Page 148 of The Last Good Man

“And it’s not that neighbor of hers you have talked about,” he says.

“Marlowe.”

“No. It’s not Marlowe. He left the building around seven, had dinner downtown, placed a booty call, and met a woman in a hotel lobby. My money is onhim still fucking her since they went straight upstairs.”

“Isn’t he a gem?” I murmur.

“That’s what I said.”

I study his face, proud of him.

“You hired your mignons to keep an eye on him,” I say.

He whips his gaze up.

“Yeah. You said I could do that. But not the woman, though. They don’t know about Melody Hill,” he says in a breath, concerned I might have a problemwith that.

I nod in agreement.

“Good. You can use other peopleas long asthey don’t know much.”

“They don’t,” he reassures me, moving his eyes down. “And frankly, they’d do this type of work for free. They like it so much.”

“You like it too.”

He laughs knowingly.

“Are you kidding me? I might make a business out of it.”

“Uh-huh… What else?”

“The other man, Thomas something.”

“Everett.”

“Yes.Hedidn’t meet your girl the entire week. In fact, he had dinner and sex with two different women this week. He’s seeing one on Mondays and Wednesdays and the other on Thursdays, so he was busy tonight.”

“So his dick is working.”

“What?”

“Nothing. How do you know he has them on a schedule?”

“They work for the same agency. I chatted one up, andsheknew about the other one.He’sone of their best clients.”

A smile tickles my lips as I rub my fingers over my chin.

“Tell me more. Abouthim… And stop chatting up hookers. I’ll take you to someone nice to pop your cherry.”

His cheeks turn crimson, his eyes going down.

“I’m not a virgin, you know…”

“Blowjobs in the bathroom don’t matter. You need to know how a woman’s body works, not get lost like a mountaineer without a map and a compass.”

“I know stuff,” he mumbles, his eyes tilted down.

“Not the kind that matters. Girls and women are two different things. To woo that special girl, you need to know your stuff, kid. And a random girl won’t teach you much. But enough about that,” I say, shifting gears. “What did that woman say?”

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