Page 47 of Simon Says

God, she hated the smarminess of his voice. Ignoring his suggestion, she said, “Give me a few more days to work on him.”

“Go to him tonight. Do what you have to do and then—”

“No.” Sick bastard. “He’ll be at a party tonight, so I can’t. I have to time things right.” Time things? Good grief. What kind of stupid lie was that? “He’s in the middle of a lot of stuff.”

“What stuff?”

If Barnaby hadn’t already made Simon’s connection to the SBC fighting organization (which she doubted was the case), then she didn’t want to be the one to tell him. Whatever his reasons for wanting to meet Simon now, they’d double once he knew his son was famous in certain circles.

“His job keeps him busy.”

Rather than ask what his job might be, Barnaby said, “How many days would you need?”

“Another week.”

“Seven days?” He chuckled with spiteful humor. “You only have to screw him once, Dakota, not become his live-in lover.”

Rage took hold of her and she forgot about the letters. “Take it or leave it, Barnaby, because this conversation is over.”

He took it. “One more week, Dakota. Don’t disappoint me by disappointing him.” And he hung up on her.

Slowly, Dakota lowered her hand and let her cell phone drop to the seat. She felt guilty, as if she’d betrayed Simon in some way. She was so lost in her own thoughts that when someone tapped on her window, she almost screamed.

Mallet Manchester stood there, his hair damp from a recent shower, an apologetic smile aimed her way.

Dakota rolled down her window. “You startled half my life away.”

“No kidding. You jumped a foot.” He leaned down with his forearms braced on the window frame. “Sorry about that.”

He was so close that Dakota could see the individual eyelashes of his blue eyes. She scooted back a little. “What’s up?”

“I was going to ask you that. I saw Simon inside, asked him where you were, and he said you’d just left.” His gaze dipped over her. “Yet here you are, sitting all alone and staring into space.”

“You asked Simon about me?” She couldn’t believe his nerve.

“Yeah, well, I was just going to ask him if you were going to the party.”

The same party Simon had mentioned? Why hadn’t she thought of that? It’d be the perfect opportunity to let Simon see her without her boots or frumpy extra layers. She didn’t like dressing up and seldom saw the point of it, but she could clean up as well as the next gal.

Though Dakota hated to admit it, she wanted Simon to see her at her best, to know that she could look feminine and pretty.

She wanted his admiration, damn it. And it didn’t have a single thing to do with Barnaby’s assignment.

“I don’t know yet.” Hoping she didn’t look as devious as she felt, Dakota dug for more information. “Where is it again?”

Mallet wasn’t fooled for a second. “Sublime didn’t invite you, did he?”

Well, hell, wouldn’t be much point in lying about it now. “Nope, but he did mention that he was going.”

“I don’t get it. What’s going on with you two?”

Unfortunately, not a whole lot of anything. Yet. “What do you mean?”

“The very first day you came in, Sublime warned everyone to stay away from you.”

Her back stiffened. “He did what?”

Uncomfortable, Mallet cleared his throat. “Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything.”

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