Page 18 of Stone Rules

“Was there something you wanted?” he asks, like he doesn’t know his touch just melted my brain into a gooey mess, making it almost impossible for my mouth to form words.

He removes his hands from my legs, putting them on the edge of the pool next to me as he bobs up and down in the deep water.

I don’t think I’ve ever wanted a man to put his hands back on me as much as I do this very second. I usually don’t want a man’s hands on me at all, but it’s always been a means to an end. A way to thwart a brutal beating from my mother. A way to get a roof over my head. A way to forget reality.

“Uh . . .” I scramble for a reason to have interrupted his swim. Other than the obvious fact that I’m acting like an adolescent with a schoolgirl crush on a man who considers me off limits. “I just wanted to know what’s taking so long. I mean, how hard could it be to find a few people? What the hell am I paying you for anyway?”

“Seriously?” His expression turns stern, making me further regret the off-the-cuff words I spoke. “First off, it’s not just a few people, Charlie. It’s a dozen.”

I wince knowing all too well how many names are on the list. And I scowl at his use of my first name. It’s all work and no play whenever he uses it. I guess I can’t blame him. I did all but call him a bad P.I.

“Second, do you know how many John Taylors and Steve Smiths there are in New York? Even more if we expand the search. It takes time to sift through all of them to find out which ones had a connection to your mom. And third, you haven’t paid me yet.”

I lower my head to my chest, feeling about two inches tall after the scolding he just gave me. “Sorry. I guess I’m just getting impatient. You don’t haveanythingfor me?”

“We’ve only found a few of them,” he says.

“Can I get what you have or do you need a payment first? I don’t get a paycheck until next week.”

“It’s fine. If you need the information that badly, I’ll get it to you. Can you swing by the office on Monday?”

“Monday?” Now that I know he has some of what I need, I don’t want to wait that long. “Couldn’t we do it sooner?”

“I suppose I could bring it to you. Do you work tomorrow?”

“From ten to two,” I say.

“How about I come in for a late lunch at two? I’ll bring what I have so far. But don’t expect much at this point.”

I put my hands on either side of my legs, my upper arms squeezing my boobs together as I lean forward exposing even more cleavage. “Great. It’s a date.”

He gapes at my chest. He’s a guy—of course he does. But the warming sensation I feel from the heat of his stare is short-lived when he rips his eyes away. “No, Charlie, it’s not. I don’t date clients.”

Feeling rejected, I quip, “Right, you only fuck them.”

He sighs. “No, I don’t fuck them. I fuckedyou.Beforeyou were a client I might add.”

I lean back, removing my chest from his face. “Well, how long do you think it will be before I’mnota client?”

He laughs a deep resounding chuckle. Pushing off the wall, he says, “See you at two o’clock tomorrow, Tate.”

So now it’sTate.

I stand up, shaking my head at the thought of the perplexing man swimming away from me.

Game on, Stone.

Chapter Eight

I didn’t sleep much last night. And now I’m mindlessly going through the motions of my job. What will I do with the information I’m going to have at my fingertips later today? I know he said he didn’t have much. But he has something.

God, it felt good to deck that Dewey creep. But is that all I want to do, I wonder? What if these lowlifes are doing that shit to other girls? What if they have families? I make a mental note to ask Ethan to find out for me.

Jarod has the day off and Piper is only filling in as needed now that I’m full-time. It makes for a boring shift. Mindy is here though. And while it’s not the same as having my BFF here, I can’t say it’s not entertaining to watch her flirt with every heterosexual guy under forty that walks in—and maybe some gay ones too.

Mindy is Skylar’s best friend and former roommate. She reminds me a lot of myself, only older. She doesn’t take shit from anyone. And I admire the fact that even though she comes from money, she’s working to put herself through school to become a physical therapist.

She’s cool though, and our group of six girls that also includes Baylor and her bestie, Jenna, plans to have a girls’ night tomorrow.

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