Page 18 of Dangerous Secret

“I understand you have a blocked drain, ma’am,” he said, then winked.

Her eyes widened as her gaze slid over him, and a little giggle escaped before she pressed her lips together.

“You’re from Acme Plumbing?”

“Yes, ma’am. I’m Wile, and this is my apprentice, Elmer.” They were standing outside her door, so he wasn’t worried they could be overheard if she was bugged.

There was that little giggle again as her eyes shifted to Cooper.

“Elmer at your service,” Cooper said with a bow.

“Nice to meet you.” Her gaze returned to him. “Please tell me you have a Sylvester working at Acme.”

“Sure do, but he’s the boss’s son and as lazy as a cat. We don’t allow him on a job.” It was the silliest conversation he’d ever had, but if it made her laugh and kept that light in her eyes, he’d be silly all day long. “May we come in?”

“Of course.” She stepped back.

As he walked past her, he caught her scent, which was interesting. Before today, she hadn’t had a scent, but now she smelled like vanilla and lavender. He wanted to bury his nose against her neck and breathe her in.

From what he’d learned and observed, he bet she’d stopped wearing any kind of perfume or scented lotions around the time she started hiding herself. This morning, she wore a pair of skinny jeans—which happened to be his favorite style of jeans on a woman—and a turquoise T-shirt that made her eyes pop, and her hair was in a high ponytail. She’d said she lost herself, and it seemed to him that she was beginning to find herself again. That made him happy.

“What drain is blocked?”

“Um…the bathroom drain?”

“Elmer, how about you check that out.”

“On it.”

Grayson leaned his mouth next to her ear. “We’re going to check for cameras and bugs.”

“Okay, I’ll be in the living room.”

Not liking the idea of Cooper being in her bedroom, he went there first. “Mistake,” he muttered at seeing her bed and imagining her in it. What did she wear to sleep in? If he’d asked him that question the same day he met her, he would have guessed a granny nightgown, one of those flowery cotton ones. Now though? Maybe something cute likethose boy shorts women liked and a camisole. He shook his head to clear it from thinking of her in bed.

Her room was as opposite from what he would have guessed as could be. Three of the walls were painted a cheery yellow. The one behind her bed was a deep, matte red. He never would have put the colors together, but it worked.

The bedspread made him think of an abstract painting, a hodgepodge of yellows, reds, greens and black. On one wall was a photograph—enlarged to take up half the wall—of a woman with long honey blond hair holding the hand of a little boy, their backs to the camera as they looked out at acres of sunflowers. The woman had on a red-and-yellow sundress, and the boy wore red shorts and a yellow shirt.

Grayson tore his eyes from the photo to take in the rest of the room. She’d taken the colors from the picture of the woman and boy to decorate her room. On the opposite wall were dozens of framed black-and-white pictures, and he walked over to them. They were all photos of Tyler from when he was a baby up to maybe four or five. The kid was cute.

He was here to work, not pry into her life, so he turned away from the photos. It only took a few minutes to scan the room with his bug detector. It was a good thing for her ex that there wasn’t a camera or a bug in her bedroom. If there had been, Grayson would have been paying the man a visit tonight. Her bathroom was bug free, too, and he forced himself to not spend any extra time in there thinking of her in the shower.

The apartment was a three-bedroom, and he poked his head into the one closest to Harlow’s. Cooper was in there, running his bug detector over the furniture. Grayson marveled at the room she’d obviously decorated for her son.

“I want a room like this,” Cooper said.

Grayson chuckled. “Of course you do. I’ll get you a dinosaur bedspread for Christmas. You get the other room yet?”

“Yeah. It’s her office, and I scanned everything twice to make sure it was clean. Got the guest bath, too.”

“Good. You take the kitchen, and I’ll get the living room.” He hoped the rest of the house was clean so he didn’t have to tell her that Pressley had been spying on her.

“Who’s your friend?” Cooper said, glancing down at the cat chattering away as he rubbed his face against Grayson’s leg.

“Pretty sure this is Einstein. He’s been curious about the goings-on in his house this morning.” Curious and talkative. Like nonstop.

“He seems to have a lot to say.” Cooper bent over and tilted his head as if listening. “What’s that? No, sorry, I don’t have any catnip on me.” He stood and widened his eyes. “I think I’ve just been cussed out by a cat.”

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