Authors: Kate Perry
Clancy only grinned harder. "Want me to wait
until you get your drink? You look like you could use it."
An understatement. He didn't need a drink—he
needed the whole bottle. It was Elaine's fault.
"What can I getcha, honey?" the peroxided
waitress asked.
"Your best scotch. Neat."
She nodded and turned an insipid smile to
Clancy. "Getcha anything else, sugar?"
Clancy shook his head. "I'm fine, Molly,
thanks."
Her sneakered feet squeaked on the sticky
floor as she hurried to the bar to get his drink.
He never liked women in tennis shoes. Lily
wore them despite his complaints, daring him to run after an
energetic little girl in three-inch heels. Elaine always wore
sensible shoes, though they were obviously of high quality.
He scowled. What the hell did he care what
kind of shoes Elaine wore?
Where was his drink?
He looked up and noticed Clancy watching him
with amusement he didn't bother to veil. "Your choice of
establishment is—colorful."
"My clients expect to meet me someplace
seedy. They're disappointed if we don't. They feel they didn't get
the full experience of hiring a private eye. The Lockdown
fits."
"Here ya go, honey." The waitress set a
napkin on the table before placing his drink in front of him.
He picked it up and took a swig. Not as good
as he was used to but at the moment he'd be willing to swig hooch
from a jug out back.
He realized Clancy was observing him and
cursed internally. He was off his stride. Damn Elaine.
What had come over her? For seven years
she'd been a competent, perfectly subservient assistant and
suddenly she was barging into the bathroom making demands on
him.
He took another mouthful. He needed to get
himself under control and back to the matter at hand. "What do you
have for me?"
"Can I be frank?"
"That's what I'm paying you for."
"I thought this was going to be a wild goose
chase, but I think you're right."
Parker kept his face impassive, but he
wondered what the hell Clancy was talking about. "Was I?"
Clancy nodded. "Elaine Adams is definitely
up to something."
He felt the compulsion to snort. He'd been
spending entirely too much time with Mae Pembroke. "What did you
discover?" he asked, knowing the PI was barking up the wrong tree.
He couldn't say why he was so sure of it but Elaine would sell out
her own mother before she'd sell him out.
"She's been spending an inordinate amount of
time with Olivia." Clancy pulled out a small notebook. "In the past
week, she's been at Romantic Notions four times, an hour being the
shortest period. And that's not counting the evenings she's gotten
to together with Olivia and Olivia's friends." He pushed the
notebook across the table for him to look at.
Parker frowned at it. He didn't know Elaine
had been spending so much time with Olivia. When was she finding
the time to go to Romantic Notions?
Was that where her selection of lingerie was
coming from? He preferred to think so. Thinking she'd been wearing
such alluring underwear all these years, without him realizing it,
would drive him insane.
"Has she been asking you anything? Anything
related to Olivia and your relationship?"
Parker blinked and brought his thoughts back
to the present. "What?"
"I believe Ms. Adams is going to sell Olivia
out to the tabloids."
"Interesting theory." Part of him wanted to
laugh at that absurdity. The other part couldn't discredit the
notion so quickly given Elaine's strange behavior. "What would be
her motives? Surely she'd make more money selling the behind the
scenes for the movie."
Clancy shrugged. "Who knows what's
motivating her? Perhaps she's out to seek revenge on you. Denied
her any raises in the recent past?"
"Hardly," he replied wryly. Elaine made more
money in a year than most lawyers.
"Any other grudges she might hold against
you?"
"No." Not until tonight when he forced her
out of his bathroom. Though she shouldn't have been in there to
begin with.
"Could she be jealous of Olivia and want her
out of your life?"
"No," he replied definitively. Elaine wasn't
the type of person to resort to petty emotions. That was one of the
reasons he'd kept her around. She was cool and calm at all
times.
Except for tonight.
She'd actually
pushed
him.
He could still feel the imprint of her small
hand on his chest, right over his heart. He'd felt her warmth
through his dress shirt. He'd never thought of Elaine as a warm
creature.
"Mr. Parker?"
Parker refocused on the man in front of him.
"Elaine has been championing Olivia as of late. I have a difficult
time seeing her doing anything to harm my daughter."
"Maybe her support is a front to cover up
her activity."
This was absurd. Reminding himself this was
his scheme, he pulled what little patience he had together. "Do
what you need to do and let me know what you find."
"Shall we meet again next weekend? I'm sure
I'll have more information by then."
Clancy set his unfinished drink on the table
and got up. He hovered uncertainly over the table before he asked,
"Mr. Parker, is there anything you'd like to tell me?"
"Such as?"
"I just have a feeling there's more to this
than you're letting on."
"There's absolutely nothing to tell." Damn
it, he wished the man weren't so astute.
Clancy studied him for a split second before
nodding. "I'll be in touch."
Parker watched the lanky man strut out after
a casual goodbye to the man behind the bar.
He needed to resolve Michael and Olivia's
situation before this so-called investigation got out of
control.
He looked at his wristwatch. Nine o'clock.
They'd been in the shed less than two hours.
As Mae pointed out, locking two volatile
people in a small space had to result in some kind of chemical
reaction. He was counting on it—he needed to call Clancy off. If
Elaine found out... After this evening, he wasn't sure she wouldn't
resort to some kind of bodily damage before leaving him.
He blinked, trying to identify the sharp
pang the thought of her leaving him brought on.
He dismissed it. That wasn't going to
happen. He wouldn't let it.
He downed the rest of his drink. Leaving the
bar, he decided to go for a walk around town. The alternative of
going back to Mae's farm and facing Elaine was on par with an IRS
audit.
Chapter Twenty
Olivia frowned at Michael's sleeping form.
He never said he wouldn't see anyone else.
She resisted the urge to punch him. Of
course he'd declare he didn't want another man to sniff anywhere in
her vicinity while they were seeing each other, but did the same
rules apply to him?
It wasn't like she and Michael were dating.
She'd set the boundary. They'd have sex and that was it. In a few
weeks when he was gone, things would go back to normal. He'd go
back to his life in LA and she'd stay here in Mill Valley.
Alone.
Again.
My choice.
She loved it there. This time it'd be her decision
to stay here.
She studied Michael's face. Even in his
sleep, she could tell the innocent enthusiasm he once had was gone.
Wisdom and experience replaced it.
She traced the outline of his lips with a
finger. Michael leaving was a good thing. She couldn't think why at
the moment, but it was most assuredly a good thing.
Olivia looked around. The kerosene in the
lamp had run out a long time ago. First, they'd been too busy to
refill it and then after they'd been too exhausted. It had to be
close to morning though, didn't it?
She'd spent the night with Michael Wallace.
Never in a million years would she have thought it would happen
again.
She was sure she had Gran and her father to
thank.
She grimaced. Gran probably expected her to
clear the air between them, not get it on like there was no
tomorrow. Gran wasn't going to be happy to find out she didn't tell
Michael about the baby.
Well, she tried to tell him. If he weren't
so eager to get into her panties, he'd know she'd been pregnant
when he left. Though she had to admit having someone be that eager
to get into her panties was pretty damn nice.
"Michael." She tickled the lobe of his ear,
chuckling softly when he scowled and batted her away. "Michael, you
have to wake up."
"Make me," he mumbled before turning around
and burying his face into his jacket, which he used as a
pillow.
She leaned over his shoulder, deliberately
pressing her breasts against his shoulder. "Michael, we have to get
dressed. I don't know what time it is and I don't want Gran or my
father to catch us here like this." She brushed a kiss under his
ear.
He groaned and turned onto his back,
flinging an arm across his eyes.
Grinning, she straddled him. "Oh hello. What
have we here?" She rubbed herself over his erection.
"Leave me alone," he groaned even as he
gripped her butt and arched his hips into her.
She shifted and he slid right in. She
sighed, it felt so right. "It's no good pretending you're still
asleep."
He cracked open his eyes and looked her
over. She wasn't sure what he saw, but whatever it was must have
made him happy because he moaned, sat up, and began saying good
morning to her breasts.
She got lost in the sensation of his tongue
lapping at her. She swiveled her hips in slow circles, mimicking
the motion of his tongue. "I can see why people turn into sex
fiends."
"Hmm."
"I love the way your stubble feels on my
skin."
He answered with a small nip to her
cleavage.
"Maybe you should give up shaving for the
next couple weeks."
He grunted.
"But not if you'll grow a beard. George
Clooney good, Grizzly Adams bad."
She laughed as he flipped her over with a
growl. The tip of his nose touched hers. "Sometimes you talk too
much," he said. His voice was still raspy with sleep and it made
her shiver.
"I don't think I do. In fact—"
He dropped his mouth down to hers before she
got a chance to finish her sentence. Not that she cared. At the
moment, Michael's method of communication was much more
compelling.
"Need help with that?"
Olivia looked up. "Michael, that was almost
a complete sentence, and this early in the morning."
"It's not nice making fun of people before
they've had coffee."
She tugged her underwear up her legs and
reached for her bra. "I'm just saying I'm a little surprised."
He pushed her hands aside. "I want to do
it," he said in his rough morning voice.
He hooked her bra and slowly pulled up her
straps, as if he were savoring the feel of her skin under his
fingertips.
She shivered.
"Are you cold?" He didn't wait for an
answer. Dropping a kiss between her shoulder blades, he grabbed her
shirt from the pile on the floor and pulled it over her head. He
lifted her hair out before guiding her arms through the sleeves.
Turning her around, he kissed her belly button before lowering the
shirt. He gave her legs the same attention as he helped her into
her pants.
She never realized being dressed could be as
seductive as being undressed. It left her speechless—touched in a
way she didn't want to be.
Michael looked just as uncomfortable as she
felt. He cleared his throat. "Olivia—"
Aw hell. This was the part where the regrets
began. What could he have to regret? She thought she made it clear
this was just about sex.
"I know it's a little late for this, but we
didn't use any condoms."
Oh—no wonder. After her brief pregnancy,
she'd gone on birth control. There was no way she was ever taking
chances again. "I've got it covered."
He looked relieved with a capital R. "Okay.
And so you know, I'm safe. I've been careful with all the women
I've—well, except you."
Hearing about his sexual conquests over the
years wasn't what she wanted after a night of spectacular sex.
"Don't worry about it," she said coolly. Then cruelly, she added,
"But I've practiced safe sex with all my partners too."
The lock outside clicked loudly. Olivia and
Michael looked at each other and then rushed to the door. They
reached it just as it swung open.
Olivia wasn't sure who looked more
surprised—Michael and her or the guy standing in front of them. By
the looks of him, he was movie crew. She'd certainly never seen him
before.
Chapter Twenty-one
The first thing Olivia saw when she walked into
Grounds for Thought was her traitorous father reclined in a chair,
legs crossed, staring at Elaine, who sat across from him typing
intently. She had no idea what they were doing there, but it was
just as well. She had a bone to pick.
Squaring her shoulders, she marched across the room
to their table. "Fancy seeing you here," she said crisply.
Elaine looked up, pushing her glasses up her nose as
a smile spread across her face. "There you are. I was worried about
you. I didn't see you come back last night and no one would tell me
where you'd gone." She shot an arch look at her boss.
Olivia frowned and studied her. Sincerity shined
back, and Olivia knew without a doubt that Lainie wasn't
involved.
She sighed internally, and a knot untwisted from her
gut. The thought that Lainie had manipulated her had been
surprisingly painful. The relief that she hadn't was almost
euphoric. Which meant just Gran and Parker were involved. She could
deal with that.