"Yeah, after that. But anyone can get startled." "Ah, hon." Armie pitched in on the effort of rea.s.suring her. "You were a rock last night after that bozo tried to grab you." He squeezed her shoulder. "Impressed the h.e.l.l out of me."

Cannon tried to shake it off, but he was completely leveled. Armie, the guy who never got close to nice girls, not even if they were attached to another man, had obviously become friends with Yvette. He was completely at ease with her, caring, funny...himself.

Incredible.

Oh, sure, Armie could be friendly with anyone. He was nice to Harper, Gage's girlfriend, but Harper was almost like one of the guys. Armie kept his interactions with her superficial. And he was always respectful enough, though distant, with Rissy.

But with Yvette, the nicest of the nice girls, he was the same good friend that Cannon knew so well.

Yvette had done what no other woman could-she'd gotten close to Armie.

Armie scowled. "What?"

He caught himself and shrugged. "Nothing."

"Screw that. You're staring at me like I've grown a second head, dissecting me or something. I want to know why."

"You're not coming on to Yvette."

He flattened back in his seat. "What? h.e.l.l, no! I wouldn't." He glanced at Yvette. "No offense."

She smiled at him. "None taken."

"But d.a.m.n, man, just because she flashed me the goods-"

"Armie!"

"-doesn't mean I'd do the unthinkable!"

"Yeah, that's what I just said." Cannon knew it, 100 percent. He trusted Armie without reservation.

"So...what?" Expression fierce, Armie barked, "Make sense, d.a.m.n it."

"All right." If he was right, they had a very big problem on their hands. "I don't think Heath was here last night. I think it was Mindi."

Both Yvette and Armie gaped at him.

"I know it sounds nuts, but hear me out." Leaning forward, elbows on the table, Cannon detailed his suspicions, filling Armie in on everything that had happened. "She's been on me hot and heavy, unreasonably so."

"True," Yvette agreed. "But I figured she just wanted you like everyone else does."

Armie had to rub away his smile over that.

"I was really confused when she went after Armie the other night."

"I was relieved," Cannon told her. "Until I found out she wasn't with him after all."

"Agreeing to go home with me meant she wasn't all that dead set on having you," Armie mused aloud. "No broad is that dense to think you'd take second serve."

"Eww." Yvette scowled at him.

"Not directly second," Armie told her with a laugh. "I meant that Cannon doesn't take other men's leavings. If I'd laid hands on her, he never would."

"Enough on Cannon's nitpicky ways," she announced, then turned to Cannon. "So you a.s.sumed she was with Armie last night?"

"Yeah, so I never considered her. But maybe when it all went down, she saw her opportunity, knowing we'd be tied up for a while." He nodded at Armie's phone. "I don't suppose that was her texting you?"

"No, just the promoter. They're going to run the show tournament-style."

Yvette didn't understand, so Cannon explained, "He'll fight more than once."

"Long as I keep winning," Armie clarified.

"Like I said. You'll fight more than once." He knew Armie's ability, even if Armie chose to downplay it. "It's done like a wrestling tournament. Winners keep advancing."

Fascinated, Yvette started to ask more questions, but Armie shook that off.

"Just because Mindi wasn't with me last night doesn't mean she ran over here to wreak havoc on your windows."

"No. But I picked up her scent."

Yvette lifted her brows.

Armie guffawed. "Since when are you a bloodhound?"

"Since never. But she wears that d.a.m.ned overpowering perfume."

Yvette slanted him a look. "I think it's actually expensive stuff."

"Whatever. I don't like it." He'd take Yvette's own personal fragrance any day. But thinking about that, about her skin and hair and arousal, would get him in trouble. "I especially dislike how she wears it so thick. Right after I noticed the broken window in the garage, I smelled it, but it didn't register. I was so set on thinking it was Heath that I totally missed the significance."

Yvette suddenly perked up. "Remember when she dropped by? She was awfully nosy about what we had in the boxes."

"I know." Cannon held out his hand, pleased when she put hers in it. Touching her seemed to be a requisite of every circ.u.mstance. "I think your grandfather might have had something of hers-maybe something p.a.w.ned-and she's hoping to get it back."

"The illegal way?" Yvette frowned. "Why not just ask us?"

"Good question," Armie said. He stood. "I know you two were planning to do the nasty and all that-"

"Armie!"

"-but what do you say we take another look at that safe first?"

In a quick about-face, Yvette stopped censuring Armie and jumped to her feet to join him. "It was hidden!" She tugged at Cannon. "I'd almost forgotten about it."

Keeping her hand in his, Cannon again enjoyed their easy camaraderie. "I think we need to figure out what's inside."

"Should I go or stay?" Armie asked.

Remembering their plans, Yvette bit her lip, then deferred to Cannon.

d.a.m.n, he wanted her, more now than ever. That she'd gotten Armie to open up made her all the more lovable. Not that she'd needed a lot of help in that department.

The more time he spent with her, the more convinced he was that he'd always loved her. Even back when he'd told himself she was too young. Even when he'd done his best to remember she was a victim. Long before she'd ever gone away.

In so many ways, she'd always appealed to him. When being bold, shy, determined or scared. He'd fought the inevitable for a very long time.

Now that he was done fighting, he wasn't about to let anything happen to her.

"We lost him again," Armie said in an exaggerated stage whisper. "So...I could give you an hour."

Cannon couldn't yet get out the words.

"Two hours?" Armie offered, managing to look impressed.

Shaking his head, Cannon said, "I might need longer than that."

"d.a.m.n, man, no reason to show off."

"I was talking about a lifetime."

Armie turned into all smiles.

Cannon waited to see how Yvette would react.

Indulgent, uncaring that Armie stood there on the alert and apparently not scared off by his out-of-the-blue proclamation, she cuddled up to his chest. Maybe she'd misunderstood, or thought he was only caught up in the moment. Maybe she thought he spoke in s.e.xual terms only. But she patted his chest and looked at him with big, understanding green eyes. "We can worry about the safe later if that's what you want."

"Lucky b.a.s.t.a.r.d," Armie whispered.

Freed by his own admission, Cannon tipped up her chin and kissed her-but before Armie could sneak away, he ended it. "Let's see if we can find a key and pa.s.s code. I want to know what's in that safe."

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE.

Y vette went through every drawer, then behind the drawers, trying to find the key and pa.s.s code. Armie and Cannon checked the top of the buffet and refrigerator, the tall cabinets, each high place that she couldn't reach. They even went back out to the garage and into the attic to see if they'd missed something up there.

The s.p.a.ce over the garage was now empty.

Finally Armie said, "What about in your grandpa's bedroom?"

She and Cannon looked at each other.

A little embarra.s.sed by the truth, she shook her head. "Other than when I first moved back in, I haven't been in there." She'd thought about it many times, but the loss was still too painful.

Cannon hugged her. "I haven't been in there either. I only dropped my bags in the spare room."

Dropped his bags...and then had moved into her room with her.

"The room with only a twin bed?" Armie asked, familiar with the layout of the house. "Wasn't that cramped?"

Even before Armie started, Yvette bit her lip and her face heated.

Seeing that, Armie gave a knowing smile. "Ah. Never used that little bed, huh? Nice." He tried to fist b.u.mp Yvette, but she refused to play along, swatting at him instead. He managed to turn that into a palm slap, though, and she ended up laughing.

"So, not to be disrespectful or anything, but do you think we could look around? I mean, if I had something private, odds are I'd put it somewhere in my bedroom."

Agreeing, Yvette led the way down the hall. "I don't recall Grandpa ever storing anything business-related in his room before. He always kept paperwork in the hutch and buffet in the dining room. Not that I was ever in his room much, usually just if it was my turn to clean house. Then I'd go in only to dust and vacuum." She pushed the door open and stepped in.

Sunlight poured through the blinds over the window, showing dust motes dancing in the disturbed air. His bed looked the same, the simple chenille spread neatly smoothed over two standard pillows.

Nicks and scratches, earned through years of possession, showed on the dark dresser and chest of drawers. One shallow dish atop a nightstand held loose change and a few old receipts.

Yvette held back. "I'm not sure I feel right going through his things." As Armie had said, personal stuff was stored in a bedroom. She didn't know much about her grandfather's private life; for her, he'd only been a grandfather. But to the rest of the world, he'd still been a man.

Was it possible he'd had a romance or two? She smiled, imagining him with a girlie magazine tucked under the mattress. Or a love letter.

Cannon and Armie both waited for her to decide what she wanted to do. She strolled to a framed photo on the dresser. "This was my grandma. I never really knew her, but I knew that Grandpa never stopped loving her."

Next to that was a smaller framed photo.

Cannon lifted it, smiling. "You?"

"When I first came here." She'd been so young, and so incredibly lost. In the picture, she looked shy and a little scared...but her grandfather had fixed that. He'd loved her, given her a home and a purpose and a place to call her own.

Tucked into the big mirror frame over the dresser were more photos of her. School photos, candid shots, a few of her at the p.a.w.nshop.

Emotions morphed into a physical ache, her heart literally hurting. "I miss him so much."

Cannon looped his arms around her from behind and put his chin atop her head. "Want Armie and me to go through his things? Other than looking for a key, we won't intrude."

She gave it some thought, but eventually everything in the room would have to be stored anyway. It was her duty to do it.

She put her hands over his, leaned into him. "Thank you, but I can help."

"All right." He gave her a squeeze and stepped away. "Where should we start?"

Considering it, she glanced over at Armie...and found him studying the bedside lamp. "Armie?"

"Yeah." He grinned. "I vote we start right here." He lifted the old-fashioned two-bulb lamp and showed the key hanging from the pull switch. Beneath the lamp, stuffed up into the bra.s.s base, was a small square of paper.

Wow. Could it really be that easy?

Excitement filled the air. They were each supercurious as to what they'd find.

Nudging her forward, Cannon said, "You should do the honors."