Page 64 of Evidence of Deceit

He pushed even harder and farther in. In and out, in and out. The pressure built, and he couldn’t stop his orgasm. Wave after wave of pleasure coursed through his body. He collapsed around her, careful not to put his weight on her. They stayed like that for a few minutes.

Finally spent, he withdrew and kissed her ass.

“Get in the bedroom. I’m not done yet.”

She stood up, wiggled her ass again, turned and gave him a small smirk and said, “Oh, sweetie, we haven’t even started.”

Chapter Thirty-Five

Sam watched as Claire and her friend Hillary entered the restaurant. The girls met at Salt & Sea regularly on the last Friday of the month. Claire and Hillary were talking and looking around and hadn’t seen them yet.

What a difference a couple of months made. Claire was gaining a little weight. She didn’t look emaciated anymore. Her eyes were bright, and she had a smile on her face. Probably some of that was due to Joe Harkin. Sam hoped she and Joe had a solid relationship. They both deserved all the happiness and love they could find.

Claire had spoken of her past, and Mark had divulged some of Joe’s backstory. The rest she knew before she’d hired him. Or at least, the parts she could check. He had a checkered upbringing until he went to live with the Grissoms. She now knew he met Claire their freshman year after that interesting confession at Mark’s house. And wasn’t that an interesting conversation. Sometimes you just can’t make that stuff up. Mark had told her he and Joe were SEAL buddies, and she sort of knew that Joe did some things for the government that she didn’t want to know about. He was, however, anexemplary employee, and she knew that he would have her back—A-OK in her book.

She and Claire had enjoyed several lunches together as well as dinners with Mark and Joe. The two of them regularly met to decide how best to invest in the women’s shelters. Claire was wealthy now beyond her every dream. Not wanting Keith’s money was a blessing for the women’s shelters. She wondered what Keith would have thought about that. Bastard was probably turning over in his grave. She could only hope. It served him right.

Claire and Hillary were just about at the table, and Sam was surprised at how similar they looked. Same color hair, although Claire’s was shoulder-length now. Claire’s features were soft, but Hillary had a hardness about her. Her eyes were closer together than Claire’s, and Sam noticed them darting around the restaurant. Her lips pursed like she wanted to be anywhere but here. But Claire appeared to like her, so who was she to judge?

She interrupted Marlee to wave to Claire. Claire spotted her and nodded, leading the way over.

“Hey, everyone.” Claire leaned over to hug Sam. “You remember my friend Hillary.”

Everyone said hello, and Claire and Hillary found empty chairs to sit in. The conversation was lively as Anne regaled them with her toddler tales and got good-natured ribbing from her friends about her new beau—a teacher from another school. Sam was happy for her. It had been a while since Anne found someone she really wanted to date.

Laura was able to join them this time. She often had to work when they came in. Grace, her best friend since they were toddlers, was pleasantly plump with her second child with Luke. Sam loved their little guy, Connor. Julie and Pete were expecting their second child also, and Pete was in heaven. But Axl was sick, so Julie couldn’t make it today.

Marlee kept them all on their toes, and Sam loved her for her innocence and interesting quirks. She was thankful Marlee was the reason Ben joined KnightGuard Security.

Hailey was looking better these days, especially since she found her wayward sister and got her into a detox program. Things were going quite well between Hailey and Sam’s brother, Danny. Danny had confided in her that he was going to ask Hailey to marry him soon. Sam couldn’t be happier with his choice. Her favorite and only brother and one of her best friends. Yeah, life was good.

“Hillary, Claire tells me you lived in New York City. What made you decide to move here?” asked Anne.

Hillary looked up from her meal. She took a minute to wipe her lips with her napkin. “I had some issues at my last job and needed a break. But I’m thinking about moving back to New York. It’s too humid here.”

They all nodded.

“We hear you and Hank are dating. How’s that going? Would Hank move with you to New York?” asked Marlee.

“Maaarlee,” the women said in unison.

“Ooops. Sorry. Sometimes my mouth gets the better of me.” Marlee tried to look sorry, but her little smirk clued Sam in that she really wasn’t. Marlee was very protective of all the people at KnightGuard. That was just one of the things she loved about the feisty woman. Plus, she wasn’t afraid to call out someone if there was an issue.

“I have no clue,” said Hillary. She stared down at her plate and moved the food around. Discussion over.

Sam’s BS antenna was up. Hillary never answered Marlee’s question, and what was up with her problem at work? She wanted to ask Hillary about it, but Hillary wasn’t her friend, and so it was none of her business.

“Excuse me. I need to use the restroom,” Claire said as she stood and walked toward the restaurant’s back.

“Claire looks happy,” said Anne. “I hear she’s going to have a show at the gallery next month. Is that true, Hillary?”

“I believe so. Our boss, Roman, loves her work and promotes it every chance he gets.” Then her voice sunk to aconspiratorial whisper.“I think he’s infatuated with her.”

The women looked shocked.

“Don’t tell Joe that. He’ll make a work of art out of Roman,” quipped Marlee. Everyone laughed but Hillary. Sam couldn’t get over what a weird statement Hillary made. She didn’t seem to like Claire at all.

Claire had come back, looked at her watch and exclaimed, “Oh my, I have an appointment in a half hour. Hillary, are you ready? I can drop you at your car.”

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