Page 76 of Four Steps to the Perfect Fake Date

She glanced at him, the pink of her dress reflecting on her chest and neck. It was truly a hideous garment, but it was growing on him. “If you want to make a joke about me being a nerd, go ahead. I’ve heard them all before.”

“I don’t think you’re a nerd.”

“That’s a good one,” she said, mouth curving into a smile. Her brows drew together as the screen loaded in front of them. “Okay, Realist Trade Co. isn’t coming up. Let me try the other one.”

Calvin leaned one palm on her desk and the other on the back of Daphne’s chair. His thumb slid across her back, teasing the skin between her shoulder blades. He couldn’t help himself. He wanted to touch her, always. And when she was like this, lit with inner fire, with none of the self-doubt that sometimes crept into her expression, she was magnetic. Irresistible.

“Hmm,” Daphne said. “Not that either. Let’s check the Department of Revenue website. If they have multiple DBAs registered under the same LLC, we’ll be able to find it there.”

“DBAs?”

“‘Doing business as,’” Daphne answered. “Basically, the customer-facing name of your business.”

“And that could be different from the name the business is incorporated under?”

Daphne nodded. A new site popped up, and Daphne typed in “Realist Trade Co.” A fraction of a second later, they had the business name, the legal entity name, and the unique business identifier. “Bingo,” Daphne said, a tiny triumphant smile curling her lips. “Let’s check Rated Retails.”

Calvin leaned closer, and the scent of her shampoo rose up to meet him. He looked over her shoulder as she did a second search, both of them exhaling sharply as the screen loaded. Both companies had the same LLC as their legal entity name: BDT, LLC.

Daphne flicked back over to the first website and copied the name into the search box. She didn’t even touch the mouse. Her fingers movedfaster than Calvin could track, making information flash on the screen like magic. Then it was right there: a name and an address.

Daphne leaned back in her chair as she frowned at the screen. “Robert D. Troy.” She turned her head to meet Calvin’s gaze. “Why does that ring a bell?”

“Bobby Troy is the man who loved his truck so much he almost took your head off for insulting it just outside the station,” Calvin said.

Eyes widening, Daphne glanced at the screen. “The guy who crashed into the convenience store?”

“Bobby D. Troy,” Calvin confirmed.

“BDT, LLC,” Daphne read, breathless.

“I’ll check our records, but I’m pretty sure that’s his address.” Calvin pointed to the registered business address still glowing on the screen.

Even simply watching her in profile, he could tell that Daphne’s mind was working a mile a minute. She flicked over to a new tab on her computer and pulled up a social media site. Within seconds, she had Bobby Troy’s picture up on the screen. “The owners of this company trustthis manto handle their legal obligations? They listedhimas their registered agent?”

Calvin hummed. “You don’t think he runs the company.”

“The man cared more about his precious truck than anything else. I can’t see it.”

“We should go check his place out. See if we can spot anything suspicious.”

Daphne straightened, and her eyes grew bright. Then she looked at her ankle and grimaced. “I’ll slow you down,” she said. “I can do more here. I’m almost through all the financial records, and then I’ll be able to work backward and check if I’ve missed any other suspicious payments going to different businesses registered under the same LLC.”

Disappointment washed over Calvin. He liked having her at his side. He enjoyed the bright spark of her mind and the way she made connections so quickly. But she was right. She could do more good here, and she’d be safer too. He was forgetting himself.

“You should get back in your own clothes,” he said, touching the gigantic puff sleeve floating in space beyond her right shoulder.

Daphne glanced down at herself with a faint look of surprise. “Right. Good call.”

Helping her to her feet, Calvin cleared his throat. “You sure you’re okay with wearing it and doing the dance and everything?”

Daphne smiled at him, her hand sliding onto his forearm to give him a squeeze. “We’ve come this far, Flint. I won’t let you down.”

Her words were half-joking, tossed out to make him laugh. Instead, they hit Calvin right in the chest and nearly made him stumble. She was ready to face embarrassment for him. He told himself it was just because she was true to her word and she’d made the commitment, but when she looked at him like that ...

It felt like she cared. Like she was putting him first. Like, maybe, shewantedto go to a torturous event with him, because being by his side was better than being alone.

But that was crazy. She’d pulled away from him every time they’d gotten close. She’d been more than clear that she only wanted him to save her reputation from vicious gossip on the island and give her a reason to leave when she was done here. Sure, she was intent on fulfilling her end of the bargain, but it wasn’t because she wanted to share some secret joke with him as they went to a ridiculous family event together. They might be attracted to each other, but none of this was real.

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