Page 11 of Merrick

But I wanted my independence and kept telling him to wait. Finally, he decided to go with someone else. Mary-Jo was just hovering in the background, waiting to scoop him up and she did.” She dug her spoon in and scooped up chili. “I lost my chance.”

“I am perfectly all right with my single status.”

Her aunt nodded. “That is because you have your job and a very demanding one at that. There will come a time when you do not and then what?”

“I will travel the world. I have always wanted to.”

“Without a man at your side.”

Margo laughed softly. “Aunt Sybil, I respect the idea of you trying to look out for me, but I am fine. Let’s talk about something else.”

*****

She studied the man. She wanted to know everything about Merrick Julian Pendergast going in. His photos gave her a bit of a pause as she stared at the sober face, the lines of pain that even the camera had not been able to hide. She knew that he had suffered a terrible loss at the peak of his career and that had set him back somewhat.

He did not look shady, but what the hell! That did not mean a damn thing. She had once busted a businessman who looked as squeaky clean as a whistle and was secretly transporting minors across state borders in his delivery trucks.

Looks don’t mean a damn.

He was fifty-five, she read in surprise. Yes, there were lines around his eyes, but his body was that of a younger man. She read that he was an expert in martial arts and had studied Krav Maga. He was also a marine.

Very interesting. He wasn’t just a pampered rich guy, but an active one. She felt a frisson of something as she stared into his gray eyes and found herself trying to decipher the exact shade. Simply gray did not cover it.

What on earth does one call that color? Smoky? Ash? Storm cloud? Slate? Shaking her head, she resumed reading his bio and found a twinge of sympathy when she got to the part about his fiancée and unborn son. He had been unable for comment, then and even now, not that she could not blame him.

The media had a way of feeding on peoples’ grief and making a damn livelihood out of it. Merrick Pendergast would be definite fodder for a story.

He was an extremely attractive man and incredibly successful. He was still single, and it appeared that he would remain as is. He must have loved her very much and she wondered what that was like.

Her conversation with Aunt Sybil had been nagging at her, much to her disgust. It wasn’t that she had chosen to be single at her age, but she had been loath to enter into any form of relationship.

Her past, the fact that she had been abandoned by her mother who had chosen drugs and the easy way out, had deterred her. Not to mention she had no idea who the hell her daddy was.

He could be a pimp for all she knew. So, she had decided long ago to stay clear of anything permanent. There had been suggestions, declarations of love, an emotion she did not believe in of course, but she had laughed them off.

Then her job had become so time-consuming that it left little time for anything else. And relationships take work and considerable time.

She was a cop, an undercover one at that and for months she was under. At times, she would not see her place for months. Who in the hell would want to put up with that? Another cop? The only person in her squad, she had been involved with briefly was Brad and that had not lasted long.

She was a female, trying to make it in a predominantly male world and people were watching. She had heard them talking about other female cops who slept around and stayed away from having that kind of talk about her. She wanted to be noticed for her work and what she brought to the table.

Not for spreading her legs to get where she was. The double standard was glaringly obvious. A man has no qualms about sleeping his way through the damn squad room and his reputation would remain intact. But that is the way it is.

Getting back to her reading, she picked up her wine and kicked back in her comfortably worn leather chair. Placing her feet on the desk, she continued reading. Surprisingly, Merrick Pendergast had taken a million-dollar company and turned it into a multi-billion-dollar enterprise.

They were not just into pharmaceuticals, but had diversified into real estate, oil and a charter airline that was doing exceptionally well.

“Jesus!” She muttered. “A fricking vineyard in Italy.” She stared at the pale amber liquid in her glass intently. She wasn’t drinking his vintage, that much she was sure of. She usuallybought her wine and other liquors at the local Walmart. The most she ever paid for a bottle was less than sixty bucks.

She would not dream of trying to guess what one of his bottles go for and was probably served in some fancy restaurant. She stayed clear of those like the proverbial plague.

Not that she could afford to eat in places like Soho, Kelly’s or Kane’s and the others of course. Brad had suggested that they tried for a reservation at one of Kelly Takahashi’s restaurant and had been told by that lofty reservation clerk that they were booked up to six months and do not accept walk-ins.

She had laughed at the confounded look on his face.

“Serves you right. What sense does it make to blow a month or two salary to just have a meal?”

“It’s the ambiance,” he muttered.

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