What I ended up saying sounded like even though I protested about the way my colleagues clearly regarded me. I implied to Solomon that there was more to our relationship than business. I was fairly certain he'd never kissed any of the guys, and, oh boy, had he kissed me before, but that was as far as it went. I'd gotten my job fair and square. He had come to me and offered. I didn't beg for it. Implying there was anything more between us was just as bad as Fletcher, Flaherty, Delgado and Lucas Givens' sordid little minds assuming there was.
I didn't know what to make of Solomon's assertion that things might be different between us in the future than they were now. As far as I knew, since the last time he'd kissed me, months ago, and now, he never indicated that he wanted anything more from me. I'd almost put it down to a fun flirtation that hadn't gone anywhere, and now I didn't know what to think.
I did know I was thinking way too much about Solomon kissing me.
Halfway through my stack of background checks, I'd had enough. I put the completed reports in my out tray, locked my laptop in the desk drawer, grabbed my purse and walked out, without saying goodbye. I didn't even look back to see if Solomon noticed me leaving because there was no way I should care what he thought, except whether I was doing a good job or not. It hurt me inexplicably that he might think not.
As I clattered down the stairs, each heel ringing out a sharp note, I realized I hadn't even asked about Solomon's case. For the first time in my role as Lexi Graves, PI, I didn't even care about the job. I was furious.
In my car, I called Lily. "Let's go out tonight," I said. "Somewhere loud, where the drinks are cheap and the men are pretty."
"How about mid-priced and sexy?"
"Bring it on."
"Cool. I'm at the gym. I'll be home in an hour."
"I'm on my way."
Chapter Three
There was nothing like a girl date to take my mind off sanctimonious men who made me furious. The only problem being that the best conversation was usually centered on the subject of said men.
Lily and I started off in O'Grady's because it was quiet and most cops wouldn't get in until later. By that time, we planned to take off to a club to drink and dance until our feet couldn't take anymore. I hadn't been to a club in ages so chances were, we would be home before turning into pumpkins.
"Tell me about your date last night," I said, because I didn't want to think about my own man-issue.
"It was lovely,” Lily gushed as she picked up her wine glass. “We went to the Dragon for Chinese and he was very sweet."
"I feel a ‘but’ coming on."
"But the sparks just weren't there. He was no Officer Tasty."
"You have got to stop holding my brother up as the gauge for all men."
"I can't help it. I still get butterflies when I see your brother."
"I could beat them out of you?" I suggested. “If I do it often enough, you’ll get a Pavlovian response to him.”
One side of Lily’s upper lip curled in displeasure. "Thanks, but no. How's the fine Detective Maddox?"
"He's great," I said, taking a sip of my wine. It slipped down my throat a lot better than the platitudes I told myself on my way back to my apartment. "Better than great. He said the 'b' word."
"Bastard child? Butt sex?"
"No!” I blinked. “Boyfriend!"
“He only just worked it out! What a sweetie.” Lily laughed. "Does he have a clone? Brothers? Friends?"
Actually, I'd never met his family, didn't recall asking about siblings, and hadn't met his friends. "Uh-oh," said Lily when I told her that.
"Uh-oh, what?"
"How long have you been dating?"
"Two months and a bit, but he used the boyfriend word yesterday and didn't even flinch."
"Excellent. I once dated a guy who vomited at the ‘b’ word."
"I remember. About that uh-oh?"
Lily took a fortifying sip and placed the glass on the table. Her fingers toyed with the stem. "He hasn't introduced you to anyone?" Lily pulled a face. I think it was supposed to be something between unimpressed and sympathetic. And, maybe, wondering what was so wrong with me that he didn't introduce me to his family or friends. Uh-oh. Now I was wondering. Did he think they wouldn’t like me? My whole family liked me and there were a lot of them.
"You think that's bad?" I squeaked.
"No-o-o," she said, drawing out the vowel.
"It's bad," I decided. "Maybe his friends won't like me. Maybe I'm not pretty enough. Is it my job? I thought PI sounded better than temp."
"Stop that. You're very pretty and your job is cool. Way better than saying you're a temp," Lily assured me.
"Oh my God. Guys didn't like me when I was a temp?"
"No, they liked you, but you don't impress Mama by saying you're dating a temp."
"Do guys even care?"
"I don't know. I haven't met any mothers in a long time."
We both took a long drink. "You know what really pisses me off about guys?" I said to Lily without waiting for an answer before plowing on. "The guys in my office think I'm sleeping with Solomon."
"You haven't yet?" Lily asked, surprised.
"No!"
"But he's a fox." She wiggled her eyebrows.
"I know, but I haven't, and I don't want them to think I have. They think I suck at my job. I haven't even had my own case yet." I took another sip and thundered on. "Maddox isn't keen that I work for him, and that's without knowing I kissed him."
"You work with assholes," said Lily.
"That's what I thought this afternoon, and before that, I liked them. Well, not Fletcher, but that’s his fault. I'm every bit as good as they are!"
"Sure you are," said Lily, pouring me another drink.
"You want to know what Solomon said when I brought it up?"
"What?"
I mimicked Solomon. "Just because we haven't, doesn't mean we won't."
The glass hovered at her lips. "No. Way."
"I know," I sighed, a knot tightening in my stomach.
"He wants to sleep with you," Lily decided. The knot got tighter.
"I don't even want to think about that. Maddox gets my heart rate up enough as it is."
Lily's eyes focused on something over my shoulder. "Don't look now, but your brothers just walked in."
"Shoot. I hoped we'd have already left by the time they got here." I turned around and waved, and each of my three brothers waved back. Turning to Lily, I said, "I hope you're not man-hunting tonight. These three will ruin it for you."
"One of them is unmarried," she said, and waved. Her face lit up as soon as she saw Jord, the youngest of my brothers and the object of her unreturned affection.
It would have been rude to ignore my brothers after that, so Lily and I moved over to a larger booth, sitting with them. Somehow, Lily angled herself in so that she got to sit beside Jord, who, come to think of it, didn't look too unhappy about it. After ten years of Lily’s unconcealed overtures, perhaps he was finally warming up to her. Miracles did happen.
"I hear you're playing baseball with Maddox," I told them.
Daniel flexed his knuckles and grinned wickedly. "Yeah," he said. "We joined Garrett's team especially for the event."
"Please don't damage him," I said. "He has to fight crime and do... other stuff." Sex stuff wouldn't sit well with the family, but Maddox's abilities weren't to be knocked. Not that we're prudes, and I'm fairly certain they knew all about the birds and the bees. I mean, Garrett and Daniel have five children between them and Jord chases anything in a skirt except Lily. They just don't think anyone is good enough for me. Also, our sister, Serena, married an ass and they don't want to end up related to another one, which is fair enough.
"Figured you dumped him," said Jord, signaling to the waitress and curling his hand so it looked like he was holding a mug, then he held up three fingers. She nodded and scooted to the bar.
"Why's that?"
"You two look like you're on a girls-only ni
ght."
"We are. You three are crashing it. Besides, I may have a boyfriend, but I'm not dead."
Jord raised an eyebrow. "Boyfriend, huh?" He made kissy noises and pretended to vomit.
"You cannot hurt him," I emphasized. "Plus, he's your superior."
"Garrett, you rank, you'll have to hurt him," said Jord, winking at me. "Only playing with you, sis."
"Yeah," agreed Garrett, which was reassuring until he added, "we wouldn't warn you first."
"Shouldn't you two be at home, putting the kids to bed?" I asked.
Daniel checked his watch. "Not until eight."
"The teenager doesn't sleep until the daylight hours," added Garrett. "And I'm not due home for an hour."
"What about you, Jord?" Lily asked. "Out all night?"
We all sat back as the waitress slid three beer mugs from her tray onto the table and took Jord’s money.
"Maybe, maybe not. Haven't decided."
"I'd try and persuade you," I said, taking in his jeans and shirt. "But unless you're going home to put on a cute dress and heels, you can't come with us tonight."
"The only dress and heels that make it into my apartment leaves in the morning," laughed Jord, clinking his glass against Daniel's. Garrett laughed too. I cut a glance at Lily, who was quietly sipping her wine, not commenting. I aimed and kicked Jord hard under the table.
He winced as my foot connected with his shin. "What the...!"
"Oops," I said. "Sorry."
Jord glanced at Lily and back to me, his face a little paler as she pretended to read the label of our bottle. Well, strike me down with the sensitivity stick! "No worries, easily done" he said. "Actually, I was planning on studying for my exams. Can't be a beat cop forever."
"Really? Good for you. Mom and Dad will be proud."
Jord pinked a little as he swallowed his beer.
I reached for my purse. "Guys, this has been fun, but you're cramping our style. Time to go, Lily."
"You bet," she said. "Been nice seeing you all." She was out of the booth in a flash. "I'm going outside to call a cab." She moved off before anyone said anything as I sidled out of the booth, shrugging on my denim jacket, a concession to the turning weather.
"That cab might be a while," said Daniel, nudging me and pointing. I followed his eyes to where Lily paused at the entrance to the bar. She was laughing as a guy leaned into her and said something, making her laugh again. "Hey, Garrett, that's Anderson, isn't it? Works with you?"
"Used to," said Garrett. "Nice guy."
"Seems to like Lily," I said, sitting again, noticing Jord scowl as Lily flicked her hair and smiled brilliantly at the man. "Is he asking her out on a date?" I mock whispered.
Daniel grinned as two cell phones were pulled out. "I see a phone number exchange going on."
"You know, Jord," Garrett chipped in as he drummed his fingers on the table, "if you got your shit together and asked Lily out, you could spend less time scowling and more time smiling."
"I am not interested in Lily," Jord said for the umpteenth time, and once again, we just ignored him. Just because he protested, didn't mean he always spoke the truth. Unfortunately, that made me think of the Solomon situation. It was why I really needed to be out drinking and laughing; not thinking about what I was going to do tomorrow, especially after walking out without even hearing the case he wanted me on. The idea of going to work actually made my stomach churn. Or that could have been the three large glasses of wine. Hard to say.
I watched as Lily detached herself from her new cop friend and walked outside. "I'm going to wait with Lily outside," I told my brothers. "See you soon."
"Don't forget babysitting Sunday," said Garrett.
"I won't."
Lily insisted we try a new bar downtown, and had our cab drop us outside. It was a nice place with plate glass windows looking out onto the street. Despite the many booths and tables, and a long bar, it was only half occupied, given that it wasn't the weekend yet. We grabbed two leather stools at the bar and Lily reached for the cocktail menu, running one perfectly manicured, pink fingernail down the list.
“Do you want to hear the specials?” asked the barman, his friendly smile wasted on us.
Lily gave him a dejected shrug. “Sure.”
“Tonight is two-for-one on ‘Men are Scum’ and ‘Massive Pornstars’.”
“What’s in the ‘Men are Scum’?”
“Rum. It rhymes with scum.”
Lily perked up. “And the ‘Massive Pornstars’?” she asked without blinking.
“Rum. It doesn’t rhyme with anything, but we over-ordered on rum.”
“We’ll take two of each. My treat,” she added to me, reaching for her purse. “I sold my rubber dresses.”
I turned to her as the barman moved away to assemble our drinks. “You don’t need them anymore?” Lily was a club hostess and had to dress per their rules. Sometimes, the rules were eye-popping. It was a side of her that she’d kept hidden until one fateful night a few months ago.
“Not since Flames got busted. I sold them to a guy in Omaha.”
I raised an eyebrow. “A guy?”
“Don’t judge. He’s paying for our drinks.” She beamed as four glasses appeared in front of us. After paying, Lily took a deep breath, then another. "Jord is never going to be interested in me, is he?" she asked, in a voice of finality that I never noticed before.
"I don't know," I said honestly. "I don't know what's going on in his head. He would be lucky to have you."
"I realized just now, when I was talking to that cute guy in O'Grady's, that it doesn't make me feel good when I see Jord anymore. I fancy him like crazy, and I know we'd be good together, but... he makes me feel like shit. I've liked him a long, long time and not once has he shown any interest. I'm pretty, aren't I?" she asked, her face highlighted by the multi-colored, blinking, plastic ice cube.
"Oh, Lily, yes, of course you are," I said with absolute sincerity, because Lily was nothing short of stunning. She had big, blonde curls and wholesome, glowing skin that made her look like she should be on skincare adverts, as well as a button nose, and a curvy figure that most guys looked at twice.
Lily plundered on. "I know I'm not super smart, but I have a job. I'm a nice person. People like me. Guys like me. Why not Jord?"
"Because he's a dumbass?"
"Thank you, honey. I know he's your brother, and I shouldn't lay this on you. But yeah, he's a dumbass! No more, okay? No more waiting around for Jord, no more measuring guys up to him and not seeing them again because they're not him. No more! You know what I'm going to do? I'm going to call that guy."
"I think that's the smartest thing you ever said."
Lily raised her glass. "To me," she toasted. "To going forward."
"To going forward," I echoed, raising my own glass.
Lily hiccupped. "I'll call him when I'm sober."
"Good thinking."
"And screw Solomon!" she said.
"Maybe not."
"To not screwing Solomon!" Lily took another large swallow. "But plenty of that with the detective!"
It was one a.m. by the time our cab dropped us at the curb and we stumbled inside the building that Lily's parents had carved into apartments. Lily took the first floor; I had the second; and the third floor was on a short lease, and had a history of a revolving door of tenants. Thanks to the division of floors, it meant Lily wouldn't struggle getting into her apartment, while I would really have to focus on the stairs to get into mine. "This was a good night," Lily slurred. "I am a strong, capable woman."
"Me too," I agreed, my words mashing together. "Screw men. If they think I'm a useless, little woman, they're getting a surprise."
"A big surprise!"
"Gigantic!"
"Huge!"
"Enormous!" I paused. "I'm out of adjectives."
"Me too. What are you going to do tomorrow?"
"Apart from stocking up on Advil, not a clue."
~
I glanced up when the door to Solomon’s office opened, then back to my laptop, my head throbbing. My throat felt hoarse, and I couldn't remember a chunk of last night, except there were a lot of resolutions. Something about who wouldn't be screwing whom, and that Lily was firm about being no longer interested in my brother. I seem to remember hearing that before. I'd give her a week.
"Lexi. My office." Solomon's voice cut through my hangover and I closed my eyes for a moment, trying not to wince.
I wished I wasn't still pissed off, but I was; and, if I were totally honest, I wasn't sure why now. Lily and I had hashed it through the previous night. So, my colleagues thought I was a silly woman who quite possibly slept with the boss, or still was. So what? It didn’t make it true. And Solomon’s assumption that one day we'd get it on? Well, so what to that too! It wasn't going to happen.
I just wished I had the confidence and the inner serenity to keep thinking like that, but every time the thought snuck into my head, it hung there, like an annoying commercial jingle. There might not be anything between Solomon and me, other than that he was now my boss; but I didn’t want anyone else thinking there was more going on. Not because Solomon was gross in anyway. If anything, he was beautiful. But I had a chance at a job I might be good at, and that was important to me. So, with that in mind, today I was dressed like I meant business in black pants, flat boots and a round-necked sweater.
Even worse, if a rumor reached Maddox, how would I explain nothing happened with my boss to the man I did want? It would be beyond awkward.
I locked my screen and walked over, trying to disregard the low level headache I'd had since waking. It wasn't a bitch of a hangover, but it refused to be ignored. I made myself feel better by slinging a nasty look at Fletcher behind his back.
"About that job I want you on," said Solomon, closing the door behind me. I perked up briefly before remembering yesterday's forgotten case. His case. Not my case.
"Yeah?" I took the chair this side of Solomon's desk, then waited for him to take his and continue.
"The hotel job," he said, then clarified, "my case."
Who Glares Wins (Lexi Graves Mysteries) Page 4
