SweetlyBad by Anya Breton Page B

sabotaging you, Erica. I have proof.”
    She swallowed down the worried lump in her throat. What if
Jared was sabotaging her? Who would believe her? Almost two decades,
he’d been in business. People trusted him in this town.
    “Do you want to see it?” Drew prompted with another shake of
the phone.
    Erica reluctantly nodded.
    He tapped around on the device and then held it out to her.
She inhaled a deep breath. And then looked down.
    The image was fuzzy as if shot in a steam room. Though it
was obvious from the audio that something was happening on the small screen,
she couldn’t tell what it was.
    “I…can’t tell what’s going on.”
    Drew dropped onto the sofa beside her, swiping the phone
from her hand. He brought his head low and then, as if recalling he could lift
the phone, brought it up to eye level. Several times he tapped, rewound, tapped
and twisted the thing.
    “Shit. Fuck. The lens must have fogged up in the
heat. How are we supposed to get Jared thrown in jail without proof?”
    “Jail?” Erica exclaimed and hopped to her feet. “I don’t know
if making a few cars break down is jail worthy.”
    Drew shoved the phone in front of her face. “That, right
there, do you hear the air compressor tool thingy? He was unfastening a bolt on
your lift . He isn’t just sabotaging your work after the fact anymore.
Now he’s trying to kill you!”
    Erica’s breath left her in a rapid gust. If the lift
failed…a customer’s car could fall. It could crash into the garage door or
worse. Someone could get seriously injured.
    “Jared wouldn’t do that.” Her voice was small despite her
believing what she’d said.
    “He deleted appointments off your calendar on the computer.
He took notes about old ones. He unfastened at least two bolts on the lift.
Then he sabotaged your work in your customer’s driveway! Your ex is bad news,
Erica.”
    “You saw him do this?”
    “Yes.”
    Erica sighed. “I don’t know what to do. The police aren’t
going to run fingerprints on my tools. And even if they did, Jared would just
tell them he helped me with something. They’ll believe him.”
    “Do you have security cameras in the garage?”
    She shook her head. “This is Stoddard. We’ve never needed
security cameras.”
    “You do now. We’ll look for something in Keene tomorrow.”
    Earlier today she’d have shouted at him for his presumption.
The thought that Jared would do something so evil as loosen bolts on her
lift made Erica feel vulnerable. She’d let Drew help her with security
cameras.
    Right after she checked the bolts at the shop.
     
    “I’m a little…on edge. I need to take a drive. It will clear
my head.”
    Drew stared, waiting for her to relent and tell the truth.
She was a horrible liar.
    “You should take that shower,” she said. “You look…hot.”
    His eyes narrowed. She didn’t mean he looked hot as
in mouthwatering, jump-into bed-for-a-marathon-night-of-sex hot. She meant haggard like an
old-bag-woman-wearing-seventeen-layers-all-caught-in-a-downpour-of-acid-rain
hot.
    The prideful part of him acknowledged she was right. He did
need a shower. The new, oddly protective part of him didn’t want her going out
on her own.
    “Your ex sabotaged your garage while I watched. What will he
do if he catches you out alone?”
    “The same thing he’s done for the past seven months—taunt me
for dumping him.” She shrugged as though to say it was no big deal.
    Drew settled his weight evenly between both legs and folded
his arms in front of him. “Why don’t you tell me why you’re really going out?”
    Panic shot her eyes wide for a bare second before she got
control of her expression. “I’m going out to clear my head. Like I—”
    “Has anyone ever told you that you suck at lying?”
    “Um—”
    The pink flush that built in her cheeks told him everything
he needed to know. “Just tell me.”
    Erica’s chin came up. “I’m going to check the lift for
evidence that it’s been