And Flint Collins, she knew, as a top producer, was inarguably good enough to have made the trades in question without a loss.
He was also a risk-taker. The day she’d met him, he’d made the company an incredible amount of money on a deal that could easily have lost a bundle.
Her heart felt as though it had been pumped full of lead.
“Did he take you up on the offer?”
“Yeah. Until he started dating Stella Wainwright. That was when he bought the Lincoln SUV. I heard of at least two weekend trips he took to exotic locations using a private jet. And he quit donating to the charitable account.”
The rich girlfriend had a name.
Tamara didn’t want to care anymore whether she existed or not.
She cared about her lunch date on Thursday, though. She might not be making any real progress within the company, but she had an in, just the same. A way to help her father.
She was going to get to know Flint Collins. To infiltrate his life as much as he’d let her and find out everything she could about him.
Just as a supposed friend, of course. She wasn’t going to prostitute herself. Besides, she’d already made up her mind that if by some chance the man turned out to be innocent, she still wouldn’t pursue any attraction she might feel for him. But maybe she’d try to set him up with Mallory. If he was half as good a guy as he led one to believe, they’d be perfect for each other.
If he wasn’t a crook.
Mallory and Diamond Rose would be perfect for each other. That was what she was really thinking.
As she followed her father into the house, she thought about Stella Wainwright. Wondered about her. Planned to look up her father’s firm when she got home. Only for Mallory’s sake. Or Diamond’s.
In the event that Flint Collins was on the up-and-up.
Yeah, she was bothered about the woman—for Mallory’s sake. Which meant she was getting ahead of herself.
Wait until the man’s name was cleared first.
Or not cleared.
Then try to find out more about his girlfriend.
Like, why the woman wasn’t helping the poor guy, leaving him to sleep with a Pack ’n Play next to his bed so he could get a few minutes’ rest.
Again, not her problem.
Or concern.
So why, as she put on a bright face for her parents and focused on giving them no cause for worry on her behalf, was she still thinking about Flint Collins and how he seemed to deserve more than he was getting from Stella Wainwright?
Chapter Ten
Flint had slept better on Tuesday night. Taking Mallory’s advice, he’d laid down as soon as Diamond Rose did after dinner and then alternated dozing and lounging for the rest of the night whenever she slept. He hadn’t gotten anything else done, but he’d woken on Wednesday morning feeling a hell of a lot better than he had since the call from the prison warden telling him his mother had passed away.
Wednesday evening wasn’t as good. He’d set it up to be—had had a great lunch with one of his most lucrative clients and a successful afternoon of trading because of it.
And Diamond Rose seemed to be getting into a schedule of eating every two hours and sleeping well in between. He’d watched her on and off all day, and Mallory’s report had been positive.
He’d even dared a stop at the grocery story on the way home from the day care, disconnecting the carrier from the car seat as if he’d been doing it all his life, looping the handle over his forearm and setting it into the grocery cart as soon as he got inside.
If he’d been on the lookout for a woman, he would’ve been amused by the attention he was getting from the few after-work shoppers—obviously so based on their business attire—who were, like him, he imagined, buying something for a quick dinner.
Two of them met his gaze and smiled. A third stopped and reached down, as though to pull back the blanket looped over the handle of the carrier, effectively building a tent around Diamond Rose. But his quick turn forestalled that move. The woman apologized, said she was a single mom of two little ones, then handed him her card and said to give her a call if he had any questions or needed help or advice.
How she’d known he wasn’t married, he had no idea. And then, upon further reflection as he walked the aisles, he wondered if she hadn’t cared one way or the other.