Bubblegum Blonde (8 page)

"And?"

"And it got me to wondering. What would you be willing to do for him?"

"You mean you started wondering if I would be willing to help him weasel his way out of a murder conviction," I stated heatedly.

"Something like that." He nodded. "The minute you introduced yourself in the station I knew that you were up to something. I knew you'd be sticking your nose where it doesn't belong." He drummed his fingers against his knee. "I already have some good evidence against Jason King, and it's only a matter of time before I can prove him guilty of murder, so if I were you, I'd drop this case, and let me do my job. Jason King is wasting your time."

The joke was on him. I knew exactly what evidence he had against Jason, and it wasn't enough to put him behind bars. There was no murder weapon, and if they were going on fingerprints alone then they'd have to arrest Robert Hatchett as well. He was just trying to scare me away from the case, but it wasn't going to work.

"Is that so?" I scoffed. "Well"—I shrugged with my palms up in the air—"if you know for a fact that I broke into Hatchett's place, why aren't you arresting me right now?" I asked.

He rubbed his palms against his thick thighs and smiled. "Let's just call it professional courtesy."

"Or lack of damming evidence," I rebutted.

"Oh, I have some pretty damning evidence against you." He chuckled. "Starting with the assless jeans lying next to your chair." He grinned. "You know, that evidence is out in the open. I could take it if I wanted to."

I glanced down at the offending item and bit my lip. If I wasn't busted before, I definitely was now.

"Imagine the look on my face when I saw you get knocked off of that fence with a frozen chicken." He started laughing. "And then your bare cheeks running down the street."

He'd seen my bare butt jiggling down the street. I was officially mortified. As soon as he left, I was hitting up a CrossFit class and dragging Kelly along for some semblance of moral support, even if she did just sit in the corner with a chocolate shake and watch.

I glared at Detective Black while he cleared his throat and regained some semblance of self-control. When he'd finally gotten his laughter contained, he asked, "Would you like to explain to me why you entered the Hatchett estate? Did King really hire you, or are you just doing your boyfriend a favor and covering his ass?"

My jaw dropped.

"First of all, Jason is not my boyfriend. We ended a long time ago, and that's a time in my life I'd rather leave forgotten."

Detective Black kept his gaze steadily trained on my face.

I tossed my hands in the air. "Do you really think I'm helping him get away with murder? Are you out of your ever-loving mind?"

Yeah, I was a little scatterbrained when the detective was around, but did he really think I was stupid enough to help someone cover up a murder?

I pulled a piece of gum out of my top desk drawer and set it in front of me on the desk.

"Jason King showed up this morning and asked me to help prove his innocence since you seem set to take him down without any real evidence. I do a lot of crazy things for my clients but helping them cover up a murder isn't one of them."

"How would you know what evidence I do or don't have against him?"

"I'm a private detective. It's my job. I have my ways."

We stared at each other, neither of us willing to budge on our stance for what felt like eternity.

He blew out a frustrated breath and shoved his hand through his inky black hair.

"Let's cut the bull, Barb." He relaxed in the chair. "We don't know each other that well, but the two times that our paths have crossed today you've been heading straight for trouble, and even though I don't know you, I still don't want to see you wind up hurt because of this guy."

"I'm not covering for Jason," I said adamantly.

He blew out a sigh and tapped his fist on his jean-clad knee. "I believe you."

I blinked uncertainly. "Did I just hear you correctly? Did you say that you believe me?"

He made a face at my sarcasm then nodded his head. "Yes, you heard correctly, but I do think he's dragging you into something that could get you in trouble or worse yet, hurt. He's not a good guy, Barb."

"You don't have to warn me about Jason. I already know." I shrugged. "Besides, I'm a grown woman. I can take care of myself."

I swear I heard him growl.

"You may be a grown woman, but you're also a fairly new PI. Just promise me that you'll watch your back. If you absolutely have to take on this case, be careful."

I appreciated his worry for my safety, but I also felt irritated because he thought I couldn't handle myself.

"Are you saying that because I've never taken on a murder case that I'm some kind of amateur? That I'm not just as good a detective as you are simply because I don't work for the police department?"

My blood pressure started to rise. I felt my face grow hot.

"No, that's not what I'm saying. I'm just warning you to be careful. Sometimes the person you think you know turns out to be a total stranger."

I took a deep breath, because whether I liked it or not, his warning was something Jason had taught me years ago. I'd thought I knew him, but I hadn't. Was Jason taking advantage of me by playing me again? Detective Black had given me something to think about.

"I was hired by Jason King to prove his innocence, and that's exactly what I'm going to do."

His brilliant green eyes glittered with warning. A prickle of heat skittered across my skin. He was as hot as sin in the summertime. His gaze bore into mine, and I had to grip the edge of my desk to keep from squirming. He was a big, sexy, pain in my butt, and I wanted nothing more than to throw him down on the desk and ride out my frustration.

It was totally the wrong thought to think at the time, but hey, my love life was practically nonexistent and had been for more than a year. Sexy stray thoughts were bound to buzz through my head from time to time, especially with someone like Detective Black breathing down my neck.

He stood abruptly and strode to my office door.

He turned back to face me. "I'm warning you," he said and pointed at me. "Be careful, and stay out of my way, because I won't hesitate to throw your butt in jail next time I catch you running half-naked down the street…no matter how beautiful you are."

I would not let the fact that a hunky detective had called me beautiful interfere with my job.

My dreams maybe but not my job. After Detective Black left my office and I'd given Kelly and Mandy a rundown of Detective Black's visit, they'd called it a day. About an hour later I decided to follow their lead. It had been a long day, and I was starving. I powered down my computer, tossed the offending remnants of my jeans in the trashcan, locked up the office, and went home.

The second I walked into the house my cat, Mickey, twisted himself around my ankles begging for a pet and some food, even though his dish was almost completely full. Mickey was pretty demanding, but I chalked that up to the fact that he was a male. I'd never met a male anything that wasn't somewhat demanding.

I filled Mickey's dishes with fresh food and water, patted him on the head, and made my way to the shower.

As the hot water ran over my head and shoulders, I let myself run through what I knew about the case thus far.

The receipts to the motel in Trinity Grove were enough to tell me there was a big chance that Jason and Lydia were having an affair. Still, I couldn't shake the question of why Jason and Lydia would be sneaking out to the Grove when they'd obviously been meeting in Lydia's home. How else would Jason's fingerprints and personal items have gotten in her bedroom?

There was also the possibility that she was sleeping with someone other than Jason, and that's why she was sneaking out to the Grove. Wouldn't that serve Jason the Cheater right? His mistress cheating on him with a man other than her husband? I shook the malicious thought out of my mind and finished my shower, dried off, and slipped into bed.

Why was Detective Black so sure that Jason was guilty? Did he know something that I didn't? I'd seen the police report. There was nothing there that would suggest Jason actually killed Lydia. Finding a jacket and money clip was a far cry from finding a murder weapon.

One thing was for certain, Detective Black would be keeping tabs on me now that he knew I was serious about the case, and that wasn't a good thing for me. I'd have to be sneakier than usual to keep him from stopping or interfering with my investigation.

It was kind of sweet that he was worried about me, but that didn't change my mind about the case.

I wiggled down in the thick, fluffy linens and closed my eyes. Mickey hopped up on the bed and snuggled up against me. I put my arm around him, and with thoughts of detectives, murders, and affairs buzzing through my mind, finally fell asleep.

*   *   *

I'd intended to get some much-needed shut-eye, but all I ended up getting was some disturbingly sexy dreams of me rolling around with an extremely naked Detective Tyler Black.

I didn't know what my problem was, but I needed to get a grip. There was a murder to solve, and I'd get nowhere if I kept letting Detective Black wreak havoc on my mind. Launching my business into a different income bracket and freeing an innocent man teetered in the balance. I needed to get a grip and get down to business.

I felt a little bit like a zombie, so I hopped back into the shower in an attempt to wake myself up. Mickey stationed his perverted self right outside the glass shower door to watch the show.

Like I said before, I chalked it up to him being a male and let it go.

When the hot water ran out, I got out of the shower, dried, and tossed on a pair of comfortable jeans, a baby pink T-shirt, and a matching pair of Converse tennis shoes. My hair was a mess, as it always was in my eyes, so I ran my fingers with a little leave-in conditioner on them through it in an attempt to tame my naturally loose waves. When I no longer resembled a lion, I washed my hands and turned off the bathroom lights.

 Mickey followed me through the house, so I checked his dishes, made sure there was plenty of fresh food and water in them, gave him a quick snuggle, then grabbed my purse, locked the door, and left the house.

The seasons were taking their sweet time changing, and the midmorning was already so hot, I was starting to sweat. I tossed my purse into the passenger seat and hopped into my car. I was ever so thankful for the air conditioner.

It's the little things, you know?

Once I'd backed out of the driveway, I headed toward the nearest coffee shop. Yes, I could've made coffee at my place, but like I said before, I wasn't great at the domestic things, even making the one thing I couldn't seem to live without. I really needed to at least learn to make a decent cup of coffee.

I turned off the main road and into the parking lot of my favorite coffee shop. I had a big day of investigating planned, and there was no way I was going to start I without my beloved coffee.

I pulled up to the drive-thru window and placed my order.

While I waited on my order to be filled, I checked my text messages and found that for once I didn't have any, so I switched over and checked my email. I had three messages waiting in my inbox. One from a disgruntled husband whom I'd busted two weeks ago, thanking me for ruining his marriage. I laughed because, honestly, I thought it was his cheating that ruined his marriage. The other two were potential clients asking for a meeting. Most of my clients came into the office or called, but I knew how embarrassing it could be to admit that someone could possibly be cheating on you, so I also offered to make appointments via email.

I forwarded the emails to Mandy so that she could set up the appointment, then closed out my email and tossed the phone into my purse.

The kind woman at the window handed my order to me and slid the window shut with a smile. I set the drink carrier in the passenger seat beside my purse and pulled back out into traffic. Ten minutes later I pulled up next to the curb outside the office.

I killed the ignition, grabbed my purse and the drink carrier, and got out of the car. I bumped the door shut with my hip and made my way across the sidewalk and into the office.

When I walked inside I found Kelly and Mandy behind their desks, already hard at work. I set a coffee on each of their desks and pulled up a chair.

"Rough night, boss?" Mandy smiled and pulled her cup closer to her.

"Something like that," I replied and took a refreshing sip of my own coffee. "Anything happen before I came in?"

"Nothing." Kelly shook her head. "To be honest, we just got in ourselves," Kelly said. "There're donuts on the desk if you're hungry." She pointed to a bright-pink box on the desktop.

"Thanks. You know me I'm always hungry," I said and grabbed a donut and napkin.

"I was fully expecting to see the good detective waiting at our front door because he decided to change his mind and haul you to jail," Mandy said as she tore off a piece of donut. "I mean, I honestly can't believe that he let you off with just a warning. He saw you hop the fence and everything for heaven's sake." Mandy shook her head.

"Believe me. No one was more surprised by that than me," I admitted with a shake of my head. "I just knew he was going to haul me in the minute he tossed the back of my pants on the desk. He said it was professional courtesy, but I think he took pity on me because I was assaulted with a frozen chicken and ran down the street with my bum hanging out for the entire neighborhood to see." I rolled my eyes.

"I think he likes you." Mandy nodded emphatically. "I heard him call you beautiful as he was leaving, and the way he looked at you…" Mandy fanned herself.

My eyes snapped up to meet her gaze. "Don't even go there."

Because I'd been going there in my dreams all night long. Enough was enough.

She smiled and shrugged but dropped the subject. Mandy was good at letting things go, unlike Kelly who held on for dear life.