To Catch a Bad Guy (Book One of the Janet Maple Series)

by Marie Astor

  ***

  Janet took a long swallow of her martini. After the traumatizing weekend, she needed a drink.

  “So, let me get this straight,” Katie said after she had downed some of her whiskey sour. “You got pawed by Andrew Foley – Lisa’s sex-obsessed cousin who used to ogle you when you were teenagers?”

  “Affirmative.” Janet took another long swallow of her dirty martini and popped one of the blue cheese-stuffed olives into her mouth. “These are delicious.”

  “And then what did you do?”

  “I told him that he was a jerk and walked to my parents’ house.”

  “I meant did you tell Lisa that she’s an idiot for setting you up with him?”

  “I did tell her to stop setting me up on dates.” Janet reflected on that morning’s conversation with her boss. In all the years she had known Lisa, it was the firmest stand Janet had ever taken with her.

  “And what did she say? Did she at least apologize?”

  “In her own way,” Janet answered evasively. As annoyed as she was with Lisa, she was not in the mood for bashing her. After all, the two of them were bound by many ties. Lisa was still her boss, and Janet was going to be the maid of honor in Lisa’s wedding to Paul Bostoff.

  “And how are the wedding plans progressing?” Katie asked, as though reading Janet’s thoughts. “Has she got you running around on a twenty-four-hour itinerary, catering to her every whim?”

  “Look, Lisa can be unreasonable at times, but I’m not going to complain about the wedding. She has asked me to be her maid of honor and I agreed. Let’s leave it at that.” To indicate that this topic of conversation had been closed, Janet bit into another olive, but the sight of the dark-blond man by the bar made her choke.

  “You okay?” Katie pushed a glass of water toward Janet.

  Janet thankfully gulped the soothing liquid. “Don’t look now, but there’s a guy from work by the bar.”

  “Is he cute?” Katie whispered conspiratorially, her eyes darting to the very place where Janet told her not to look.

  “Don’t stare at him!”

  “Geez, relax, will ya? There’s a huge crowd – I don’t even know which one he is.”

  “The tall one, in a blue shirt.”

  “The James Dean look-alike with the slutty blonde?”

  “Yeah, that’s him.”

  “He’s cute,” Katie pronounced her verdict after a momentary deliberation. “What does he do?”

  “He is in IT.”

  Katie nodded approvingly. “A solid and practical profession. I’m getting sick and tired of dating lawyers. They are the most self-absorbed and narcissistic bunch of men on the planet. Litigation lawyers are the worst – so pompous. Don’t ever date a lawyer.”

  “Oh, I think I’ve learned my lesson on that one,” Janet replied, wondering if Katie had forgotten about Alex.

  “I’m sorry, Janet. I wasn’t thinking,” Katie instantly caught on. “But back to the present. What’s the story with the cute IT guy?”

  “No story.” Janet finished the last of her drink. “We chat at work sometimes.”

  “We chat at work sometimes? Come on, Janet, it’s me you’re talking to. Do you like him or what?”

  Janet nodded. “He is kind of cute, but….”

  “But what?”

  “Dating at work could be complicated, and I don’t want to complicate things too much now,” Janet added quickly. She certainly had plenty of things to be anxious about at work without having to worry about Dean Snider.

  “Things are always complicated—that’s the nature of life. Sounds to me like someone is being a chicken.”

  “Sounds to me like someone is being overly nosy,” Janet shot back, already regretting having mentioned Dean. “Besides, he’s clearly not interested in me: as you can see, he’s got a date.”

  “A date, please! I’m sure it’s some girl he just met at the bar. Speaking of which, there’s an interesting development.” Katie’s eyes darted toward the bar again.

  Even though she knew she should not, Janet let her eyes follow the direction of Katie’s glance.

  “Looks like our Romeo has a rival.” Katie grinned.

  Janet could not resist a smile. It was amusing to watch Dean Snider being forced out by a middle-aged Burt Reynolds look-alike. Apparently Dean’s date preferred older men, and even though Janet did not have any plans for herself and Dean, she was glad to know that at least for tonight he too was single. Unless, of course, he managed to pick up another girl, which given Dean’s good looks and the fact that the night was still young was quite a viable possibility. Oh well… Janet stole one last glance at Dean to wish him a mental good night, but she had not been quick enough. Their eyes locked, and Dean’s hand rose in a wave of recognition, as he started to advance in the direction of their table.

  “Quick! Look the other way,” Janet whispered. “He is walking over here.”

  “Oh, goody.” Katie rubbed her palms excitedly. “This is going to be fun.”

  A moment later, Dean was smiling at her with that charming smile of his, his blue eyes shining with a mischievous spark. “Janet – fancy meeting you here!”

  Janet noticed how different he looked outside of the office. He had taken his glasses off and loosened his tie – insignificant alterations, but somehow his whole demeanor channeled a sexy and mysterious vibe.

  “Dean, what a surprise!” Janet’s voice sounded much more eager than she had planned. “Do you come here often?”

  “Not really. Just stopped by for a drink after work, and now that I’ve run into you, I’m glad that I did.” Dean smiled.

  Before Janet could think of an equally flirty remark, Katie cut in, “Your date gave you the slip, huh?”

  “You could say that.” Dean grinned, not flustered in the least. “I think she prefers older men,” he added.

  “I love a man who can be a good sport about being rejected,” Katie approved.

  Wishing Katie would be quiet, Janet made a belated introduction, “Dean, this is my friend, Katie Addison.”

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Katie.” Dean smiled. “May I join you ladies for a drink? I’m in need of recompense after tonight’s fiasco,” he added. The tone of his voice, however, was anything but embarrassed; on the contrary, it was playful.

  He is used to randomly picking up girls at bars and replacing them just as frequently, Janet thought, concluding that it would be best for everyone involved if Dean would just leave, but before she could voice her opinion, Katie interjected.

  “By all means.” Katie motioned to an empty chair. “You don’t mind, Janet, do you?”

  “No, of course not,” Janet conceded, darting an askance glance at Katie. No doubt Katie thought she was doing Janet a favor, but she would not be the one having to face Dean at work day after day. From now on, when it came to coworkers, Janet wanted to keep things purely professional.

  Dennis settled into a chair next to Janet. “Drinks are on me. What will it be?”

  “Whiskey sour for me and a dirty martini for Janet.” Katie beat Janet to the punch, nixing her plan to avoid alcohol. Dean’s proximity was inebriating enough. What with his charming smile and baby-blue eyes, Janet’s head was already swimming.

  “Excellent choice.” Dean signaled for the waitress and placed the order, adding a vodka martini with onions for himself.

  “So, Dean, it sounds like you’re a man of the world, and I was wondering if you could help Janet and me settle a little dilemma we’ve been struggling with.”

  Dean leaned in closer, propping his elbows on the table. “I don’t know about the man of the world bit, but I’ll give it my best.”

  “What’s your opinion about dating coworkers?” Katie asked innocently.

  Suppressing the urge to strangle her friend, Janet kicked Katie’s foot underneath the table.

  “Excellent question.” Dean nodded. “An issue that has been raised numerous times by various media sources, including such
paragons as Marie Claire and Cosmopolitan.”

  Katie raised an eyebrow. “You read Cosmopolitan?”

  “I read all kinds of magazines,” Dean deadpanned back.

  Mercifully, the waitress arrived with their drinks, and Janet prayed that the subject of the conversation would be forgotten, but her hopes were fruitless.

  “As I was saying,” Dean continued, taking a drink of his martini, “numerous opinions have been voiced on the subject, but none of them were conclusive. My personal view is that one never knows when Destiny might knock on one’s door, so I say, if you hear your Destiny knocking, open the door,” Dean concluded with a sidelong glance at Janet.

  Really? Janet thought, could this guy get any smugger? First he invites himself over to our table and now he’s making suggestive innuendos. But, then, she could not very well blame him for the latter since Katie had pretty much invited Dean’s remark with her impertinent question.

  “Well said.” Katie nodded. “Don’t you agree, Janet?”

  This had done it. “I think that it’s important to look who’s at the door first, or risk opening one’s door to a burglar.”

  “Ah, but the search for love implies danger. Without risk, reward cannot be gained.” Dean grinned.

  “And on that note I’m going to leave you two.” Katie rose from her chair completely ignoring Janet’s outraged look. “I’ve got to prepare for a deposition tomorrow.”

  Deposition? Janet nearly spurted her drink through her nostrils. Katie would not know how to depose a witness to save her life. Her legal work had always been behind the scenes, but she clearly was intent on playing Cupid tonight, and there was no stopping her.

  “You’re a lawyer?” Dean asked.

  “Guilty.” Katie smiled.

  “I didn’t know you transferred into litigation, Katie.” Janet gave her friend a pointed look.

  Katie waved her hand. “It’s just happened – I’m helping out a new partner. Well, gotta run. Dean, it was a pleasure meeting you.”

  “Very nice to meet you, Katie.”

  Janet nodded silently as she watched Katie take her leave. From her behavior, one would think that Katie was an expert on dating, but as far as Janet knew, her friend’s love life situation was about as dire as her own. Speaking of which, now that she had been involuntarily set up with Dean Snider, she had to think of something to say. She could not very well just sit there like a fish.

  “So, how do you like working at Bostoff so far?” Dean asked.

  “It seems that every time you see me, you ask me this question,” Janet pointed out, immediately regretting her snippiness. The guy was just trying to make conversation. “It’s all right,” she added hurriedly. “I’m still feeling my way around things, but it’s coming along.” She smiled, thinking that she was putting up a very good front.

  Dean’s eyes lingered on Janet’s as though evaluating the sincerity of her answer. “Good.” He nodded. “I’m glad.”

  “How do you like it?” Janet asked.

  “Oh, you know, aside from hating my boss and my work, everything is peachy. I’m just kidding,” Dean added. “It’s a job – it pays bills.”

  “Yep. That’s the important part.” Janet finished the last of her martini. She decided to abstain from eating the olives in front of Dean.

  “Aren’t you going to eat the olives? That’s the best part.”

  “That’s my favorite part too,” Janet confided, picking up the toothpick with the olives skewered on it. “Would you like one?”

  “Sure.” Dean nodded. Then he did something Janet did not expect him to. He took her hand into his and directed it to his mouth, leaning in to scoop an olive off the toothpick.

  Janet blinked. This was certainly forward of him.

  “Aren’t you going to eat your olive?” Dean asked, as though nothing was the matter.

  Why the heck not? Janet thought. She did like the guy, and for all she knew, she might not be employed by Bostoff that much longer anyway, which made the issue of Dean being her coworker irrelevant.

  Chapter 17