was attracted to him and he asked me to the mayor’s party.”
Eddie’s tired eyes lit up like a flashlight.
“You made contact? That's great. Much better than following him around and compiling information."
“It doesn’t feel great to me. It feels. . . sneaky. “
“PI’s are supposed to be sneaky.”
"What if Grady doesn’t deserve to have somebody snooping around in his business? What if he really is a good guy?”
“Then you’ll prove it.” Eddie scratched his chin. “Look at it this way. You’ll be doing him a favor. Proving he’s a good guy.”
She sighed, knowing she couldn’t tell her cousin everything. “Why do I get the feeling you know exactly what to say to get me to do what you want?”
“Because I do. And because you’re way too good a person to leave me in the lurch.”
“You don’t understand, Eddie.” Tears welled in her eyes and she wiped one away. “I’m afraid I’ll make a mess of this.”
“Hey, I just watched you get rid of a client so you could have it out with me yourself. I know what you can do.”
She sniffed. “What’s that?”
“Anything you put your mind to.” He kissed her on the forehead. “All you've got to decide is what to put it to."
CHAPT E R THIRTEEN
The ladies’ room on the first floor of Seahaven City Hall smelled of antiseptic cleaner and hand soap.
Lorelei wrinkled her nose and sprayed a cloud of perfume into the air, then walked with her arms outstretched through the fragrant mist.
There. Now all she needed was for the perfume to live up to its name.
Eau de Vixen.
Just in case perfume alone wouldn’t do the trick, she crossed to the mirror above the sink, puckered her lips and applied another layer of hot-pink gloss.
She ran a brush through her professionally tinted blond hair, pinched her cheeks and powdered her nose. Next she inched down her already low-cut blouse.
The mirror didn’t provide a view of the lower half of her body but she already knew she had exceptional legs. Long and lean with good calf definition. She’d showcased them by wearing a bright pink miniskirt.
She smacked her shimmering pink lips together and grinned at her reflection.
“You better be ready, Wade Morrison, because here I come,” she said aloud.
A few minutes later, finding the Tax Assessor Clerk’s desk vacant, she sashayed through the open door of his office.
Wade Morrison sat slumped over his desk, so engrossed in his paperwork that he didn’t look up. He held up a finger to indicate he’d be with her in a minute, and a corner of Lorelei’s mouth twitched with amusement.
His pale-yellow dress shirt wasn’t so much ugly this time as boring. She couldn’t say the same for his tie, a yellow-and-blue abomination that he wore loose around his neck.
With his glasses perched on his nose and his dark-brown hair a disheveled mess, he looked like a first-class nerd. Especially because the calculator at his fingertips and those creases in his forehead probably meant he was puzzling over some math problem.
She shuddered at the very thought. Thank goodness high school graduation had delivered her from the evil of math.
Wade didn’t seem to feel the same. His complete and unwavering concentration made her wonder what it would be like to be the recipient of his full attention.
She vowed to find out.
Before she could do that, she needed him to notice her. Especially since he seemed to have forgotten he’d heard somebody arrive.
“Hey, there, handsome,” she said into the silence.
His head jerked up, causing his glasses to slip even farther down his nose. She read slack-jawed shock on his face and had to clamp her lips to keep from laughing. He was too cute.
“Remember me? Lorelei Palmer from the mayor’s party?”
“I thought. . .” He pushed his glasses up his nose, cleared his throat and tried again. “I thought you were my clerk."
“Do I look like your clerk?”
He cleared his throat again. “Not hardly.”
He folded his
Eddie’s tired eyes lit up like a flashlight.
“You made contact? That's great. Much better than following him around and compiling information."
“It doesn’t feel great to me. It feels. . . sneaky. “
“PI’s are supposed to be sneaky.”
"What if Grady doesn’t deserve to have somebody snooping around in his business? What if he really is a good guy?”
“Then you’ll prove it.” Eddie scratched his chin. “Look at it this way. You’ll be doing him a favor. Proving he’s a good guy.”
She sighed, knowing she couldn’t tell her cousin everything. “Why do I get the feeling you know exactly what to say to get me to do what you want?”
“Because I do. And because you’re way too good a person to leave me in the lurch.”
“You don’t understand, Eddie.” Tears welled in her eyes and she wiped one away. “I’m afraid I’ll make a mess of this.”
“Hey, I just watched you get rid of a client so you could have it out with me yourself. I know what you can do.”
She sniffed. “What’s that?”
“Anything you put your mind to.” He kissed her on the forehead. “All you've got to decide is what to put it to."
CHAPT E R THIRTEEN
The ladies’ room on the first floor of Seahaven City Hall smelled of antiseptic cleaner and hand soap.
Lorelei wrinkled her nose and sprayed a cloud of perfume into the air, then walked with her arms outstretched through the fragrant mist.
There. Now all she needed was for the perfume to live up to its name.
Eau de Vixen.
Just in case perfume alone wouldn’t do the trick, she crossed to the mirror above the sink, puckered her lips and applied another layer of hot-pink gloss.
She ran a brush through her professionally tinted blond hair, pinched her cheeks and powdered her nose. Next she inched down her already low-cut blouse.
The mirror didn’t provide a view of the lower half of her body but she already knew she had exceptional legs. Long and lean with good calf definition. She’d showcased them by wearing a bright pink miniskirt.
She smacked her shimmering pink lips together and grinned at her reflection.
“You better be ready, Wade Morrison, because here I come,” she said aloud.
A few minutes later, finding the Tax Assessor Clerk’s desk vacant, she sashayed through the open door of his office.
Wade Morrison sat slumped over his desk, so engrossed in his paperwork that he didn’t look up. He held up a finger to indicate he’d be with her in a minute, and a corner of Lorelei’s mouth twitched with amusement.
His pale-yellow dress shirt wasn’t so much ugly this time as boring. She couldn’t say the same for his tie, a yellow-and-blue abomination that he wore loose around his neck.
With his glasses perched on his nose and his dark-brown hair a disheveled mess, he looked like a first-class nerd. Especially because the calculator at his fingertips and those creases in his forehead probably meant he was puzzling over some math problem.
She shuddered at the very thought. Thank goodness high school graduation had delivered her from the evil of math.
Wade didn’t seem to feel the same. His complete and unwavering concentration made her wonder what it would be like to be the recipient of his full attention.
She vowed to find out.
Before she could do that, she needed him to notice her. Especially since he seemed to have forgotten he’d heard somebody arrive.
“Hey, there, handsome,” she said into the silence.
His head jerked up, causing his glasses to slip even farther down his nose. She read slack-jawed shock on his face and had to clamp her lips to keep from laughing. He was too cute.
“Remember me? Lorelei Palmer from the mayor’s party?”
“I thought. . .” He pushed his glasses up his nose, cleared his throat and tried again. “I thought you were my clerk."
“Do I look like your clerk?”
He cleared his throat again. “Not hardly.”
He folded his
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