“You gotta stop being such a stalker around people,” Ben laughed.
“What? I’m a people reader, it’s what I do. That’s how I nailed half our clients at functions. You know that.” His grandfather had taught him a lot about the business, but most importantly, he taught him how to find potential clients and draw them in, understand what it was they wanted so he could give them exactly that. It was how he’d built the business and how Riley intended to keep building it.
If he could keep Yancey’s damn hands out of it.
“It’s all connected somehow. We’ll figure it out, don’t worry,” Ben said. “But you have to be in a good mood tonight.”
Riley frowned. “Why, what’s tonight?”
“Seriously? It’s Friday night, your ice cream date with Anna.”
“Yeah, I’m starting to wonder about that, too,” he said, rubbing the stubble on his chin. His beard was growing back, at least, and his hair. He felt a little more like himself.
“What? You worried about her now, too?”
“She does work for Yancey’s company.”
“You know, I really don’t think she’s involved in any of this.”
“How can you be so sure?”
Ben leaned in real close and said, “Because she’s the girl you gave your jacket to at your grandfather’s funeral. I recognized her the second Linda walked over with her. She looked happier, granted, but it’s the same girl.”
Riley nodded as he thought back to that day. He hadn’t really paid any attention. Just saw a girl in the rain who needed a coat. “Are you sure?”
“Pretty positive. I’m good with faces.”
“But you don’t think it’s odd that she was at the cemetery the same day I was?”
“Okay, if you’re going to start getting all paranoid on me, I’m going to look for a new job. Yancey is up to something, and we’ll figure out what it is. In the meantime, you have less than two months to find a wife to keep all of this. Focus on that. Let me worry about the rest.”
Riley turned in his chair, thinking. “It still seems a bit odd.”
“If she was at the cemetery to watch you, then she’d know you’re really Riley Marston and not Ben. Why would she keep pretending that you’re not you?”
Riley opened his mouth to argue but couldn’t think of anything to say.
“That’s what I thought. Now go home and get ready. I’ll take care of the rest of the afternoon.”
“You just like my chair.” Riley laughed as he stood and Ben immediately took it.
“Maybe I do. Nice to feel like I’m in charge for once.”
Riley barked a laugh as he headed for the door. “Don’t kid yourself. If I didn’t have you around, half this company would be in ruins. I’m too much of a computer geek. Talk to you tomorrow.”
“I want all the details, man, and I mean all the details,” he said, waggling his eyebrows.
Riley headed out the door and waved bye to Linda, who was on the phone. He hoped things progressed tonight, at least past the point where their time together always ended abruptly. It would be nice to actually sit down and have a chat with her…maybe a kiss, maybe more. But who was he kidding? He hardly knew this woman. For all he knew, they’d be alone and she’d start acting like all the other women he dated.
Except she still thought he was someone else.
The thought made him pause. Should he tell her who he was? Let her know the truth? But part of him liked having her not know him. He didn’t think he could handle it if she started treating him differently. So, for now, he’d let her keep believing he was just Ben. That, and he still wasn’t sure how much he trusted her.
Chapter 15
Phoebe played with her cell as she stood outside her building, waiting for Ben. Their ice cream date was in just a few minutes, and she was shifting from foot to foot, wondering if this was the right thing to do. But they were just friends, right? And she and Mitch weren’t exactly exclusive, at least not that she knew. Thought she did feel a bit guiltier now, after Mitch spent all that time last night trying to help her figure out what to do with those files. Yancey was up to something, and right now, her only ally in all of this was Mitch.
“You’re just getting ice cream with a friend,” she whispered to herself. “Just keep it friendly. No need to do anything else.”
But she had a feeling that wasn’t going to be the case. They’d nearly kissed Wednesday night, and she was extremely upset that she hadn’t had a chance to feel those lips against hers. They’d looked so soft and warm. And his arms…feeling his strong arms around her again… There was a warmth in his eyes that Mitch didn’t have. She was willing to give that man a second chance, and she was going to hold up her end of the bargain—until he showed that side of his that she really wanted to slap.