The Sex On Beach Book Club by Jennifer Apodaca Page A

special I was.” She dropped her eyes to the cup in her hand. “But once we were done with sex, he was fiddling with his laptop and talking about making it big as a radio personality. Like a Howard Stern kind of shock jock.”
    This time Holly did look at Wes. “Did you know this?”
    He shook his head. “First I’ve heard of it.”
    Holly wrote down notes and asked, “How was Cullen going to do that?”
    She compressed her lips in thought, then said, “He didn’t really say. Just that he had big plans.”
    Wes asked, “What did he say specifically?”
    â€œJust what I told you, and he kept paying more attention to his laptop than me.”
    She tried to make sense of it. “What was he doing on his laptop?”
    â€œDon’t know. I asked him, but he just laughed, looked at his watch, and said it was time to get me back to my car. He shut down his laptop and we got dressed and left.”
    That struck her. “Time? Like he was meeting someone?” she said thoughtfully, not expecting an answer. She added that to her notes, and included questions about what was on the laptop, and how Cullen had planned to become a radio shock jock. Then she looked up. “What about friends? Do you know who Cullen’s friends were?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œFamily?”
    â€œNo. Wait, I remember he said something about his family being in Oregon. And maybe something about a cousin in Southern California, or used to be in Southern California…something about a cousin, I think.” Tanya shifted in her seat and set her cup on the desk. “I really was stupid thinking it was love. If we’d been in love, I would have known these things.”
    Holly met her gaze. “You’re not the first. What do you know about the other women he dated in the book club?”
    â€œBridget, Maggie, Nora, and Helene.” Tanya’s blue eyes sparked in anger. “He made a point of telling me they had all wanted him. But that he wanted me. Shit.” She turned away.
    Cullen had told Tanya what she wanted to hear, Holly thought. He’d used her to get sex. It was an old story that got repeated way too often, because it worked.
    â€œSo do I start today?”
    Holly blinked. Hell. “Don’t you have to find a place to stay? Maybe pick up some clothes from your house? Get a divorce lawyer?”
    â€œYeah, I guess I do.” Tanya got up. “Will you call me later and let me know when to start?”
    Holly nodded. “Thanks for your help.” She walked Tanya to the door and held it for her while she left.
    Then she turned back to deal with Wes. He sat on the end of her desk watching her. He looked good wearing a pair of jeans and a brown and green shirt. But that didn’t change her annoyance. She stalked up until she was toe-to-toe with him. “What do you think you’re doing hiring her for my office? I don’t want help!”
    He reached out, took hold of her shoulders, and tugged her toward him. “You’re welcome.”
    Holly brought both her hands up, using her forearms to push his arms away and break his hold on her. “Knock it off.” She was not going to be pushed around. Just his touch lit the barely banked sexual fire. Holly could handle that. But somehow Wes made her feel outgunned, as if she didn’t have the defenses to handle him. “We don’t have time for sex, Brockman.” She paced off the distance between her desk and the kitchenette. “We have a murder victim who appears to be a jerk, and he pissed off a group of women. Where’s the murder weapon?” She went around her desk and pulled her cell phone out of her purse. She found the name in her address book and hit send. “Seth, any word on the murder weapon?” She’d asked Seth to charm information from Detective Rodgers.
    He answered, “No murder weapon, but I do have something interesting.