War Wounded (The War Trilogy #2.5) (3 page)

He’s wearing a long sleeved, dark green Henley that looks like it’s glued to his body, and a pair of dark jeans that hug his thickly muscled thighs. There is no doubt that the man is sexy.

“So, let me get some more information before I go,” he says, interrupting my appraisal of him.

“Oh, yeah, sure,” I stutter.

Duke asks me a bunch of questions like: What hospital does he work at? What kind of car does he drive? What is his cell phone number?

He writes down everything in his notepad.

“Do you need to see a picture of him?” I ask, grabbing my phone in preparation of pulling up a picture for him to look at.

“No. I actually met him the other day at the gym with your brother,” he says, still writing in his notepad.

I blink in shock. “Oh! Okay then.”

Duke glances at me. “I will compile as much evidence, cheating or not, so you can make an informed decision either way.”

I nod in understanding.

“How much is this going to cost me?” I ask.

Duke shakes his head. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Duke, no. I want to pay you for your services.” I frown.

He gives me a crooked grin. “You can pay me in cupcakes.”

I laugh at how cute that smile looks on him. “No, I insist on paying you real money.”

“Fine. Since you used to date Tucker
and
Dennis, I’m giving you my family discount. It’ll be $200.”

I bark out a laugh and give him a shove. “You dick! Make me sound like a slut, why don’t you?”

Duke grins sheepishly. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“I know.” I snicker. “And I’m sure you charge way more than $200.”

He nods. “I do, but not for you.”

I make an aggravated noise. “You are such a pain in the ass.”

“Get used to it.”

I roll my eyes. “Fine,” I huff.

“I have your number, so I will call you as soon as I get something,” Duke says, standing and grabbing up his coat.

I stand, too. “Okay.”

He slips his coat on and I walk him back through the kitchen to the front of the shop. As he walks by the counter, I see him send Jules a naughty grin and a wink that has her turning bright red. He turns back toward me with one hand on the doorknob. His face once again serious.

“I’ll talk to you soon,” he murmurs.

I nod and give him a small smile. “Okay. Thanks, Duke.”

“You got it, beautiful,” he says, one side of his mouth curling up.

He flips the collar of his pea coat up and walks out the door. I sigh and turn back to look at Jules. She’s fanning herself.

“My god, Arianna! That has to be the most gorgeous man I’ve ever laid my eyes on,” she breathes.

I laugh. “Yes, he’s very handsome.” I agree.

“No, not handsome. Fucking hot! Like, super-sexy-bad-ass-I’d-like-to-fuck, hot.”

I gape at my twenty-year-old employee.

“Phew! I’m going to be having some nice dreams about that guy. What’s his name?”

“Duke,” I supply.

“Duke. Shit, even his name is bad ass.”

I snort and shake my head at her. Apparently, someone has a crush, which is understandable. Duke is an extremely good-looking man, that’s for sure. If I were single, he’d definitely be someone I’d go after.

~ Chapter Three ~

~ Arianna ~

“So, tell me about this PI you hired,” Jade says as she sips her coffee.

We are at Starbuck’s going over the seating chart for the wedding. I insisted on continuing with planning because if everything is fine, I will still be marrying Kyle in three weeks and this stuff needs to get done. We are sitting at a small table by a window with the papers spread out between us.

I shrug. “Nothing really to tell.”

“Oh, come on! Is he young? Old? Good looking? Ugly? What’s his name?” Jade asks.

“His name is Duke Tavish. He’s actually really good friends with Tucker. You remember Tucker, right?”

Jade grins wide. “Of course I remember Tucker. The man is smoking hot.”

I chuckle. “Yes, he is.”

“Those blue eyes of his…mmm”

I laugh. “Jade, focus.”

She shakes her head, making her dark brown, almost black hair, fall in front of her face. She giggles and brushes the long strands back.

“So this Duke guy, is he smoking hot, too? You know hot guys run in packs, right?”

I bark out a laugh before covering my mouth. I can see the people behind Jade’s back glance over at me. Before I can answer, I see Jade’s eyes widen slightly as she looks at someone or something over my shoulder.

“Do they now?” asks a familiar deep voice from directly behind me.

I roll my lips in to stop from laughing. The look on Jade’s face is priceless. I can see the flush creeping up her cheeks. I glance over my shoulder and look up at Duke’s smiling face. He leans his hands on the back of my chair and gives me a wink.

“Hey, Beautiful,” he murmurs softly.

Dammit! Now he’s got me blushing! “Hi.”

“What are you ladies up to?”

“Working on the seating chart for the wedding,” I tell him.

He nods but doesn’t say anything. I don’t know if that’s good or bad or indifferent. He’s actually very hard to read. He’s very good at keeping his face neutral.

“What are you up to?” I ask in return.

“I dragged Denny out. Fucking dude is in a shit mood, but he needs some fresh air,” he grunts and motions with his head to the counter where Dennis is ordering. His left foot is still in a cast and he’s still using crutches.

Dennis, who I went on a couple of dates with, was in a car accident not too long ago and broke his ankle. Dennis is actually now in a relationship with Tucker, who I had also dated for a while, years ago. And Duke is good friends with the both of them. It's funny how things work out like that.

“Is everything okay?” I ask with a frown.

“Yeah, don’t worry about it. I’ve got it under control,” he states.

Dennis glances over his shoulder in our direction. I catch his eye and give him a small wave and a smile. He gives me a tight, barely there smile and lifts his hand for only a second. He looks scruffy and out of sorts. I wonder what's going on with him.

“So, you never did answer your friend’s question. Is this Duke guy smoking hot?” he asks with a rakish grin, pulling my attention away from Dennis.

My stomach flutters. I do not want to answer that out loud. Is he? Yes...yes, he is. But he doesn’t need to know that I think he is. “Duke, this is my cousin Jade. Jade, this is Duke,” I introduce, ignoring his question completely.

The glint in his eye tells me that he totally knows why I did that. Shit.

Duke reaches across the table and shakes hands with Jade. “Nice you meet you, Jade.”

Jade gapes at him for a moment before finding her words. “Y…you, too.”

“Duke,” Dennis calls.

“Alright, ladies, I gotta go help out my boy. Arianna, I’ll talk to you soon,” he says and gives my shoulder a squeeze before walking off to carry Dennis’ coffee for him.

As soon as they leave, Jade turns to look at me.

“Really? Are you fucking kidding me? That’s Duke?!” she squawks.

I nod. “Yep, that’s him.”

“Good lord! The man is…I don’t even have words...damn, he's gorgeous.”

“I know.”

“He’s totally into you, you know.” She smirks.

“What? He is not!”

“Yeah, he is. He called you ‘Beautiful’ instead of your name and he couldn’t take his eyes off of you,” she says matter-o-factly.

“Whatever. He might find me attractive, but that’s about it. He’s had two bad marriages; I don’t think he’s looking to get married again.”

“Who said anything about having to marry the guy? I’m talking about taking him for a spin in the bedroom. Who the hell wouldn’t want to do that? If I were single, I would be all over that.”

“Jade, I’m not single,” I huff.

She sneers. “Not yet.”

I sigh heavily. “Don’t start. This is why I hired Duke. He’s going to find out the truth.”

“Either way, I'm still suspicious of Kyle. I just have a feeling that he's up to something," Jade says.

“Well, I love him.”

“Do you?” Jade asks, something odd in her tone.

“What do you mean, ‘
do you
?’ Of course I do. I wouldn’t be marrying him if I didn’t,” I snap.

“It’s just that this whole thing happened so fast. I’m afraid that you love the
idea
of him. He’s a doctor; he can offer you stability and the life you desire. All you’ve ever wanted to do was get married and have a family. I feel like you’re clinging to him because he’s the first guy who’s offered you exactly what you want, not because you’re actually in love with him and want to spend the rest of your life with him.”

I blink at her, completely dumbfounded. Could that be true? No, why would I marry someone I don’t love? That’s ridiculous. I shake my head at her.

“No, you’re wrong,” I insist.

She frowns but doesn’t argue with me. We go back to assigning seats without another word. Jade’s words continue to ping around in my head. I really don’t like the way they are making me feel. I'm doubting myself and my intentions behind marrying Kyle. That's not really something I want to be doing weeks before I marry the guy.

~ Duke ~

Three days into following Kyle Leonhart around hasn’t produced much. He’s mostly been at work. What he’s doing while he’s in work, I have no idea. For all I know, he’s fucking one of the nurses in a closet. I can’t really go hang around inside the hospital without raising suspicions. I did acquire a copy of his phone records, though, which tell me that there are other women he’s been awfully chatty with. And I’ve cross-checked their names and they’re definitely not his relatives.

While he’s in work, I was able to put a little GPS tracker in his car, so I can follow him without any problems. Right now, I’m waiting for him to get done with his shift. We’ll see if he stays for overtime, goes home, or goes out. I told Arianna to text me if he contacts her about his whereabouts or intentions.

My phone dings with an incoming text. I glance down at the message from Arianna.

He said he’s working another shift and won’t be home until morning.

Okay, thanks.

Now it’s a waiting game to see if he stays or not. I should have my answer within the next few minutes. I watch the doors leading from the hospital to the parking garage where his car is parked. I have my car in the perfect spot where I can see the doors
and
his car.

Ten minutes later, the door opens and Kyle walks through. Gotcha, bitch! I snap a couple of pictures with my expensive digital camera that takes some seriously awesome pictures from a distance. Kyle isn’t dressed in his scrubs, rather in clothes to go out in. He goes to his car and tosses the backpack that’s slung over his shoulder into the backseat. I jot down the time in my notepad then get ready to follow him to wherever his destination is.

I pull into the parking lot of a popular restaurant. I park my car and catch sight of Kyle just as he walks into the restaurant. Looks like I’ll be dining alone tonight. I walk into the place and make my way to the podium where the hostess is standing, waiting for the next customer. I quickly scan the room and find Kyle snuggled up in a booth with a woman who is not Arianna.

I ask the hostess to be seated on the other side of the room. She agrees easily and escorts me to a small two-seater table on the opposite side of the room from Kyle and his date. I take the seat that is facing him. I can see him through the crowded room but be inconspicuous enough to not be caught watching.

I’m going to have to use the camera on my phone to get a picture. There is no way I can break out my big digital camera and take pictures without being questioned.

The waiter comes to the table and gives me a friendly smile. “Good evening, Sir. Will you be dining alone tonight?”

“Yep, just me,” I tell him.

“Great…” he goes on to tell me the specials and to take my drink order.

After he walks away, I take a moment to check out what Kyle’s doing. I’m hoping that whoever this girl is doesn’t know that he’s engaged. That would be really shitty of her if she knew and went out with him anyway. He’s being very flirty, very touchy-feely with her. Yeah, he’s definitely cheating. No doubt. I take out my phone and pretend to mess around on it while I’m actually taking pictures of them touching and sneaking kisses when they think no one is looking. Fucking dick.

I know Arianna is hoping for the best, but it’s pretty obvious that he’s cheating. I’m really going to hate telling her. I don’t want to see her heart break. I know how much being cheating on hurts, and I’m dreading having to be the bearer of bad news.

My cell vibrates in my hand while I’m snapping a picture and a text pops up at the top of my screen. I bite back a groan. It’s Arianna. I open the message to read it.

So? Is he still working, or did he go out?

Shit. I can’t tell her this shit through a text message. Plus, I don’t even have all of my evidence compiled yet.

I can’t talk right now, Arianna.

I hope that will dissuade her from pushing for more information.

If you can text me that, you can answer my question.

Dammit. What the hell do I say that won’t give away what’s going on? I’m not going to respond at all. That way, I give nothing away. So I ignore her and go about my business. I jot down a couple of notes, order my dinner when the waiter returns, and go about snapping pictures of Kyle.

I just take my first bite of my dinner when my phone vibrates on the table next to me. Fuck. I swipe my finger across the screen to open my phone.

Duke, please. I can’t take not knowing anymore.

Arianna, I need to finish my investigation before giving you any information.

There, that should be sufficient. She can’t argue with that.

I’m met with silence through the rest of my dinner. Thank God. After I finish and pay my bill, I leave even though Kyle is still there. I’ve got enough info and pictures for tonight. I’ll be on him again tomorrow.