Page 28 of Hers to Hold
“Is it too soon to say you like difficult women?” she asked cheekily.
Wes groaned. “Maybe. But you’re not difficult.”
Kady offered a close-mouthed smile while her heart jolted like she was taking a lie detector test and she just majorly fibbed.If he knew…
Kady stared at the crumbs on the blanket and angrily swatted them away. She would lose him, if he knew. There wouldn’t be lovely days like this in the park eating mouth-watering sandwiches with the hope of them ending in knee-numbing kisses.
I should’ve never let him kiss me.It only pulled her deeper into the pit of deception. When it was time to come clean, she would have already suffocated. And what would that teach Chastity? The girl who wanted to grow up and be a reporter.Like me. Either she’ll think lying is okay, or she’ll be so traumatized that she’ll…Kady wouldn’t finish her thought. Or her sandwich. Guilt turned her stomach. She set the rest of her sandwich aside.
“You’re frowning.” Wes’s finger skimmed her cheek, and then lifted her chin. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing!” she exclaimed a little too cheerfully.
Wes’s looked unconvinced. “You can tell me.”
She cleared her throat and inched away from his touch. “Maybe Chastity has the right idea. Being an investigative journalist sounds fun.”
“Maybe you could investigate one of our subs,” he said dryly.
He had her full attention. “Your sub-contractor?”
“The lead’s a jerk. We keep having paperwork issues with him.”
“What do you mean by paperwork issues?”
He stared at her for a few moments before his expression smoothed. “I shouldn’t be talking to you about this. I apologize. It’s boring business anyway.”
Except it wasn’t. At least, not from where Kady was sitting.It could be the reason people think Drew’s shady. A sub-contractor who can’t keep his paperwork in order? A recipe for things getting lost.
Things like money.
Her intern Jimmy had compiled everything about Drew’s businesses.A sub-contractor list has to be in the file. I have to look at it. See if any red flags stand out.
And maybe she could make special deliveries to the work site more often to get a better idea of who was causing the trouble.
Wes was lying down when Kady popped up to her knees. “Um…I’m so sorry. I just remembered that I was supposed to cover the lunch shift at the bakery for…one of the girls.”
Wes immediately sat up, his face contorting like he was in physical pain. “Really? I thought you had the whole day off.”
Kady playfully hit her head with her palm. “Duh, I’m so stupid. I’m really sorry, Wes.”
“Let me get Chastity and we’ll drive you—”
Kady put up her hands. “No! It’s too lovely a day to pull her away from the park.” She stood quickly pulling her crossbody bag’s strap over her head. “I can just call an Über. Really, don’t worry about it. I’m just sorry I had to cut this short. But I’ll make it up to you, okay?” She leaned down and pressed her lips to his. “I had a great time.”
“Yeah, uh…me too.”
Oh, that wasn’t convincing. “How about dinner in a couple of days? Just the two of us?”
His expression brightened with a toothy-grin. “Dinner would be great.”
“Okay. Tell Chastity I said ‘bye,’ please?”
“Will do.”
She waved goodbye and jogged toward the parking lot. She ordered her ride and then she called the office. “Jimmy? Pull up the Callaghan file. Get me everything on the sub-contractors.”
“You got a lead?”
