Page 41 of Fierce-Zander

She lifted an eyebrow. “Really?”

“My client wants me trailing his wife. This is part of it. He pays all the expenses I incur to do it since he sends me out last minute. I don’t do that with all my clients, but most, depending on what is involved. Some would just rather pay a straight fee, others less of a fee and the expenses they can control.”

He handed his card over and they waited.

“Might make bookkeeping harder to do it,” she said.

“Betsy does most of that for me,” he said. Which meant she’d see this bill for a dinner for two and might question it just like she did his two plates the other night.

But it’s not like it was the first time he’d submitted a receipt for two, as it was part of him blending in. Sometimes he’d just be out with another guy. He’d had dates with him before, his sister or even his mother. His family thought it was funny and enjoyed it.

It was more for a cover than anything else and they got a meal out of it.

When his card was returned, he signed it and they got up to leave.

They walked to the parking lot and he went with her to her car.

At her door, he told himself he was going to make sure she didn’t go back and have any doubts this wasn’t a real date and leaned down to kiss her lightly on the lips.

She leaned into him, her arms around his neck, letting the kiss linger but not deepen.

Just enough to tease them both.

“Until tomorrow,” she said. “That will hold me over tonight.”

12

PROFESSIONAL OPINION

Saturday morning, Regan was sipping her coffee and scrolling through the news on her computer.

It was barely eight, but she wasn’t one to sleep in either.

When her phone rang, she reached for it and saw her father calling and barely held back the frown.

“Good morning, Dad,” she said.

“Good morning,” her father said. “How are you doing?”

“I’m well,” she said. “You?”

“The same,” her father said. It was such a dull and boring conversation and so much different than what she had with Zander last night.

Her parents were like robots at times. Which also made no sense why they split when they were both the same. They married someone else just like them. She and Kellen often joked that they’d cloned their first spouses almost down to the same physical features.

“Did you call just to check in on me or have another reason?” she asked. No point in continuing with generalities and might as well get to the meat of the call.

Not that her parents ever did that and it drove them nuts when she did.

She didn’t care anymore.

She was a full-grown adult and wasn’t going to tiptoe around her parents and their personalities and hide her own.

“I understand Kellen has a new job and is moving?”

Regan let out a sigh. No surprise that this was coming up and she didn’t understand the big deal.

“Did he tell you?”

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