Jessie kicked the wall with his bare foot at least three times, then slammed the door, opened it, and slammed it again.
I jumped as he kicked the door again then slumped to the ground in a hunched position.
“Jessie?”
“Not now, Isla.” His voice was barely a whisper.
I made my way to him and knelt down only to have him hold up his hand for me to stop. Hurt, I backed away.
“Vanessa must have seen the show last night.”
I flinched at the words, because yes, it had been a show, but both of us knew there was more hanging in the balance than that, we were completely blurring the lines. And he was an equal participant in that.
“And?” I prodded.
He stood and faced me. “You fucking said this would go away? Let’s get engaged, you said, let’s get in the spotlight, show our love!” His voice rose until I was backing away from this man I didn’t know, this angry, out-of-control man. “She must have gotten pissed that people were switching sides, because she just dropped a bomb . . .”
I was afraid to ask.
“She said we separated because I asked her for an abortion. Yup, said my career was more important, it’s all over the news.”
“But it’s not true!” I could kill that woman. “She was the one who got the abortion without telling you.”
Jessie narrowed his gaze on me. “Specu-fucking-lation. Isn’t that what you said? People would rather root for my downfall than my success, and she’s just made sure I’m never coming back.” He wiped his face. “Shit.”
My first reaction was to cry.
My second was to get even.
Head held high, I walked to him. “I’m a PI, this is what I do, Jessie. I’ll get her confession, I’ll expose her lie.” I crossed my arms. “All you gotta do is let me.” Anxiety filled my chest at the thought of more work, but if I didn’t do this, we’d lose everything. Everything.
“You’re the reason I’m in this situation.”
“So let me continue to help you out of it,” I fired back. “We’re already getting married, what’s a little espionage on top of that?”
“You’re going to spy on her and your ex? The one you hate? The one who would recognize you in a heartbeat if you got too close? Not to mention Vanessa?”
I shrugged. “I’m a professional, of course I’m not going to spy as me when necessary, but with Vanessa, why not spy out in public? She’s already suspicious.”
His eyes narrowed. “You’re serious?”
“Engaged by day.” I flashed him my ring. “Spy by night.” I held up my hand like I was swearing an oath. “What do you say?”
He stood and crossed his arms, staring me down before saying, “You should have been an army general.”
I grinned. “Thank you.”
“Wasn’t a compliment.”
“Yeah it was.”
He snorted and then opened his mouth, his face looked sad, repentant, but I kept my emotions on lockdown, I didn’t want his apology. I’d already seen how quick he could turn against me.
Our two hours. Those were ours.
But that wasn’t life.
And this wasn’t reality.
“I’m going to go visit my aunt and then head to work. I’ll text you later and we can have a powwow and make a game plan with Blaire, alright?”
He frowned. “Look, Isla, I’m—”
“See ya.” I flashed a smile I didn’t feel and fled the house. I drove across town to Aunt Betsy’s retirement home.
When I pulled in, I was fighting tears.
By the time I made it to her apartment, they were streaming down my face. I knocked on the door.
She jerked it open. “You bring coffee?”
“No.” I sucked my tears back in.
She shrugged. “Take off your shoes.”
I tossed them to the side and walked to the living room, where she had a pot of tea and two cups already on the table. “Sit.”
The plastic on the couch made a comforting noise as I sat and faced her. She grabbed the plastic-covered remote and clicked down the volume. “Why are you crying?”
I shrugged. “It’s a long story.”
“Does it have anything to do with that man?”
The way she said man almost sounded like a curse.
“Uh, yeah.” I was wearing my ring on my left hand. She’d be hurt if she thought I got engaged without her—then again, her favorite show was TMZ, so she probably already knew. “We’re kind of engaged.”
She sniffed. “And you did not tell your Aunt Betsy you were making sex with him because?”
“We aren’t ‘making sex.’” I used Jessie’s dumb air quotes.
She slapped my hands down. “You engaged, Isla! Of course you are making the sex! That is what you do! You lay down, you put your legs high into the air, and—”
“Ohhhh, Goo-Poh, we had the sex talk years ago.”
“I refresh your memory!” She seemed so excited about it that I almost felt bad.
“Don’t need help in that area.” I pressed a hand to her thigh. “But thank you.”
“Remember not to talk about the moon at night.”
“Goo-Poh.” Did I mention she was a bit . . . superstitious?
“And no talking about money.”
I sighed.
“Does he sleep on the left or the right?”
I had no clue! I guessed. “Left?”
She muttered something in Chinese and spat on the floor.
“You’ve never acted like this with my other boyfriends.”
“Pah, those other boyfriends were boys, not men. This man has muscles that could make any woman turn her head.” She grinned shamelessly. “Our ladies spent days talking about that man’s muscles, the men asked him what he drank for sperm count. He said he didn’t have to!”
I burst out laughing.
“Isla, are you hearing? He doesn’t have to! Because his sperm count is so high he simply lives his life in the great blessed way a man should! He will reproduce like a rabbit!”
Great. Visual.
“Actually, that’s not why I’m here.”
“It’s not a Tuesday.” She nodded solemnly. “When you texted, I worried he hurt you during a sexual act. Kids these days, they go too fast, the injuries from dog—”
“Goo-Poh!”
“It is too deep?” She used her hands.
I closed my eyes.
“Don’t be such a prude,” she harrumphed. “If he tries that, you simply add a bit of an arch to accept his blessing into your womb.”
“Got it. Accept his blessing.” I was leaving this room scarred. Changed. With horrible visuals of her closed eyes and hand movements.
“It’s not real,” I finally admitted. “The relationship. We’re doing it because we were caught in a bad position that would affect my business and his reputation. Nothing was happening between us when we got engaged.” She scoffed like she didn’t believe me. “But it looked bad.”
“It looked bad because something almost happened,” she pointed out. “The press saw something—it reported what it saw, what everyone saw who clicked on the YouTube video.”
There was a video? “What do you mean?”
“Guilt.” She threw her hands up. “And a shiver.”
“A shiver,” I repeated. “As in I was shivering?”
“Oh, not that kind of shiver, the kind where the body reacts in such a powerful way it pulses, it moves. Both of you, you were pulsing, your auras were glowing. Oh, something was about to happen, just think—you could be pregnant by now!”
“Joyful day,” I said in a deadpan voice. Pregnant by a guy who doesn’t love me. Every girl’s dream!
She smacked the back of my head. “Don’t mock the blessing.”
“Sorry.” I held up my hands. “I just needed some advice, things are . . . complicated.” She sighed like she knew exactly what that meant. “And I think I’m falling for him, but today—”
“Say n
o more.” She patted my knee. “Let me get my tonics.”
“No!” I jumped to my feet. “I don’t need tonics or oils, your love teas. I just need advice.”
“No.” She went to her cupboard and clasped her hands, then cracked her neck. “You need my tea. It was passed down four generations.”
I loved her. I did. But tea wasn’t going to fix the growing attraction I had for him, and the way he shut me down earlier was proof that he wasn’t on that page. Embarrassment washed over me. I’d literally sucked him, touched him, I’d done things I’d never even done with Wayne because I never wanted to.
And I was still enemy number one.
Apparently, sex changes nothing.
Still hated.
“Here.” Goo-Poh handed me a small pouch of tea leaves. “Just use two. If you use more than two, there’s no telling how much it will affect him.”
“Goo-Poh!” I gasped. “I’m not drugging him!”
“Do you want him or not?”
I chewed my lower lip. Was I really considering this craziness? Yes, I wanted him. Yes. I was finally admitting I wanted more of him, more of his talk, more of his kisses, more of everything.
But I wanted it to be real.
Not brought on by her horny tea.
“Thanks.” I was about to tuck it in my purse, but I frowned. “It’s labeled Headache Tea?”
Betsy just shrugged. “I have to hide the good stuff.”
“Right.” I leaned in and kissed her cheek. “Thank you. I’ll give this to him.” Over my dead body. “And I’ll think about what you said.”
“Yes.” She pressed her hands against my cheeks. “You accept his blessing,” she just had to add. “Wide.”
“Yup!” I backed away slowly. “As wide as I can go!”
“That’s my girl.” She was way too excited about my sex life. I left her apartment not feeling any better about our situation but determined to make it right.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
JESSIE
“What crawled up your ass and died?” Colin did his next set of cleans and dropped the barbell, giving me a scowl as I bent over and started my set.
I heaved the bar up and dropped. “Everything.”
“Huh.” He watched me complete my set, then walked over and faced me, his eyes probing, searching. Damn him. “Because last time I saw you, you looked . . . what’s the word I’m thinking of? Oh, there it is, satisfied.”
I gritted my teeth.
“Content.” He shrugged. “Spent.”
“That’s enough,” I growled.
“And now defensive.” He held his hands up. “Just saying, is the honeymoon already over?”
“Hilarious, since it hasn’t even started,” I griped, adding another ten pounds to each side. Isla had texted me about an hour ago asking to meet after work, and already I was feeling irritated.
Not at her.
It was all self-inflicted.
I’d snapped.
Projected.
Blamed.
I’d done all the things I hated doing.
And it was directed at her because she was available, close, making me feel vulnerable, making me want, making me fucking terrified.
“I think she’s good for you,” Colin said, interrupting my thoughts as I started my second set.
“Oh?” I finished my last five and dropped the bar. “Why the hell would you say that?”
Colin stared me down, waited a few seconds, and said, “You don’t even realize it, do you?”
“Realize what?” I wiped my face with my towel and tossed it to the ground.
He punched me lightly on the shoulder and winked. “You’re wearing a red shirt.”
That was it.
That was all he said.
I moved my attention to the mirror.
And there it was.
Plain as day.
A shirt I didn’t even realize I’d grabbed out of my dresser rather than my closet and put on when I was pissed and ready to start my workout.
Not black.
Not white.
Not gray.
Red.
Fucking red.
Like her dress.
Like her lips.
Like I imagined her nipples would be.
I closed my eyes and hung my head.
“Don’t sweat it.” Colin came back and tossed me a dry towel. “Baby steps, just try not to keep all this sexual frustration pent up for too much longer, you don’t want to end up biting her tongue, knocking a tooth out, or, God forbid, impaling the poor woman.”
“One. Time,” I gritted out.
“Impaler, impaler!” He cupped his mouth and kept chanting.
I chucked my towel at his face and tried to hide my smile. “One time, and I was young.”
“Exactly, you had your small stature on your side.”
I rolled my eyes and lifted. “Don’t know what you’re talking about, I’ve always been huge.”
“Attaboy,” Colin whooped. “Just be careful, the last thing I need is you hurting Isla and keeping me from sex because she needs a good cryfest with her best friend, Outlander, and a pint of ice cream.”
I grunted. “Noted.”
“I’m serious, Jessie.”
“Me too.”
And oddly enough.
I meant it.
Chapter Thirty
ISLA
Jessie picked up one of my black duffel bags and started rummaging inside. “Duct tape, night-vision goggles, Tasers, a paintball gun? Why the hell do you need a paintball gun?”
I wrenched the gun away from him and placed it back in the bag. “You’d be surprised.”
He pointed to one of the briefcases I kept for special clients. “What’s that for?”
“That’s my baby.”
“You keep a baby in a briefcase. Nice.”
I rolled my eyes, went over to my pride and joy, and typed in the code. “No, this baby goes with me in order to see if a baby’s possible.” The suitcase opened and Jessie peered in, his eyebrows shooting to his hairline. “Impressive, right?”
“Isn’t this what Dateline uses to shame hotels into cleaning better?”
“Exactly.” I picked up my black light and did a little jig. “But I use it to find sperm.”
“Ah, from PI to a sperm hunter, should have known.”
“Easy there.” I pointed it at his crotch. “Any confessions?”
“Yeah, I haven’t jacked off today, so you aren’t going to find shit on me.”
“Jacking off doesn’t produce shit, poor baby.” I patted him on the shoulder. “Missed that in health class, did you?”
He glared and jerked the black light out of my hands, then pointed it at me. “And you? Anything you’d like to confess?”
I held my arms out. “Clean.”
The lights weren’t off, so he wouldn’t be able to use it anyway, but he must have trusted me enough to set it down and keep searching through our gear. “Cameras, car jacks, ninja stars? Is that really necessary? When will you ever need a ninja star?”
Blaire walked into the office with Colin. “Summer of 2016 threw a ninja star at a perp’s calf, took him down in one fell swoop right along with the pictures he stole from our office. Lives saved. Badge earned.”
I gave her a high five while Colin and Jessie stared at one another in confusion. Jessie spoke first. “Who are you people?”
“The best,” I said with pride. “So if anyone’s going to take down your skank of an ex-wife, it’s going to be us.” Mainly me. I was done with her messing with his life, and I was done taking the blame for her inability to tell the truth.
I grabbed the paintball gun and pulled the trigger. It fired into Jessie’s thigh.
“What the hell!” he roared, stumbling backward. “Why are you shooting me?”
I winced. “We don’t store them loaded, sorry, accident?”
“Accident, my ass.” He rubbed his thigh. “I’m getting a welt!”
“
Don’t be such a baby.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Be honest, did you shoot me on purpose?”
“Nope.” I shrugged. “But had I known it was loaded, you betcha.”
“Relationships,” Colin said cheerfully. “It’s like Christmas every day.”
“Hear, hear,” Blaire said awkwardly.
“Not married yet,” Jessie just had to say as he pried the gun from my hands and set it back in the duffel bag. “So what’s your brilliant plan?”
“Divide and conquer.” I grinned. “We’re two days away from the Academy Awards, Wayne’s up for Best Director and Best Picture. We camp out in Hollywood at their hotel, follow them, get Vanessa drunk enough and pissed enough to confess.”
“And how exactly”—Jessie crossed his arms in doubt—“are we going to accomplish all of that?”
“Bait.” I grinned wide and held out my hand. “You get to be bait.” He took it, and I whispered, “Welcome to Dirty Exes.”
“May the force be with you,” Colin muttered under his breath.
Chapter Thirty-One
JESSIE
Well. At least I could admit one thing.
Since my fake engagement to Isla, life certainly wasn’t boring, not even a little bit. My point was proved when I adjusted the earpiece in my right ear then reached for my coffee.
I’d been at the Hollywood Hilton on several occasions.
And I’d never been bugged on any of them.
Let alone trying to set up my ex-wife to make her look like the villain she was.
“Are we sure about this?” I said under my breath.
“Positive.” Blaire’s voice came over the earpiece loud and clear. “The staff is going to send her out by the pool to relax after her massage, a drink will be brought to her table with a note that compliments her and points her gaze to you.”
I shuddered. “Great.”
“Hey, that’s what bait does! You reel them in, and then we pounce.”
“Why isn’t Isla bait?”
“She’s bait’s date!” Blaire laughed. I heard Colin snicker, which made me roll my eyes.
“Shhh, she’s coming.”
I waited for another snarky remark and got nothing, apparently they were all business when they needed to be.
My body rippled with tension as I saw her figure across the pool. She snapped her fingers at one of the towel attendants as he laid everything down to her specifics. My body felt like it had something crawling all over it when she gripped his forearm, leaned up, and whispered in his ear.
Dangerous Exes (Liars, Inc. Book 2) Page 12