* * *
Seth saunteredthrough the doors of Cooper Investigations West after dropping Beck off at the hospital. When he clapped eyes on River Kendall, he found the man sitting behind his desk, cell phone in hand, staring at his laptop. “I’m back. What’s up?”
Raine’s older brother jolted. “Jesus, you scared me. I didn’t think you’d be in today.”
“Surprise. Did I interrupt a special moment with your favorite porn site?”
River rolled his eyes. “Hardly. Mrs. Ellison says to thank you for proving her husband is a cheating perv. The guys over at Mercury Central called to say the extra security tech is working great and they’ve already caught a thieving employee. And we have a new contract from a chain of local daycare centers to run background checks on prospective employees.”
“Kiddie Kares called back? That’s great. Sounds like you’ve handled everything.” In fact, if River kept this up, Seth might give serious consideration to making him a partner.
“Well, taking money for spying on people is kind of awesome. I wish I’d done this sooner.”
Seth laughed. “I won’t ask about any other voyeuristic tendencies you have…”
River nodded. “Yeah. Don’t.”
“But since you’re so happy, do you mind holding down the fort for another week? Beck and I convinced Heavenly to come back with us, at least for now.”
“Nice. I got things covered here,” River assured before handing off a stack of client files. “Except this shit.”
Seth checked them over, trying to focus on work, not the fact that Heavenly had chosen to spend their first afternoon home with her BFF, not him and Beck. Yes, she needed distractions and other friends, just like she’d need personal space. But that didn’t mean he had to love the time they spent apart, especially when she’d only guaranteed them a finite number of weeks.
The other worry that plagued Seth was Heavenly’s safety. For the umpteenth time today, he tapped the app that pinpointed her location. Sinking into his desk chair, he gauged her position. Based on the numerous stores clustered together, Heavenly and Raine were still shopping—and giving his credit card a workout.
A few hours later, he closed the last of the files he’d been studying and smiled River’s way. “Great work, man. You’re doing one hell of a job.”
“Thanks.”
“So…can I assume this will be your level of performance from here on out? Or are you throwing yourself into work to stop obsessing over that fact that Pike is dating your girl now?”
“Christ, I’d ask if TMZ is reporting my personal shit, but I’m sure it’s just Raine running her meddling mouth,” River snarled. “I’m not obsessing over the girl. I just want to talk to her. I have some…unanswered questions.”
“Like how she could cozy up with Pike?”
“Well, that. Yeah. But I’ve got other things on my mind, too. Let’s just say that night was full of surprises.”
“But you don’t have any feelings for her?”
“I don’t have feelings.”
Seth wasn’t buying that. “So you wouldn’t care if Pike brought her to Shadows and you saw him bind her, spank her, go down on her, penetr—”
“Shut the fuck up.” The junior PI launched from his chair, thundering a glare his way. “I’m done talking about her.”
But he clearly wasn’t done thinking about her. Or wanting her.
Seth bit back a grin. “What did you say her name was?”
“I didn’t.”
He blocked River’s path. “Take it from experience. If you’re still thinking about her, you shouldn’t give up. Maybe it’s time to try winning her over. I’m happy to give you pointers.”
“On how to share? Save your breath. I’m never sharing anything with Pike, especially her.”
“All right. If you change your mind, my offer stands.” Seth let it go with a casual shrug, but he couldn’t wait to fill Beck in.
From his pocket, his cell phone chimed. When he plucked it free, Seth couldn’t help but chuckle ironically. Speak of the devil…