The Private Serials Box Set(14)

“How much do you need?”

“Two thousand,” I said, as I winced.

“Done. I’ll go to the bank today.”

I sagged in my chair with relief. “Oh, my gosh, Sam, thank you so much. I promise I will get you the money. It just might take a week or two.”

“Don’t worry about it. Honestly, I’m glad to help.” She paused for a moment, then tilted her head to the side and narrowed her eyes. “I can’t believe you hired a private investigator. How did you even find one?”

“Google,” I said with a laugh. “It wasn’t difficult at all.”

“So, you just call them up and tell them what you need?”

“Well, basically, except we met in person to discuss specifics.”

“Oh.” Then her face scrunched up and she sat back further in her chair. “I can’t believe you met a P.I. without me.” She frowned and I laughed.

“I didn’t think it was a group activity.”

“It totally was. It’s like something out of an action movie. Your life just got so exciting and I want to be there to watch everything unfold.” I raised an eyebrow at her. “You know what I mean! I’m not glad your husband is a cheating bastard, but I am happy to watch him go down in flames.”

I could understand her point of view. Even I was looking forward to watching Derrek’s other world crumble. “Well, the next time I have reason to call a private investigator, I’ll be sure I conference you in.”

“So, what’s he going to do? How is he going to earn his two grand?”

I bit my bottom lip, then opened my mouth to reply, but promptly shut it again when I realized I didn’t have an answer. “You know what? I’m not quite sure. I didn’t really ask him what his plans were.”

“See, just one of the reasons you should have brought me with you. I would have asked all the pertinent questions.”

“Okay,” I said with a small laugh. “I’m beginning to see the error of my ways.” We continued eating our lunch with our usual light conversation, only sometimes venturing to talk about Derrek and what we’d seen, or Preston and what we thought he might be up to. Our imaginations were more than likely a lot more interesting than the actual happenings. But when Sam focused on something, she really focused. She seemed to be convinced that Preston was more like a James Bond than the image of a normal cop deciding to branch out on his own, which was what I believed to be more likely. Although, Preston was devastatingly handsome, so I gave Sam that tick in the Bond column.

We had just started clearing the table when the doorbell sounded throughout the house. I put down the dishes in my hand and walked toward the front door. When I opened it, I was immediately confused and stammered my greeting.

“Preston…Mr. Reid…What are you…How did you…”

“Good afternoon, Lena.” His voice was flat and all business.

“How do you know where I live?”

At that, he smiled. It was a sardonic smile, as if he were laughing at me, but it was still breathtaking. “I’m a private investigator, sweetheart. It’s my job to acquire information.”

Why in the world did he keep calling me that? It was not only unprofessional, but also flustered me and left me mumbling like an idiot.

“What…why…?”

“I was hoping I could take a peek in your husband’s office. See if there’s anything in there that might aid my investigation.”

“Right. Of course. Come in, please.” I stepped back, opening the door to let him in. He walked past me and I tried so very hard not to notice that he smelled divine. Clean, with a hint of spice, from an aftershave perhaps. It wasn’t overpowering, but just strong enough to penetrate my thoughts and make me want to smell that scent forever.

He stopped just a few steps in, waiting for me to lead him back to Derrek’s office, and just then, Sam walked into the foyer.

“Oh,” she said with surprise. Her eyes roamed all over Preston and I watched as she came to the same conclusion any straight woman with a pulse would – he was absolutely beautiful.

He was still sporting his black leather jacket, but he was dressed a little more casually underneath it than he’d been the day before. He wore a dark blue Henley t-shirt, coupled with the same faded jeans, but instead of his leather shoes, he had on black Converse.

“Who are you?” Sam asked, a little breathless, her eyes still taking in all of him.

“Sam, this is Mr. Reid, the private investigator I hired.” Her eyes slowly made their way to mine, one eyebrow raised, a conspiratorial smile flashing across her mouth.

“Well, now I see why you didn’t want me to come with you.”

I glared at her, but tried my best to ignore her comment. “You can follow me, Mr. Re–”

“Preston, please. Call me Preston.”

“All right. This way, Preston. Derrek’s office is down the hall.” I made my way back to the office, trying not to think about the fact that Preston was behind me, in my house, and that we were essentially alone together. And I definitely tried not to think about the way he smelled.

I entered the office and stood in front of the desk as I watched him do his P.I. thing. He looked around the room and I had no idea what it was he thought he’d find, but he was intent. He walked to stand behind Derrek’s desk and opened up the first drawer on the right side, then frowned. Next, he bent a little lower, opened the drawer beneath it, and then frowned again.