Cool? The man hadn’t come off ascoolto Scarlett. To her, he’d appeared dark. All stoic and grumbly. And there’d been something else there. Something not-so-hidden in those incredible hazel eyes.
Danger.
One look at Rose’s so-called friend, and she knew the man was dangerous. With a capital freaking D. He was also kind enough to call for help when she’d needed it. Had stayed with her until that help arrived. Olly had shielded her towel-clad body from those two assholes with big mouths and leering eyes.
In a word, the man had made her feel…safe.And for a single woman wandering around a strange city alone, that meant everything.
“You said on the phone that you saw Olly today,” Brooke said again. “How was he?”
Hot. Mouthwatering. So tempting I had to keep from ripping that damn turtleneck right off him.
“Fine,” Scarlett squeaked. Clearing her throat, she tried that again. “Olly was fine. Reserved, but polite.”
“Polite?” Brooke nearly spit out the drink she’d just swallowed. Reaching for a napkin to wipe her mouth, she said, “Sorry, it’s just…I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone describe Olly as polite. Boorish, maybe. Guarded, for sure. But polite?” A soft chuckle shook the woman’s shoulders. “That’s definitely a new one.”
He came to see me a couple of months ago. Poor guy was so desperate to find Rose.”
Desperate because he really was Rose’s best friend…or was there more? Scarlett’s innate curiosity was too strong not to ask.
“Were Rose and Olly involved?” She put it out there point-blank.
Brooke frowned. “You mean…sexually?” When Scarlett nodded, the other woman laughed again. “God, no.”
“Why not?”
Was tall, dark, and deliciously handsome not her sister’s type?
“Don’t get me wrong. They’re both attractive people. But Rose and Olly…” The blonde thought for a moment. “If anything, those two are like brother and sister.”
“How so?”
“You know…always teasing one another. And Olly is crazy protective of her. Which explains why he’s so determined to find her.” Brooke shrugged. “Like I said, he sees Rose as a surrogate younger sister.”
Confusion left Scarlett frowning. “I thought Olly had a sister.”
An actual, blood-related one who apparently worked with the Denver Police.
“Izzy.” Brooke swallowed another sip with a nod. “Yeah, he does. I’ve never met her, and as far as I know, neither has Rose. But he’s talked to Rose about her, and Rose has shared some of what she’d learned with me.”
“And?”
“And what?”
“What did Rose have to say about Isobel…er…Izzy Garcia?”
“That Olly loves her more than anyone else on the planet. And…mind you, Rose didn’t go into detail with me. But once, when we were sharing stories from our childhoods, she mentioned something once about an attack.”
“Attack?”
“Not Rose,” Brooke rushed to clarify. “On Izzy.”
“You’re talking about the night Valdez almost killed Olly’s sister, right?”
The other woman shook her head. “This was before that. Back when she and Olly were younger. Again, I don’t know much other than Olly beat the hell out of some guy who was trying to rape his sister. But because that asshole had money, no one believed Izzy, and Olly ended up going to prison. The guy was only seventeen, and he was just trying to protect his sister, but…”
That’s why he’s a felon? Because he saved his sister from an unimaginable horror?
Thomas had given her a copy of his arrest record, but all it had included were the formal charges and the man’s conviction. The P.I. hadn’t mentioned anything about Olly’s motive behind the break-in and subsequent assault. Only that, at seventeen, Olly had broken into the house of his former foster parents’ home and beat the hell out of the dad.