Private Affairs(18)
“Holy shit, Lena,” she said loudly when I walked in. “You did not tell me your private investigator is the most attractive man I’ve ever seen in person.”
“Keep your voice down!” I whispered to her. The very last thing I needed was Preston Reid hearing us talk about how attractive he was. “And he is not the most attractive person you’ve ever seen,” I countered.
She scoffed at me. “He abso-fucking-lutely is the hottest man I have ever encountered.”
“You had your eyes on him for all of ten seconds,” I said as I moved past her, trying to busy myself with cleaning the kitchen, needing a distraction.
“I only needed three,” she replied. “What are you going to do?”
“What do you mean?”
“What are you going to do about the man in your husband’s office who exudes sexual prowess?”
“Sam, you’re being ridiculous. I’ve hired him to investigate my cheating husband, that’s all.”
“So you’re not even going to try to see him naked?”
“What? No! I’m married.”
“You’re married to a man who has another woman on the side with whom he has two children.” This was information I already had, but hearing someone else say the words so callously hurt.
“That doesn’t mean I’m going to jump the first attractive man I come across.”
“So you think he’s attractive?” Sam asked, her voice more amused than it should have been.
“Excuse me, Lena?”
Both Sam and I twisted when we heard Preston’s voice shoot through the room, and saw him standing in the entryway, the smirk on his face alluding to the fact he’d heard our conversation.
Shit.
“What can I help you with?” I asked.
“I need to look in your bedroom.”
“My bedroom? What for?”
“You really don’t understand how this whole investigative thing works, do you? I just need to look around, see if there’s anything that piques my interest.”
“You think he left clues to his affair in our bedroom?”
He shrugged in response.
I sneered at him again, but then moved to lead him to my bedroom.
“I’m going to head to the bank real quick to get you that money, Lena,” I heard Sam call out as I walked down the hall.
“All right,” I called back. I turned back to Preston. “She’s going to loan me the retainer, so if you’re still here when she gets back, you can have your money.”
“She seems like a good friend.”
“She is,” I said, facing forward again.
“Does she know? About the prenup, I mean?” he asked gently.
“Preston, like I said yesterday, you’re the only person I’ve ever told about that.” I sighed and stopped outside my bedroom door, motioning with my hand. I didn’t want to spend time in my and my husband’s bedroom with another man. It didn’t seem right – it felt cheap and wrong. But it also felt exciting and, for that, I decided not to go in. “I’ll be in the kitchen if you need anything,” I said quietly, and then left him to do his private investigating.
In the kitchen, I continued to clean what was left from our lunch and then, for the second day in a row, decided to indulge in a drink. Not feeling like putting in too much effort, I simply grabbed some orange juice from the refrigerator and poured some in a glass, then added a generous portion of vodka. I sat down on one of the barstools that lined the long side of the island and listened for sounds of Preston rummaging through my marriage.
I couldn’t imagine what he thought he would find in our bedroom that I might not have seen, might not have caught on to. He wouldn’t find any evidence of a loving relationship; that was for sure. There would be no sexy underwear in the hamper, no rumpled sheets on the bed. No, I imagined from his perspective he would see a very sterile room and pity my husband for having such a frigid wife.
I was halfway through my drink when I heard him come back into the kitchen.
“I think I’m about through here. Sorry for the intrusion.”
I got the feeling he was referring to more than just interrupting lunch.
“It’s no problem. Find what you were looking for?”
“Not sure yet,” he said, seriously, his eyes locked on to mine. I simply couldn’t handle his eyes on me, not when they were full of words that I felt he wanted to say but held back. No, it was time to say goodbye to Preston Reid.
“Sam isn’t back yet, but I’ll be sure to get you the money soon. I could drop it by the office later today if that’s more convenient for you.”
“No, don’t take it to the office. I’ll be in contact. I’m not worried about the money.”