Who Glares Wins (Lexi Graves Mysteries) (43 page)

Fletcher nodded
,
and this time
,
I didn't get the shoulder brush off. "Sure thing, Lexi."

I knocked on Solomon's door, pleased that I'd given Fletcher an opportunity to talk to
Lucas
, which at the same time
,
would involve some gossip about photo number two. If that didn't salvage my reputation with my colleagues, I didn't know what would. I suspected I would have to shoot one of them.

"I've got a job for you," said Solomon, waving me in.

"I'm all ears."

"It's a weekend
,
so you've got a few days until it starts."

I thought about complaining straight off because I was still stuck in the mindset that weekends were wonderful, glorious things
,
compris
ed
mostly of sleeping in late, shopping, hanging out in coffee bars
,
then hitting the real bars later. In reality, it meant the spin class from hell with the instructor from heaven, doing my laundry, babysitting for one of my brothers
,
and watching whatever TV drama I wished I w
ere
a part of. "Go on," I said.

"It's at a spa. Someone's trying to poach the staff and the owner has asked me to send someone in undercover."

"As a therapist? Or a cleaner?" Therapy I couldn't do
;
cleaning
didn’t exactly thrill me
either.

"Neither. As a guest."

I perked up. A weekend of sitting around
,
wearing a luxurious robe and fluffy slippers
,
while list
ening in on staff conversations…
m
aybe a massage or two. What a chore!

"I'll look weird
if I’m
on my own. No one goes to spas alone."

"I can arrange for you to take a friend. Twenty percent," added Solomon when I didn't say anything.

"Are treatments thrown in? It would be the best way to get staff alone." I knew I was pushing it
,
but Solomon nodded.

"Sure."

"Okay," I agreed.

He raised his eyebrows as he rocked back in the chair.
"You're not going to argue about the percentage?"

For a weekend away
,
whe
re
I could take Lily
,
and stock up on freebie massages, facials and mani-pedis? And get paid salary
as well as
a completion bonus? "No."

"And when you come back, I have a dinner I need
for
you to
attend
."

"What for?"

"Some old acquaintances."

"Is it a bring
–
a
-
date thing?" I had to bite the insides of my cheeks so I wouldn't laugh. "You need a pity date?"

"No, I don't need a pity date
,” he replied, with a shake of his hand. “
There's a potential job going down."

"Why don't you take Delgado or Fletcher?"

"They
both
look terrible in a dress."

Well, he got that right. "Fine. You'll have to pick me up
,
and if it's black tie, I don't have anything to wear." Though, at a push, my sister was roughly my size and had a pre-pregnancy wardrobe to die for.

"Use your company card."

Score! "Email me the details," I said, getting to my feet.

"And one last thing..."

"Yes?"

"That pro bono case." Solomon raised his eyebrows.

I sat down. "Yes, well, uh... it ended up being connected to the hotel case
,
so you should probably bill them, not Elisabeth Fong."

"I plan to."

I waited. Solomon said nothing
,
so I rose again, stepping towards the door.

"And the other pro bono case?" he said, the moment my hand wrapped around the handle.

I winced and turned back to him. "You knew about that?"

"I know about everything."

"Then you know it was for my sister
,
and I did it on my own time."

"Tell me in future,
"
he said, not sounding at all cross like I expected.

"I wi
ll,
"
I promised.

"And add all the files to the system
;
and put your hard copies in the archive box, please. We never know when we might need to draw on that information."

"You're not mad at me?"

"You solved three cases. I'm
actually quite
pleased."

I smiled. "Thank you."

"And one last thing?"

I sighed. What had I done now? "Yes?"

"You can take one pro bono case a month. Your pick from any case we reject."

"Seriously?"

"Yes. Now go
,
before I change my mind."

I left, a smile on my face
that I didn’t intend to wipe off
.
I didn’t know why I’d doubted myself. Lexi Grave
s
, PI. I could definitely do this.

~

At home
,
I put on my favorite jammies and packed my suits away in my closet, crossing my fingers that I wouldn't be stuck in an office any time soon. The spa was a good start. I couldn't wait to tell Lily.

I'd seen Lily and Jord leav
ing
on my way in
.
A
pparently
, they were
on another date, the kind it was okay to keep secret, but if they weren't going
talk
about it, I
wouldn’t
mention it either. I was going to save that knowledge for when I really needed to bribe Lily,
or
in payback for her getting me to 'fess up my crush on Solomon.

I turned my cell phone off, switched the house phone to
“
silent,
”
grabbed a glass of wine
,
and settled in front of the television with a soppy
,
romantic comedy, which was about all I could deal with after saving
Montgomery from a
n
HR
maniac
.

Garrett
phoned
earlier and told me that, given the severity of her crimes and her flight risk, Louisa Moore would be held without bail until her trial. They found
her
DNA under
Greg Conlan’s
fingertips to support the murder charge
,
as well as
the gun
with her fingerprints
. Marissa would be a witness
to the sabotage
,
but she had Edward to lean on, and a solid group of
genuine
friends to help her through it.

And me? At
least
,
I still had a job
, not to mention the spa case to look forward to. I didn't know about Maddox
,
however. He
di
dn't call m
e
once
in almost a week, despite m
y
leaving a couple of messages. It
was
nice spending several nights in his company
,
and I was half afraid he was drawing away, perhaps rethinking things after my less
-
than
-
honest behavior with him, even though I
di
d apologize.

I finished my wine, ate half a bag of toffee popcorn
,
and was just needling an annoying bit of corn out of my teeth
,
while trying not to sob as the credits rolled
by,
when a knock sounded on my door. I thought sincerely about ignoring it
,
but then decided maybe Lily wanted to spill the beans about her date.

Shuffling to the door
,
I pressed my eye to the peephole and frowned. Maddox stood
outside
. Gone was the suit. In
its
place were the well
-
worn jeans, t-shirt and leather jacket. A backpack was slung over one shoulder. Interesting.

"Lexi?"

I squeaked and jumped back, my brain trying to process this. I couldn't take another scene tonight
,
and if I w
ere
going to be dumped, I wanted to look my b
est, not
clad
in my bunny pa
jamas.

"Are you going to open the door?" asked Maddox.
“I heard you squeak.”

I opened the door and he looked
me
over from head to toe.

"W
ere you in bed?" he asked, a smile spreading across his face, his eyes creasing at the edges.

"Watching a movie."

"Why are your eyes all red?"

"It was
really
sad."

"You were crying at a movie? You're such a girl."

"I'm a proud, independent woman. I can cry at movies without feeling like I'm letting my gender down."

He
ignored that, focusing on my pa
jamas. "Bunnies?"

"They make me happy."

"I like bunnies." He stepped closer. "Can I come in and play with the bunnies?"

I raised my eyebrows. This was not dumping talk. This was flirty. I liked it. I'd like
it
a lot mor
e if I'd been wearing my silk pa
jamas
,
but what the hell. I held the door open and he stepped inside, sniffing the air. "
Do
I smell popcorn?"

"Yes. Toffee."

"I like popcorn. I can watch chick flicks too, though I have better ideas for a sleepover." He dropped his bag on the floor and wrapped his arms around me so I had to tilt my chin to look up at him.

"I thought you were mad at me."

"I am
a tiny bit
, but not mad enough to stay away."

"Oh?"

"
In between putting a bad guy in jail and tackling the paperwork, I’ve been thinking.
I don't want you to lie to me about your work. I want you to trust me. Things could have been a lot worse. Louisa could have killed you."

He had a point. "Promise me you'll trust me? Promise me you won't get mad if I say
that
I'm working on something confidential
?
A
nd I can't tell you about it
?
"
I ran my hands under his leather jacket and he wriggled out of it, letting it drop to the floor.

Maddox's voice was like honey. "If you tell me, I can help you.
Strictly off the record, of course.
"

"How can you help me?"

"I hear stuff. Useful stuff."

"You'll have to do better than that." I heard all kinds of useful stuff from my family and I was building a network of informants. So far
,
only Lily
and Ruby were in my network—and
they didn't k
now about it in so many words—but
these were
still
early days.

"I have handcuffs." There was that sexy smile again. The one that told me he was thinking wicked thoughts.

"So do I."

Maddox raised his eyebrows and I think I heard his mind spontaneously combust.

"I have a gun."

"Got one of them too."

"I say the word and I can have every cop in Montgomery on this doorstep inside an hour."

"Most of them are related to me," I pointed out. "Besides, there's only one cop I want in my apartment."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"If I promise to be more supportive of your job, can I be that cop?"

"Sure, but you have to leave the handcuffs at the door."

"Spoilsport." Maddox scooped me up and carried me into the bedroom.

Thirty seco
nds later
,
the bunny pa
jamas went flying.
I hope
the bunnies covered their eyes.