Page 26 of Fatal Deception

She laughed in spite of herself. “No.” She didn’t know what possessed her. She knew she shouldn’t say it. It had nothing to do with him, and it was ancient history, but it felt…fair, somehow, to let him into a piece of her not-so-great past. “I did date Xavier Stanley.”

“That asshole? Damn, Audra.” He shook his head, but he didn’t seem so uncomfortable. He seemed almost faintly amused. “Have better standards.”

“I do. Now. But in high school I was just thrilled someone asked me out. He wasn’t as big of a jerk then, but he was working on it. Anyway, we all make mistakes.”

He looked down at his mug, pushed off the counter he’d been leaning against. “Yeah, we do. We better get to work. I’ve got some calls to make later, when it’s an appropriate time to be awake.”

She nodded, agreeing with him, except…

What kind of mistakes had he made? What kind of mistakes led to anex-wife and a downgrade in job status? It wasn’t herbusiness, but…she couldn’t let it go.

She didn’t know what divorce was like, because her father had preferred to keep two wives rather than let one go. Was Copeland the kind of man who would have done the same? She didn’t want to think it of him, but…she had to know. Even if it was absolutelynoneof her business.

She had to know.

SHE DIDN’T FOLLOWhim at first. Which was fine and dandy because Copeland didn’t want those big blue eyes on himlooking all…he didn’t know. Certainly not sympathetic. Not that she should be.

Sure, he hadn’t meant to mention Danielle. He usually didn’t think about her or the life he’d left behind, but the past few days had…dredged stuff up, he could admit.

When Audra did finally follow him, she had a strange look about her. He couldn’t quite read her expression or the way she was wringing her hands together.

“Copeland. You… With your wife. Ex-wife. You didn’t… It wasn’t…”

He stared at her, wondering what the hell she was getting at. Wondering why the hell she was harping on this. Wondering why the hell he was letting her.

“Spit it out, Audra.”

“It’s just…” She shook her head. “You won’t get it. I know you won’t. But my dad had this whole secret family. For years, he built a life with two different women, raised two different sets of children, and we never knew about each other until he died. And then it was such a mess. All because he didn’t think about anyone but himself.”

She was getting all worked up. He couldn’t imagine going through that. His dad was just…one of the best men he’d ever known. His parents, their stability and goodness, were the foundation of his life, and the only reason everything back in Denver hadn’t totally ended him.

But why was she bringing it up? She’d already done a tit for tat when she’d admitted to dating that prick Stanley. “What exactly are you asking me, Audra?”

“I don’t know. I have to trust you, don’t I? To stay here and allegedly protect me and all that. And I didn’t really think about that on a personal level, because you’re a police officer and Thomas trusts you and likes you and…”

“I didn’t cheat on my wife,” he ground out. Disgusted with himself and the situation andherfor drawing this very private and none-of-her-business information out of him. He didn’toweit to her, any more than he needed her to trust him.

But he found he wanted her to know, whether he liked that want or not. “Quite the opposite.” But that wasn’t the whole story, was it? “Doesn’t mean I wasn’t a bad husband.”

“I…”

“It also doesn’t mean I’m a bad cop. In fact, probably the opposite. I’m not going to go start a second family, or even a first. So I don’t see what it’s going to do with anything.”

“That isn’t what I was getting at.”

“Yeah, I know.” God, he hated apologizing, but he was being a jerk, and he didn’t have any reason to be. Maybe she was poking into his personal life, but…

He didn’t know.

“Look, I’m sorry.” He scowled at her. “Sore subject. Obviously.”

“I…shouldn’t have poked.”

“No, you shouldn’t have.”

She huffed out a breath. “I just… Iknowit’s none of my business. But I guess the idea of cheating and hurting people in a marriage ismysore spot, and I just want to be able to think of you as a good guy.”

“Never said I was that.”