And the past included yesterday or even an hour ago.
Josh tapped the pencil faster. He liked how her brain worked. ‘You told me once to do my homework.’
She looked sheepish. For the commander’s benefit, no doubt. Josh knew it wasn’t for his.
‘So I did,’ he said. ‘I looked up Luxxor’s NAICS code. That’s the identifier you provided to the government when you set up your company.’
Her foot began to swing just a little. ‘I know what it is.’
‘You listed Luxxor under “all other personal services”.’
‘Yes, that sounds right.’
He narrowed his eyes. He’d asked her before, but she’d avoided the question. How far was she going to let him go here? ‘That code covers a lot of things. Bail bonding services, shoeshine services, social escort services, wedding planning, dating services …’
Her breaths came a bit faster, and she lifted a hand to tuck her hair behind her ear.
It was the strongest tell she had. He was getting close to something important.
‘Which one would you say describes Luxxor best?’ he asked.
Time drew out, thinning as it pulled, until Josh was sure it would snap. He watched her steadily, holding her gaze. Holding his breath …
She folded her hands atop the table. ‘We’re a high-end escort service, although we recently branched out into the dating arena as well.’
The eraser of Josh’s pen thudded against the table, and his breath left his lips in a soft puff. She’d answered, and from the feeling in his gut, she’d told the truth.
Or part of it.
He cleared his throat and gave his head a small shake. Seriously? She’d made him jump through hoops for months, and then she’d just laid it on the table for him?
‘You admit that Luxxor is an escort service?’
‘It’s legal,’ Phipps said.
Nina lifted an eyebrow. ‘The government wouldn’t provide a NAICS code for it if it wasn’t.’
Josh leaned forward. He couldn’t help it; he’d caught the scent of blood. ‘Can you clarify just what those services entail, specifically as regards the escort side of your house?’
Phipps turned in his chair and rested his arm atop its back. It was a casual pose that told Josh they’d worked this out beforehand. The back of his neck prickled. He didn’t like being toyed with or used.
Nina shared a look with her lawyer before nodding. ‘Of course. We provide escorts who accompany clients to events. Not everyone has a significant other, but society is not kind to single people. Some are too busy or too awkward to find plus ones on their own. We fill that need, among others.’
‘Like?’
She shrugged casually. ‘We supply seat fillers for televised performances at the Kennedy Center. We even provided dinner guests for Congressman Hewitt’s Superbowl party when he didn’t have enough to fill the seats at the table. They went as couples.’
She cast a look at the commander. ‘The congressman agreed I could share that.’
When she faced him again, she tilted her head. ‘We’re under strict confidentiality clauses, as you might understand.’
Josh watched her silky hair sway. Oh, he understood. He understood exactly what was going on here. He shifted in his chair.
They were going to get into it.
‘And what does Ms Hart do for the company?’ he asked.
Nina unclenched her hands and spread her pink-coloured fingertips across the table. ‘She’s an escort.’
He could see just how much it cost her to admit that, but he kept going. ‘An escort whom Senator Gunderson hired?’
Phipps turned towards the table again, not so casual after all. ‘This is strictly confidential information. If it gets outside these walls, it could affect careers and reputations.’
‘Hasn’t it already gotten outside these walls?’ the commander responded. He wasn’t sitting as comfortably in his chair any more either.
Josh focused on Nina. The byplay was distracting, and she’d managed to pull inside herself once again. He couldn’t let that happen. He wasn’t going to let her hide from him any more. ‘What was it that Gunderson hired Ms Hart to do?’ he pressed.
She lifted a hand. ‘In the past, he paid her to accompany him to certain events. They attended a rowing match at the Potomac Boat Club, an Oktoberfest celebration and a Capitals hockey game, among other events, I believe.’
‘You remember pretty well.’
She hooked her hair behind her ear, and her brown eyes sparked. ‘Because I pulled the contracts.’
Josh sat straighter in his seat when Phipps reached for his briefcase again. You had to be kidding him. They hadn’t.
Oh, but they had.
He looked at Nina incredulously when her lawyer pulled out a stack of papers.
‘Again, I’ve gotten permission from the senator and his lawyer to show these to you – only for the purpose of clearing up this wretched misunderstanding.’
Josh’s pencil was weaving its way through his fingers. ‘His lawyer, Brody Haynes?’
The muscle in Nina’s temple twittered, but she didn’t answer.
She looked cool and collected, but there was a lot going on beneath the surface there. Josh could feel the waves of tension buffeting him.
He was more than willing to ride it out.
‘May I see those?’ He wanted to see just how far these people went in their little games of pretend.
Phipps slid the paperwork across the table. Josh skimmed through the contract terms on one and slid another to the commander. A thunderous expression had settled onto his boss’s face.
‘May I?’ Nina asked. ‘I think I know what you need to see.’
She gestured towards the contract Josh was reading. Why not? He rolled his hands away until they were face up on the table. Her hands weren’t quite as steady any more as she flipped through the pages. Finally, she pointed out a clause to him.
‘No physical contact is allowed.’
‘Unless mutually acceptable.’ He continued reading.
Suddenly all he could think of was the kiss they’d shared – the one he’d just seen on a glossy 8x10. That physical contact had been mutually acceptable – at least until she’d gotten scared. He lifted an eyebrow at her, and her flawless skin flushed. Would that have been allowed under the contract?
She touched her earring. The tension in the room was nearly singing. She could feel the vibrations as well as he could.
‘No sex is allowed,’ she said, her voice suddenly hoarse. ‘It’s clearly stipulated.’
He nodded as he read the pertinent clause, but he tilted his head. ‘And is this the only contract you have?’
The pink flush in her cheeks drained out, and Mr Phipps nearly hurt himself leaning forward across the table. He snatched back the contracts and stuffed them into his briefcase. ‘That’s not a fair question. Every contract is different, based on negotiations.’
‘So you’re saying that Genieve broke the contract?’
Nina’s eyes popped open at that, and a corner of Josh’s lips tugged upward.
There ya go. He’d finally gotten under her skin.
‘Because from what I saw on the video the reporters took that night, she and the senator crossed that line.’
‘No! That’s not what we’re saying at all!’ She re-crossed her legs the other way and dragged her hand through that sleek waterfall of hair. When she glared at him, the other side of Josh’s mouth curled upward. Smoke nearly poured from her ears. She wasn’t so in control now.
‘These contracts were in the past,’ she said briskly. ‘It’s how the senator and Genieve met. They then decided to see each other exclusively.’
Josh suddenly knew exactly what that word meant, and it wiped the smile off his face.
He rubbed the back of his neck. ‘So Genieve no longer acts as an escort for you?’
Nina hesitated. She’d missed that chink in her well-constructed story.
‘She�
��s acted as our receptionist.’
For about a week. He knew all about it.
Josh stared at his notes. Darien’s words came back to him. Don’t ask questions you don’t want the answers to …
And what the hell was he doing anyway?
He blinked, and his notes came into focus. He’d cleared this case. They still didn’t have any evidence against Luxxor. If he asked much more, Nina and her mouthpiece would clam up. As she’d said, there was nothing illegal about being an escort service.
He was at a dead end with what he had.
And where was it that he really wanted to go?
The answer hit him like a ton of bricks.
‘Fair enough,’ he said. His brain started recalculating his path like a GPS. ‘Let’s talk about Luxxor itself. You started it eight years ago?’
She frowned, and her forehead rumpled. ‘Yes,’ she said cautiously.
It was a matter of public record. He knew. He had the piece of paper in front of him. He flipped to another. ‘Before that, you were an account executive in the financial sector.’
She rested her arms on the armrests of her chair again.
‘A rising star for how many years was it?’
‘Do we really need to count?’ she snapped
He leaned back in his chair. ‘You’re younger than me, Nina.’
She was prettier, too, but they were both grizzled veterans here. Too grizzled. So very tired … and lonely …
‘Why did you leave there?’ he asked.
Her fingers curled around the ends of the wooden armrests. She’d caught on to what he was doing, and she didn’t like it. He’d figured out the what, but he wanted to know the why. The new path of questioning wasn’t for the file, it was for him.
‘A star can’t rise for that long,’ she finally said. ‘It burns out if it can’t ascend.’
Her tone was steady, but he could hear the frustration, the hurt and the fury that were still there. After so many years …
She rolled her shoulders and forced them to relax. ‘It’s called the glass ceiling, Detective. I smacked up against it. Hard. So I decided to start my own company.’
‘In the escort industry.’
‘It seemed appropriate.’
Yeah, he supposed it did. The good ole boys wanted to screw her over? She’d grab them by the balls right back.
Her gaze dropped at last, and she evaluated her nails. ‘I discovered I’m a good entrepreneur.’
From what he’d seen of her office, she was better than good.
Josh couldn’t believe it; he was proud of her. He’d known the woman was complicated, but put all her pieces together, and she was a regular Rubik’s cube.
He sighed and ran a hand over his head. She certainly had him going in a million different directions.
A chirping sound suddenly invaded the room, and Mr Phipps pulled out his phone. He flipped the message aside, but sat straighter in his chair. ‘Did you have any more questions about Genieve or Luxxor’s business dealings with Senator Gunderson?’ he asked. ‘I want to make sure we’ve cleared up this subject.’
Josh watched Nina under heavy eyelids. ‘I think I’ve got all the facts straight.’
‘Yes,’ the commander agreed. ‘This has been very informative. Thank you for coming down to help us put a lid on this.’
Phipps nodded appreciatively. Everyone in the room understood what that meant. The case was closed, and none of the information they’d shared would be finding its way to the press.
‘Well, then, we’ll be leaving.’ Phipps pushed back his chair and helped Nina with hers. ‘My client has had a very long, trying day – in no small part due to this department.’
Commander Jones nodded. ‘Thank you both for coming down.’
Josh rose from his chair and made it to the door in time to hold it open for Nina. He caught her gaze as she walked past him. ‘I’ll be in touch.’
Her cheeks went pink again, and she touched her necklace.
‘You can direct your communication through me,’ Phipps said.
Oh, no. Josh didn’t think so. He needed to communicate with her in person.
* * *
It took him way too long to get away from the station. He had to wrap things up with the commander, and then keep an eye on what happened between Jones and the captain. There would be fallout from this, but he’d be damned if any of it was going to fall on him. Higgins was the one who had to watch out.
The bastard.
He’d found the wannabe at the vending machine in the breakroom, and they’d had a little man-to-man chat. More than one cop dropped by for a Snickers, but they’d turned and gone the other way when they’d seen what was going down. The kid was still raw and defensive, but he was shaking in his shoes. His cockiness was gone, but Josh hadn’t taken it easy on the guy.
He’d gone after Nina.
He wasn’t going to do it again.
The station had still been buzzing when he’d left. Alvarez had all kinds of questions, but Josh hadn’t felt like answering. The case was closed. Gunderson had been put to bed – by a red-hot redhead and the DC Metro Police.
His dealings with Nina were personal now.
He was bold enough to park in her guest spot in the garage beneath her building. He’d thought about stopping by Luxxor, but his gut told him she’d be here. He planned to be here for a while, too, but doubt passed through his head when he pushed the buzzer for the penthouse.
She was still a puzzle to him, one he hadn’t fully solved.
He waited for an answer. One thousand one, one thousand two …
He braced his hand on the wall by the stupid thing and glared at it. Patience was one of those virtues that came and left him. He was just about to squash the call button again when he heard her voice.
‘Hello?’
‘It’s Josh. Let me up.’
He stared at the speaker, waiting for a slicing denial … a laugh … anything … He shifted and stared at the ground. Come on, Nina. One thousand one, one thousand …
His head snapped up when the buzzer sounded.
He grabbed the door before she could change her mind, and let himself in. He nodded at the doorman, but his heart was pounding as he pushed the call button for the elevator. It was another merry one with sing-song dings, but the thing was so slow, it nearly made him lose his mind. At last, it opened on the top floor.
His heart rate spiked, and the tension in his neck and shoulders grabbed. He stepped out into the empty lobby and turned towards Nina’s apartment.
She was waiting. She held the door halfway open, using it as a shield, and watched him warily from behind it. She was still wearing that classy white dress and those killer shoes, but she looked softer. More approachable. His gaze locked with hers, and her big brown eyes nearly slew him.
He stopped and waited.
Her fingers around the edge of the door. Those pink fingernails looked innocent and dangerous all at once. Without a word, she stepped back and pulled the door open wider.
Hallelujah.
He strode down the hallway, hooked an arm around her waist and was kissing her by the time the door banged shut behind him.
‘That was hot as hell,’ he said against her lips.
‘I know,’ she said as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
He pushed the door shut with his foot, just to make sure, but then remembered the senator. He’d learned a thing or two from this case. Still keeping her plastered against his body, he reached back to turn the dead bolt. It clicked, sealing them inside. Alone. Together.
He looked down at her, just to make sure.
Her eyes were clear, and that soft mouth of hers wasn’t giving him any lip.
He’d fix that.
Tightening his hold on her, he lifted her almost out of her shoes. He kissed her again, and began walking towards her bedroom. He knew where it was, but he’d never been inside.
All he needed to find was a bed.
Done.
>
He set her down beside the big, puffy mattress and finally came up for a breath. ‘You tricked me into clearing you.’
Her breaths weren’t steady as she slid her hands down to his chest. She didn’t pull away, but spread her fingers wide. She had to feel his heart pounding.
Her eyes were all innocence as she looked up at him. ‘Are you angry?’
‘Pissed as hell,’ he confessed. ‘It was brilliant, but why did you come down there like that? You put yourself way too far out on a limb.’
Her lashes lowered. ‘They came after you.’
His heart skipped a beat. He caught her by the chin and made her look at him again. ‘What?’
‘They took you off the case.’ She rose up onto the toes of those high-heeled shoes and kissed him hard. ‘I didn’t like it.’
Well, damn.
If Josh had had any misgivings left about getting involved with her, she’d just kicked them into rubble. They were going to get involved. Right here, right now.
He closed his eyes as the kiss went on and on. He’d been wanting to do this again for weeks. The one taste she’d given him had haunted him. He fisted his hand in her hair and settled the other low on her back. He was already hard against her belly.
He’d been hard for her for months.
He found the zipper of her dress and slid it down. Her skin underneath was warm and smooth. He rubbed her back, skin against skin, and she let out a little hum.
‘You drive me so crazy,’ he growled, nipping at her lower lip.
‘Don’t ask me any more questions,’ she said as she began pulling at his tie.
‘Uh uh. I’m not promising that.’ He pulled her dress off her shoulders and pushed it down. He was going to ask her plenty of questions. What positions did she like? What side of the bed did she sleep on? Where did she want to go to dinner with him? Where had she learned about baseball?
He had more. He had a thousand things he wanted to know about her, but all the questions vaporised from his head when her dress fell to the floor, and he looked at her.
‘God, Nina.’ He could barely breathe. He stroked her from hip to ribcage. He doubted he’d be able to keep his hands off her ever again. ‘You’re perfect.’
And she was. She was petite, but her body was tight. She stood before him in a lacy, snow-white bra-and-panty combo. Her breasts were high and firm, and her belly was long and flat. Her legs were sleek and toned, all the way down to those shoes.
Courting Suspicion Page 10