was all about."

"I'm sorry I can't tell you details."

"Obviously not, since it's forbidden."

Worried now, Pepper asked, "You aren't in any trouble, are you?"

"No, it's nothing like that."

"Good. I'm glad." She searched Alice's face, then prompted her with, "So Reese wanted these answers...?"

She nodded. "I didn't want to tell him.

I mean, we truly haven't known each other that long."

"Pfft. I loved Logan right from the start."

Love. Wide-eyed, Alice said, "You did?"

"Sure. I didn't realize it at the time, not until he double-crossed me in a really rotten way. Then it was so crushing, I knew I more than liked him. If I only liked him, it wouldn't have hurt so much, and I wouldn't have been so obsessed with it all. With him."

Wow. "Logan double-crossed you?"

"Big-time. But that's another story, and right now we're talking about you."

"But...since you loved Logan, did you trust him?"

Laughing, Pepper said, "Shoot, no. I had secrets about my secrets." She sobered. "But looking back, I know that if I had trusted him sooner, we'd have saved a lot of time, and maybe he wouldn't have gotten shot."

Alice took her hand. "I'm sure that wasn't your fault."

"Maybe." Pepper let out a breath.

"Let's get on to the juicy part of how Reese used sex against you."

Alice felt a gaze on her, and she glanced at Rowdy and got caught. Dash talked to him, and Rowdy nodded as if he listened and heard. But his attention stayed on Alice.

She blushed as if he could actually hear her, and Rowdy smiled.

Alice gulped and turned away. She should probably get through the story before Reese returned.

God, how did she even put it into words? "He got me...worked up."

"In bed?" Pepper asked in the same low voice Alice had used.

Alice nodded. "Then he asked me the stuff he knew I didn't want to talk about."

"Because he figured you were distracted with lust, huh?"

"Yes."

"That kinky bastard."

Kinky?

Pepper didn't think it was...mean? Or underhanded.

"Let me guess." Full of sympathy, Pepper squeezed both her hands.

"You're hurt? Embarrassed?"

"Well...yes." Who wouldn't be?

"It was pretty diabolical, I'll give you that. But tell me this-knowing Reese is a detective, and knowing he cares about you, did he ask about stuff that he needed to know? Or at least thought he needed to know?"

Alice dropped her shoulders. "Yes."

In for a penny... "I came to that conclusion on my own. I knew I had to come clean about everything, but I had to figure out a way."

"So you did tell him?"

"Yes." She bit her lip. "After we were in the parking lot."

"Ah." Pepper nodded. "So that's why he was so hot under the collar? Well, that and he's jealous of my brother."

Alice didn't want there to be any bad feelings between Pepper and Reese.

After all, Reese and Logan were best friends. She'd hate herself if she inadvertently caused an issue. "Reese trusts Rowdy. He's just...well, we don't have a clear understanding yet."

"Meaning you're falling for him, but he hasn't yet told you how he feels?"

Alice's shoulders slumped. "Pretty much."

"So, get even." Warming to that idea, Pepper said, "You can make yourself feel better about how Reese used you if you use him back, and you can turn the tables on him and get answers of your own."

A little scandalized, Alice said, "I couldn't!"

"Of course you can. Payback doesn't have to be hell." Pepper bobbed her eyebrows. "It can be loads of fun."

Alice whispered, "Did you...?"

"With Logan? You betcha." Pepper leaned closer. "We'd had great sex, so even though I was pissed at him, I figured why should I suffer?"

Sex with anyone other than Reese would be suffering.

"We had to hide out in his brother's lake house. Shhh, the property's top secret, so don't tell anyone about it.

Dash wants to keep it private, so only Reese, Logan and I know about it. Well, and now you. But anyway, each night when it was time for bed, I went to Logan. We'd have mind-blowing sex- and then..." Pepper got quiet.

Oh, no. She couldn't leave her hanging like that. "And then what?"

"I left him to go sleep by myself."

How...sad. "What did Logan say about that?"

"He didn't like it, but men do not turn down sex. Especially not sex with women they care about. And trust me, Reese cares about you."

God, she hoped Pepper was right.

Still, she had grave reservations about the plan. "I don't know. Logan and Reese are very different men."

"True. But they're still men."