Dungeon Games(15)

God, he’d made her feel like one.

She winced as she caught sight of his previously pristine slacks. “Oh, Derek, I am so sorry. Your pants are…”

He looked down and she was deeply surprised to hear him chuckle. There was a stain on his pants from her arousal. She’d made a hell of a wet spot. Derek always seemed so staid. She’d expected him to get angry, but he merely righted his shirt and readjusted himself. “Next time I’ll remember just how wet you get, Karina.”

The knocking became a staccato nuisance.

“Hold your freaking horses, lady. He’s coming out in a minute.” Whoever his ex was, she was rude.

Derek frowned her way. Derek didn’t do rude.

Karina shrugged as she made her way to the door. “Sorry.”

“Remember what I said about the eyes.” His voice seemed so much warmer than before. “And I’ll expect you to be waiting for me, Karina. I’ll call and get your dinner order and pick it up for us. We have work to do.”

In for a penny… “I’ll cook.”

His face twisted slightly as though he was trying not to contemplate something horrible. “You will?”

Bastard. So he didn’t think she could possibly cook. Well, she wasn’t going to defend herself. Sometimes showing was way better than telling. “Yes, I will. Dinner is at seven.”

She opened the door, expecting to see some gorgon of a woman, but the female who was pacing outside Derek’s door was petite and perfect, with a fashionably slim figure and icy blonde hair that likely never went frizzy. She wore a gorgeous suit that managed to be both business-like and deeply feminine. There was a fragility to her features that would have every man in a two-mile radius panting after her. It was easy to see this was a woman who spent an enormous amount of time on her body. She likely spent hours on her hair and makeup and the perfect nails on her gorgeous hands. A pampered woman who tried to please the men around her with her looks.

Karina didn’t bother to look at her own nails. Unless she was going to Sanctum, she didn’t bother with things like makeup and nails. Her hair was in a ponytail because her job often had her running after people or running from them.

She would bet the woman in front of her had never chased a bounty through a junk yard or gone through someone’s garbage to figure out if they were hiding a kidnapped kid in their house.

This was the woman Derek had married, his ideal. She was so far from Karina that they weren’t even playing in the same league.

He really was looking for a delicate flower he could take care of. Karina wasn’t petite and fragile. She’d been on her own for a very long time. She would never be more than a convenient good time for Derek Brighton.

“Is there a problem?” Delicate Flower asked, staring at Karina like she didn’t have a brain in her head. She’d placed a hand on her slender hip and frowned Karina’s way like she was a bit of refuse someone had forgotten to take out.

Karina shook her head. “Not at all. He’s all yours.”

The ex-Mrs. Brighton’s perfect lips curled in a Cheshire Cat grin. “He always is. You should probably know that before you go and lose your sad little cop heart to the big bad lieutenant. He has a bad habit of fucking below his station, but he always comes back to me.”

And just like that Karina’s insecurities were swept away in a tidal wave of pure pissed-off. She didn’t like mean girls. Mean girls made the world a worse place. “I’m not a cop. I’m a PI.”

Cool blue eyes rolled. “Like I care, though that’s way worse.”

She strolled into the door of Brighton’s office and slammed it in Karina’s face.

Karina suddenly knew what she would do with her afternoon. But first she had to figure out what the ex-Mrs. Brighton’s name was. It wouldn’t take much. The good news was, she was a damn fine hacker and she definitely believed that karma at times needed a good shove in the right direction.

If the delicate flower liked to play Medusa, maybe Karina could take on the role of Perseus. It was really for the good of all womankind that she slay the gorgon.

“Hey, Keller? Can I use your computer?” She walked up to the sergeant who hired her from time to time to check out his daughter’s dates. Dani Keller unfortunately had a bad-boy complex that got her in trouble every now and then. She was a sweet kid. Karina had been more than happy to help keep her that way.

“Sure. You gonna fuck with someone?” He stood up, offering her his seat.

“I would never do that,” Karina assured with a smooth smile.

She was a good liar and this would take her mind off the very dangerous door she’d almost opened with Derek.