The door opened and Damien stuck his head in. “Oh shit, sorry guys,” he said and started to back out again.
Jack felt his face get warm as he quickly backed away from Wyatt. Wyatt raised an eyebrow at him and then looked at Damien. His expression became dark and Jack sighed. He should have known that it wouldn’t be that easy to leave the past behind.
“What’s up?” he asked Damien while watching Wyatt from the corner of his eye for a reaction.
“Eric wanted me to let Wyatt know that a shipment has arrived,” Damien answered before quickly ducking out of the office.
It was better this way. Really. Jack couldn’t be dating Damien anyway. Wyatt started to walk toward the door, but Jack stopped him. “We still haven’t talked about why I called you.” Wyatt startled and turned around.
“You didn’t call me to talk about us?” Jack shook his head in response. “Yeah, I should have known that.”
“Anyway.” Jack cleared his throat. “We’ve been doing some investigating into the accounts.”
Wyatt shut the door and walked back to Jack. “Who’s we?” He asked as he crossed his arms over his chest.
“The knitting crew and me.” Jack squirmed.
Wyatt leaned against the desk, arms still crossed, and stared Jack down. “Seriously?”
Jack shrugged, but one serious discussion with Wyatt per decade was enough for him. “Anyway, there’s no indication that Damien’s stealing but it doesn’t look good. So Rose is coming in next week for a while to look through the accounts.”
“Rose?”
“The lady from Grandma’s knitting group who was here before. You agreed with her doing some digging into the finances.” Wyatt opened his mouth to start yet another argument, but Jack stopped him. “She’s an accountant and Noel says we don’t have enough evidence for him to start an investigation. I don’t really want to get a private investigator involved.”
Wyatt sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Okay, I don’t like it but I see what you’re saying.”
“Rose is going to be working from your computer and desk. I don’t want to tip anyone off about what’s going on.”
Wyatt nodded. “That’s fine. I’ll be on a road trip to see different designers next week anyway.” He turned and flounced out of the office. Jacks stared at the door from which Wyatt had just left. Did he dare to hope that things would be different now?
Chapter 18
Well, crap
Jack waited for Brad in a booth at the local bar and grill in the center of town. He was feeling a bit like Mr. Grumpy Pants as Damien was now avoiding him at work. He knew it was better this way, but that thought didn’t make him happy – at all. He shook his head and looked up to see Brad walking toward him. The man was hot. Jack couldn’t complain about that.
Brad reached over and gave Jack a quick peck on his cheek before sitting across from him in the booth. “Sorry I’m late,” he said as he grabbed a menu.
“No worries. I’m used to it with Izzy married to Noel.” Jack waved away his apology.
“What’s the story there?” Brad asked as he put the menu down.
Jack shrugged. “No story. Izzy’s my best gal pal and Noel’s her husband.”
The waitress came and they ordered. The table fell quiet. Jack searched his mind for something to talk about. “So,” he finally started. “Noel said you’re new in town.”
Brad relaxed against the booth and stretched his considerable muscles by placing his arms across the top of both sides of the booth. “Yeah. I moved here from Texas about three months ago now.”
“What’s the attraction of our small town to a Texan?” Jack was joking, but Brad’s face turned dark. He dropped his outstretched arms and grabbed the table so hard his knuckles turned white. There was a story there.
“Needed to get away.” Brad finally answered with a shrug.
Jack raised an eyebrow. “Man troubles?”
Brad’s jaw was tight as he answered, “You could say that.”
Jack raised his hands in surrender. “Sorry, didn’t mean to pry.”
Brad’s jaw slowly relaxed and he released the table. “It’s okay. I probably should at least tell you that I’m not looking for a serious relationship.”
Someone had obviously been badly burned. Jack didn’t know if he was relieved or not. He definitely didn’t do one-night stands. Okay, that was a lie. He didn’t do one-night stands with men he would see on a more regular basis and, since Brad worked at the station with Noel, there was definitely a chance they’d run into each other occasionally. A one-night stand with hotter-than-hot Brad wasn’t within the realm of possibilities.
The waitress dropped their beers on the table and Jack grabbed his. He raised it toward Brad. “Friends it is, then?” Brad nodded and clinked his beer bottle with Jack’s.
The men drank their beer in silence for a while. Finally, Brad’s curiosity got the better of him. “So,” he leaned forward in the booth. “What’s the deal with the old women?”
“It’s kind of a long story,” Jack responded. Brad leaned back, his eyes sparkled. “I’ve got the time.” Jack nodded and then went on to tell Brad the story of Izzy’s grandmother being murdered and how he and Grandma’s knitting buddies solved the murder. He may have embellished a few facts. Perhaps he downplayed Noel’s involvement. But really, it was nothing that anyone else wouldn’t have done, right?
When he finished, Brad was clutching his stomach and laughing. “Okay,” he said when he calmed down a bit. “Now I gotta know why you were sneaking around that house the other night. Are y’all trying to solve another murder?”
“Actually a theft,” Jack answered.
Brad waited for the punchline, but Jack didn’t smile. “Oh, shit. You’re serious.” Jack nodded. “What’s going on? Can I help?”
Jack shrugged. “Noel says we don’t have enough to start an official police investigation so Rose is helping me.”
Brad shook his head. “Wait. An official police investigation for what? And who’s Rose?”
Jack sighed. “I think someone’s stealing from my store.”
“Your store?”
Jack laughed. “Okay, maybe we shouldn’t have skipped the small talk. I have a store, Fabulous, Darling. We sell clothes for cross-dressers and voluptuous women.”
Brad nodded. “I’ve heard of it. It’s kinda famous.”
“Anyway,” Jack said ignoring the famous comment. “We’ve been super busy, so I hired a bookkeeper and then all of a sudden our profits plummeted.” He shrugged. “It looks like someone is stealing from the store, fudging the numbers, or something.”
“Shit! That sucks.”
“Yeah. So, that’s why we were sneaking around Damien’s house. That’s the new bookkeeper.” Jack sat back and shrugged. “But we didn’t really see anything.”
“Okay. And what does Rose have to do with this?”
“She’s one of my gray-haired lady crew and she’s an accountant. I asked her to have a look at the books. See if we could figure something out.” Jack let out a breath. “I don’t know what else to do.”
Brad reached across the table and grabbed Jack’s hand. “I’m sure you’ll figure it out. If there’s anything I can help you out with, just let me know.”
Just to prove the universe was screwing around with him, Damien showed up at that exact moment. He was walking by the booth when he noticed Jack and stopped. His eyes lingered on Brad’s hand on Jack’s for a second before he looked up and showered Jack with a phony smile. “Hi, Jack!” His voice sounded anything but sincere.
Jack snatched his hand away from Brad and stood. “Hey.” He awkwardly patted Damien on the back and turned to Brad. “This is Brad. Brad, this is Damien.”
“The bookkeeper,” Brad mumbled and Damien blushed. He backed away. “Anyway…” He looked around for an escape and his eyes locked on a group of men playing pool in the back. “I’m here to meet my friends. See you at work.” He took off as quickly as a man o
ver six foot tall could, which was pretty damn fast.
“So,” Brad whispered when Damien had left for his friends. “You like him.” It wasn’t really a question, but Jack nodded anyway. “Well, crap.”
Chapter 19
I’m an idiot
After the run in the other night, Jack needed to explain to Damien that he was a free agent. Considering Damien had also caught Jack hugging Wyatt, he didn’t know if Damien would even give him the time of day to explain. And why did Jack care anyhow? It looked like Damien was stealing from him anyway. How could he possibly have a crush on someone who was stealing from him? Maybe he should get his head examined.
Rose was coming in the next day to start going through the financials in the hopes of clearing Damien of any wrongdoing. Um, no. That wasn’t Rose’s purpose, was it? She was supposed to figure out why the profits for Fabulous, Darling had suddenly taken a plunge.
Whether Jack wanted to explain his relationship status or lack thereof to Damien or not, he needed to inform Damien about Rose. Damien already knew that Jack and Wyatt thought there was something not quite legal going on, but no one else in the store did. Jack wanted to keep it that way. He needed Damien to help him keep things hush-hush.
Jack squared his shoulders and sent Damien a message to come to his office. Damien arrived within minutes. “Shut the door behind you,” Jack ordered as Damien walked in. Jack stood and moved to the conference table in the corner of his office. “Have a seat.”
Damien sat but refused to look at Jack. His eyes skirted here, there, and everywhere to finally land on his hands. Jack tried not to growl in annoyance. “So,” he started. “Wyatt and I are still concerned about the decline in profits.” Damien nodded but kept quiet. “We asked an accountant friend to come in and have a look.”
Damien’s head snapped up. “You still think I’m stealing from you?”
Jack shrugged. “I don’t know what’s going on, but something’s off. How can the store be so busy but our profits are down?” Damien started to respond, but Jack held his hand up and shook his head. “Anyway, a friend will be coming tomorrow to have a look. She’ll be in this office with me, but you’re the only one who will know what she’s doing here.”
“Ok.”
“I expect you to help her out with getting her documents and stuff. Whatever she needs.” Damien nodded in agreement. “And I don’t want anyone to know what she’s doing here.”
Damien nodded again. “So,” he said. “Is that all you need?”
Jack paused. Should he explain about Brad and Wyatt? “Listen,” he stuttered. “About Brad…” his voice trailed off.
Damien stood up. “No need to explain. It’s not my business.” He turned to leave.
Jack stood as well. “Maybe not, but you’re the reason I was with him.”
Damien turned around. “Huh?”
“Brad’s the cop who arrested me when we were caught trespassing at your house.”
Damien gasped. “You’re dating the cop who arrested you?”
Jack laughed. “Um, no. He doesn’t want a relationship.”
“So you fucked the cop who arrested you?” Damien slapped a hand over his mouth when he realized what he had said. “Shit. Sorry, Jack.”
Jack smiled, unbelievably happy with Damien’s snarky tone. That could only mean he cared with whom Jack slept, right? “It’s okay.” He took a deep breath. “Anyway, I wanted to explain about Wyatt as well.”
“Seriously, Jack? That’s really none of my business.” The growl in Damien’s voice didn’t match with his words though.
Jack caught himself before he gave Damien one of his boxer-dropping smiles. He cleared his throat. “Wrong again. It actually is kinda your business.”
That stopped Damien is his tracks. “What do you mean?”
Jack closed his eyes. “Wyatt thinks he’s in love with me. There’s a chance you’ll get caught in the crossfire.”
Damien wrinkled his forehead. “Caught in the crossfire?”
Jack sighed. “Wyatt thinks everything is about him. If he thinks I hired you to make him jealous, he’ll take it out on you.”
Damien huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. “Did you? Hire me to make him jealous?”
Jack snorted. “Um no. Wyatt and I have been over for years. He refuses to listen. I thought we were past it, but I made a stupid mistake and now we’re back at square one.”
Now it was Damien’s turn to snort. “You mean you slept with him.”
Jack’s face heated, but he nodded his confirmation. “Yeah, I’m an idiot.”
Damien laughed. “Good to know.” He turned and walked out of the office.
Chapter 20
What do we do now?
Rose arrived at Fabulous, Darling toting a large Tupperware container. Jack stared at the container, torn between grabbing it and devouring whatever deliciousness Rose had baked and wanting his tush to continue to look tight and utterly fabulous in his skinny jeans. Oblivious to his inner turmoil, the elderly accountant gave Jack a kiss and set the Tupperware down.
“Now,” she said as she unraveled the scarf on her head. “I know you like to watch your figure so I didn’t bring any pie. Instead, I made some healthy blueberry muffins.”
Jack smiled but held back his laugh at anyone believing blueberry muffins were healthy; especially when the person making the proclamation made the muffins in question and saw how much butter and brown sugar she had added to the batter. Instead, he thanked her graciously and took her coat and scarf to hang them up on the coat rack in the corner of his office.
“Would you like a coffee?”
Rose shook her head. “Not right now. I’m anxious to get started.” She rubbed her hands together in obvious delight. At least someone was getting pleasure out of his situation.
Jack took hold of her elbow and guided her to Wyatt’s workstation. The desk chair nearly swallowed the tiny great-grandmother whole when she sat down. She giggled like a school girl and Jack shook his head. He leaned forward and opened a program on the computer. “This is the financial software.”
“Yes,” Rose nodded. “I remember.”
Jack leaned away from the computer. “So,” he began. “What else do you need?”
“Well, I’ve been thinking.”
“Go ahead.” Jack encouraged her when she stopped speaking.
“If we want to find mistakes in these accounts, it might take me forever to find the issue. I’m not a forensic accountant.” Rose shrugged. “So what if, instead of going through these accounts, I cross-referenced the accounts with the sales receipts and purchasing invoices? See if maybe some mistakes were made with copying information or something.” She stared at her hands folded in her lap.
Jack grabbed her hand and squeezed. “I think that sounds absolutely brilliant. I actually already anticipated this and asked Damien to gather some stuff for you. Let me get him in here.” He pulled his phone out and sent a quick message.
Damien arrived a few minutes later with his arms full of binders. Jack ran to the door to help him. Together they set the binders on the conference table in the corner. “Thanks for your help, man,” Jack placed his hand on Damien’s shoulder and squeezed. Just that little contact was enough to get Jack’s heart racing. He quickly withdrew his hand but not before Damien’s face flushed pink.
“You’re welcome,” Damien’s husky voice replied. He cleared his throat before addressing Rose. “So, you must be the lovely lady Jack’s told me all about.”
It was Rose’s turn to blush. Damien walked to her and grabbed her hand which he then kissed with a flourish. She giggled. “Nice to meet you, Damien.” She looked to Jack and winked. “It explains so much.”
Damien raised an eyebrow at Jack, but he turned his blushing face away. “So you are going to clear my name?” Damien asked Rose when Jack continued to look everywhere but at him.
Rose snatched her hand away and cleared her throat. “Only if you are innocent, young man,” she re
sponded in a voice reminiscent of a school teacher.
“Touché,” Damien said and then walked around the desk to the computer. “Let’s get to work, shall we?”
For the next thirty minutes, Damien explained the accounting and tax programs to Rose while she took meticulous notes. Jack was impressed with her sharp mind as evidenced by her intelligent questions. Why he ever worried about her abilities as an accountant was beyond him. He should have known better. Each member of the knitting crew could do anything to which she put her mind.
While Damien and Rose worked, Jack snuck a muffin and then took the rest of the batch to the break room. He didn’t want anyone to know that Rose was working here and what she was up to, but he couldn’t handle the temptation of her blueberry muffins sitting in his office all day. There was enough toe-curling temptation in his office at the moment without adding baked goods to the mix.
When Jack returned with Rose’s empty Tupperware container, Damien had disappeared and Rose was buried under a stack of papers at the conference table. She glanced up from her work and took her glasses off to look at Jack. Uh-oh. She smiled at him. “I’ll keep Betty off your back about Tommy and Brad.”
Jack tripped halfway to his desk. “What?” he stuttered.
Rose shook her head and pointed a finger at him. “But you can’t make your move until after this investigation is over.”
Okay, now he was just confused. “What?” he repeated.
Rose sighed. “The sparks just fly between you two.” She smiled. “But I don’t want to see you get hurt.” She wagged her finger. “So, no hanky-panky until this investigation is sorted.”
“No hanky-panky?”
“You know what I mean.” And then she pulled out the big guns. “Otherwise, I’ll tell Izzy.”
Crap. “You’re not the sweet grandma everyone thinks you are, are you?”
Rose’s wicked grin was the only answer he received.
The Gray-Haired Knitting Detective Series: (Books 1 - 3) Page 23
