CHAPTER FIVE
THE NEXT MORNING, Tessa smiled and waved at Eric as he walked past her office door. As soon as he disappeared from view, she leaned over her desk, nudged the door shut with an outstretched hand and picked up the phone. “Answer,” she ordered Jamie as the phone rang, but it went to voice mail after one ring. Granted, it was only 9:00 a.m. and she wouldn’t normally call him this early, but he hadn’t returned her call last night. She didn’t bother leaving a message. She’d already left three. Jamie was probably passed out in some girl’s bed while his phone beeped helplessly from the pocket of his jeans.
She cursed him for his ability to so easily forget his problems, even as she fondly considered how she’d tried to forget her problems last night. Damn Eric for interfering. Her brothers were seriously cutting into her private life. But at least Eric had suspected nothing more than a girls’ night out when she’d strolled in the night before.
Before she could pick up the receiver again, the phone rang and Tessa snatched it up. “Hello?” she said desperately.
“Hey, Tessa! It’s Wendy. I got your message about the break-in.”
She liked the temp waitress a lot, but Tessa still slumped in her chair at the sound of her voice. “Oh, good. I know you haven’t worked in a few months, but your information was still on the computer.”
“I already called the credit agencies to check in. Like you said, an alert has been placed on my name and Social, so I think it’s all good.”
At the sound of male voices, Tessa craned her neck to see through the glass window in her door. Eric was talking to Wallace in the hallway.
“You need anything else?” Wendy asked.
“Oh, are you still planning to fill in for us in the barroom this summer?”
“Absolutely. It’s just that this course load is killing me this semester.”
“No big deal. You’re welcome back anytime, Wendy.”
She hung up just as Wallace started gesturing in angry jerks. Not an unusual scenario. The man was a genius, and like most geniuses, he was temperamental. Deciding that Eric would be occupied for a few minutes, Tessa dug out Roland Kendall’s number and tried his office one more time.
“This is Tessa Donovan again. Is Mr. Kendall available?”
“I gave him your message yesterday, Ms. Donovan. I’m sure he’ll be in touch soon.”
Tessa stuck her tongue out at the receptionist’s voice, then nearly bit it off when the office door snapped open. Tessa threw the phone into its cradle before she realized it was Jamie.
“Oh, Jamie. Thank God. Why didn’t you call me back? If you want me to talk to Monica, then—”
“Did you go out with Luke Asher last night?” Jamie demanded.
“Um … What?”
“Eric said you were out with someone last night and you wouldn’t say who. Was it Luke?”
“That’s none of your business.”
“It was him, wasn’t it? I saw how you two were looking at each other.”
“Jamie, seriously. I’m twenty-seven. Cut it out.”
“No, I’m serious, Tessa. Stay away from Luke Asher. He’s bad news.”
Utterly confused, Tessa leaned to the side to look past Jamie to the hallway beyond. “Am I being Punk’d? I thought that show was canceled a long time ago.”
“Damn it!” he shouted. Tessa jumped an inch out of her chair when his fist thumped her desk.
“Sheesh. Calm down.”
“I won’t calm down. He’s not someone you should be hanging out with, much less dating.”
“Oh, really? Who is? A priest? Luke’s a friend of yours. If he’s good enough for you to hang around with, why not me?”
“Because I’m not a woman.”
Tessa rolled her eyes. Her brothers didn’t like her hanging out with any male over twelve and under eighty. “We just went out for dinner. We didn’t participate in a Roman orgy, I swear.”
Jamie’s face flamed red immediately. “Tessa!”
Sometimes she felt she was living in the middle of a Jane Austen novel. “I like him, all right? Just leave it alone.”
He crossed his arms. “I like him, too. He’s a great guy. How else would he have gotten so much action in college?”
“Oh, really? As much as you?”
He raised an eyebrow in silent acknowledgment.
Tessa cleared her throat. “That was in college.”
“Sure it was. And his current nickname is Magnet.”
“Magnet?”
“Yes,” he bit out. “As in Babe Magnet. I heard one of the other cops call him that when he wasn’t listening.”
Tessa tried not to smile. She could understand the reputation. The man had a lethal attraction.
“And,” Jamie continued, pointing his finger at her, “have you not noticed the fact that his partner is currently pregnant up to her damned ears?”
“So?”
“So, the kid is his, Tessa. Jesus. Pay attention.”
She felt all the air leave her body in a whoosh, and it took all of her little-sister outrage with it. “What?”
“He knocked up his partner, and now he’s letting her swing in the breeze.”
“How do you know that?”
Jamie spread his arms out in her small office. “I’m a bartender, Tessa. I hear things.”
“So …” Tessa’s mind flailed. That was why he’d been so awkward when he’d talked about his partner. “So maybe she’s the one who wants him to keep his distance.”
“I don’t give a damn what the reason is. His life is all fucked-up, and you don’t need any part of that.”
“Like my life is so un-fucked-up right now?”
“Watch your language,” he muttered.
Tessa closed her eyes and tried to call up the patience of a nineteenth-century noblewoman.
“And,” Jamie continued in a lower tone, “it’s my life that’s messed up, not yours. By the way, what the hell did you post on Twitter last night?”
“Nothing. It’s not important. Just …” She made a frantic gesture for him to close the door. Jamie shook his head, so she slapped his arm as hard as she could. He glared at her, but closed the door.
“Give me Monica’s number,” she hissed.
“No.”
“Are you going to call her back?”
“I don’t know.”
“Come on! I can’t get in touch with her dad and we need to find out if he knows!”
“He