The problem was, Daniella was so caught off guard that she nearly dropped the box in her hands. She knew she looked guilty. She had just honestly forgotten that anyone else was in the store, other than her and Eli. And Jo—of course, Jo. Daniella’s focus had been so singular—that was all.

AJ tilted his head. “What’s going on?”

Daniella set down the last box. “Nothing.”

Yes, that was very believable. All that was missing was breaking eye contact and whistling.

“Super nothing,” said Eli with a grin, like he couldn’t quite help himself.

Daniella had been wrong. Eli sounding as guilty as he ever could was what had been missing. Now the picture was complete. The two of them looked incredibly guilty now. No whistling required.

“Uh, you guys. Come on. Even I know something is up.” AJ raked his hand through his hair, trying to get the strands that always fell forward out of his eyes.

Daniella looked at Eli, and they locked eyes for a moment. He didn’t nod or move his head in the slightest. But she knew what he was thinking.

Let him in on it.

Daniella wished she could read minds with anyone other than the angelic-looking criminal in their midst, but that was life for you. Angelic criminals were Daniella’s purview, the way handsome, soulful, kind artists never would be. “Eli’s a total screwup and spent merchandise money on a bunch of fake but collectible Air Jordans.”

“You really had to put that in the worst light, didn’t you?” Eli didn’t even sound surprised, like he could read her right back.

Daniella shrugged. Her words had been harsher than she had meant for them to be. But Daniella had felt betrayed by her own thoughts in that moment. “You ask for my help, you suffer the consequences.”

“Apparently,” said Eli.

“None of this explains anything.” AJ was scratching that gorgeously disheveled head of his.

And Daniella still felt nothing. God really could be cruel, as her mother so often liked to say. Though, usually, she was saying that in reference to having Daniella as a daughter. “Eli here was taken advantage of late on the internet last night. And now we have a whole lot of fake merchandise to unload so that he doesn’t go to jail.”

AJ blinked. “I think somebody needs to start from the beginning.”

So Daniella did. She told him about the email that Eli found. About his crackpot plan to flip the Jordans and make back the money. About how the Jordans had turned out to be fake and how Daniella had found Eli’s discrepancy easily by going through the inventory. And then, Daniella decided to tell him her great plan.