Page 19 of Gentle Fox

"I know for a fact that one is no longer available. It's just down the street from Kati and they took the sign down yesterday morning. Not sure if someone rented it or they changed their mind."

Shit. That left only one other option because there was no way I could have Annalee sleeping in my bed for another night. It didn't matter how good she felt in my arms when we woke up.

"I can call the other place and find out for you. Have you started looking into the father's death and the stepfamily?"

I needed to focus. "I was just about to do that. Something is off with the father's death. The fact that he changed his will and sent her the letter tells me he knew he wouldn't live much longer. Annalee would've mentioned if he had cancer or something else that was slowly killing him."

"Based on what you just told me, it sounds like money is the motivator here."

Wasn't it always? People were greedy. It was human nature.

"That's my guess as well."

I took my eyes off my friend long enough to check on Annalee. She was still working at her desk except this time it wasn't Maverick helping her. Nolen was saddled up next to her and that damn smile he always wore was aimed at her.

"Relax." Easton's hand was on my shoulder and pushing me down before I even realized I started to move. "Everyone here knows she's yours. Nolen is just being his usual friendly self."

"She's not mine," I bit out too quickly.

"Sure, she isn't."

I kept one eye on the situation happening out in the reception area and turned my other toward Easton. "Who exactly told you Annalee stayed at my place last night?"

Unlike Kati, I didn't have nosy neighbors checking in on me. At least, none that I was aware of yet and those things tended not to stay hidden for very long.

"Lex told me you guys came straight to town. I made an educated guess and you confirmed it for me."

Motherfucker.

"Small-town life is rubbing off on you," I grumbled.

Easton laughed. He did that a lot these days now that he had Kati and Lucien, Kati's son, in his life. My friend was always kind and gave great advice, but laughing wasn't something he did often. Not until he found the love of his life. Now it happened often, even when Kati wasn't around.

"I blame it on Ms. Daisy. She's always cornering me when I get to Kati's house. I swear she waits for me to pull up, then rushes outside to tell me everything she saw that day."

Ms. Daisy was Kati's neighbor. Her parlor faced Kati's front porch and the old woman didn't miss a thing. She was the one to tell the entire town when Kati opened the door to Easton in nothing but a shirt.

"She's got a thing for you."

"More like she's bored and I'm just too nice to ignore her."

He certainly was and it was likely Ms. Daisy knew that and took full advantage. I've had the pleasure of meeting the woman, and I must say, she was sharper than people gave her credit for.

We sat in comfortable silence for a few seconds but it didn't last long. The chime above the door, warning us that someone had entered the building, went off.

"Looks like your woman came to visit you."

Easton didn't take his eyes off Kati as she walked straight up to Annalee.

"Oh trust me, she's not here to see me."

Most people didn't realize that our reception area was set up similar to an interrogation room. We could see out to them, but they couldn't see back here. Add in the fact that we could hear what was going on out there and I didn't miss when Kati informed Annalee about the mirror.

"Uh-oh. Looks like someone's in trouble."

Busted. Annalee whipped her head around and was looking straight at me but I doubted she realized it. The fire in her eyes had my cock fighting to get out of my zipper. At this rate, the damn thing was going to have an imprint of the zipper teeth.

"I'm surprised Maverick didn't tell her when he went over the job description."

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