“I’m not investigating a crime.”
“No, just convicting me.”
She let out a sound of frustration. “No, you’re convicting me. Look, I don’t care what you do in your personal life. That’s not my business. I know you’re not a completely awful person because you helped me the other night, and you seemed like a nice enough guy. But your ex hired me. I used the facts and evidence I had, and I did my job. If you’re going to hate me for that, then fine. But I didn’t do anything wrong.”
He made a sound of contempt. “Right.”
Her eyes held fire, but he turned on his heel and strode away. He didn’t need this crap right now. He just wanted to go upstairs to Marco’s place and get lost in prepping potential appetizers for the charity event. Not think about his Dumpster fire of a marriage. Or everything that had happened after the fall of a gavel in that courtroom.
Or why it bothered him so much that this woman had slapped a label on him and filed him away in the bastard category. So they’d shared a hot kiss. So what?
Rebecca Lindt’s opinion shouldn’t matter to him. But for some reason, the look on her face, that one that deemed him a cheater, a scumbag, an asshole who would step out on his wife got to him.
He couldn’t deny what was in those photos, though, and the truth would put that curl of disgust in her lip anyway. He didn’t know much about Rebecca Lindt, but he’d bet everything he had in the bank that she’d never experienced the kind of reckless dysfunction and drama he’d had in his marriage. In his life.
She was the woman whose house was neat as a ca
talog, one who’d wait to cross the street until the sign said go even if no cars were coming, and one who would definitely not understand how he’d ended up in X-rated photos with his wife’s best friend.
chapter
NINE
Rebecca followed Wes, anger simmering, and found Kincaid in the lobby beaming at Marco, her trademark smile at full sparkle. The doc looked totally and completely charmed. If he were a cartoon, he would have little hearts swimming around his head. Rebecca couldn’t blame him. Kincaid was a force of nature.
Rebecca had no idea what that would be like, to have guys fall over themselves to hold her attention. Kincaid had been that way since high school. She was that girl. And Rebecca couldn’t even hate her for it because Kincaid was a genuinely nice person. Rebecca had never seen her stoop to the mean-girl level.
No, Rebecca had been more likely to do that. Rebecca had done that. In the worst possible way. Her stomach twisted, but she tamped the feeling down before it could take over. She had enough to deal with right now. Like getting away from Wesley Garrett.
“All squared away?” Rebecca asked.
Marco glanced at her as he typed something into the computer. “We’re good to go. As long as our friend keeps progressing like he is and keeps showing us his docile personality, you’ll be able to foster him once he’s healed.”
“Great,” Rebecca said, feeling equal parts nervous and excited about the possibility of having a pet for a little while.
“Marco, I need to get these groceries upstairs,” Wes said from her right, the words sharp with impatience.
Rebecca tried to ignore the ire she could still feel wafting off Wes. How dare he blame her for what happened in the divorce? She didn’t make him cheat.
“All right, almost done.” Marco peered back at Wes with a smile. “And I found us some extra taste testers so we don’t have to rely on my steak-and-potatoes palate.”
Wes froze in her periphery. “What?”
“Kincaid here runs a food blog on the side,” Marco said happily. “She said she and Rebecca would volunteer to give you some feedback on your dishes today.”
“Wait, what?” Rebecca shot Kincaid a look.
Kincaid smiled and shrugged in an oops-style apology. “Well, we just got to talking. You know how that goes. And it came up that Wes is going to be catering Marco’s charity event. Marco said he didn’t know what good he’d be at picking out the menu because Wes is cooking fancy vegetarian stuff, and that’s not his thing. So I told him about my blog, and well, you said you were free this afternoon, right?”
Rebecca didn’t know if she was successfully concealing the what-the-hell look on her face, but she definitely couldn’t keep it out of her tone. “I said I was free to go to a movie with you.”
“Well, now we can have some food before and help out a good cause,” Kincaid said happily.
“This charity’s the one that helps pay for the care of strays like our friend in there,” Marco added.
Oh, great. Rebecca grimaced inwardly. So a guilt trip on top of it. All because Marco probably wanted more time to flirt with Kincaid.
Wes’s horrified expression was not well concealed. “Marco, I really wasn’t planning to cook for a crowd and—”