“Here’s the second step. Find out the reason behind your man’s actions. What’s he trying to hide? Some dirt you can live with, some dirt you can’t. Why is he with you instead of some other woman? Ask yourself that before you enter into any kind of relationship. Is he cheating? Using you? Be methodical and be brutal. And remind yourself that love has nothing to do with it.”
“So what does that leave a woman with?” Eve asked. Damn, she was good. Cole had been wondering the same thing.
“Back to camera two.”
A sexy smile tugged at the corner of Jessie’s lips. “Now, that’s where the beauty of the fling comes in. I highly recommend it. But like your investigation, you have to be systematic about it. There are rules.”
“This I’ve got to hear.”
“Get rid of anything casual. No quick phone calls just to talk. The telephone should only be used to set up times for sex.”
Cole’s penis hardened.
“Second, don’t sleep over. You’re not twelve.”
“Got it,” Eve said.
“Never engage your emotions, and last, but certainly not least, don’t ever let him see how much you want him.”
“Terrific. Thanks, Jessie.”
“Wind down and cue music. Close segment in five, four…”
Eve grinned into the camera. “There you have the rules for your next fling. We all have secrets, and it’s Jessie Huell’s job to discover what they are. Join us after the break.”
“And to commercial,” the director said, and took off his headset. “You found a good one there, Cole. I bet our viewers will be contemplating their boyfriend’s covert objectives, or their spouse’s hidden intentions for weeks.”
The smile left Cole’s face. He forced the speculation about Jessie’s cynicism from his mind. She was in the habit of finding dirt, and he was a man who’d lived in the world of sandstorms. Yes, she was intriguing. But she was also a woman of secrets. And most secrets were best left alone.
4
HAD SHE REALLY ANNOUNCED to the world she believed only in flings?
Jessie closed her eyes for a moment and sighed. That fling comment should definitely make her mother proud. Jessie could picture the scene at the Cuts and Such salon, where her mom never failed to get her hair back-combed every Saturday. Her mother would be innocently thumbing through a magazine under the dryer, when she’d be bombarded by the tsk-tsk-tsks of her friends. Each commiserating that she’d never make grandparent status with that kind of daughter.
But the fling observation wasn’t the best part of the ill-fated interview. Jessie had quickly followed her statement about flings by announcing—most emphatically—that all men were basically big lying liars.
That pretty much ensured no dates in the foreseeable future. She’d almost shouted that any man who asked her out would be practically fingerprinted. If she’d learned one thing in her line of work, it was that guys liked their secrets kept hidden.
Oh, well. It’s not as if anyone had been wearing a path in the grass to get to her, anyway. Plus, she’d have no time for dating, because her client list was sure to expand. After the show, she’d taken a cue from Eve and spent the next twenty minutes talking with audience members. Jessie had almost run out of business cards. That alone would be worth any embarrassment associated with appearing on Just Between Us.
Crew members, from the camera operator to assistant producers, congratulated her on her performance. When the receptionist handed her three pink message slips asking for return calls, the last of any I-said-too-much qualms vanished.
“That went great,” Penny told her, as she took off Jessie’s microphone before dashing away to do something else.
Jane came by with a small white box. “These facial wipes will take off the makeup if you want.”
Jessie shook her head, her blond hair flowing around her shoulders. Pretty different from her normal ponytail. “I think I’ll keep it on. Makes me feel a bit glamorous, and I can’t remember the last time I wore makeup.”
“Not even on a date?”
“Who’s dating, with my upside-down schedule? I’m hitting work at the time most people are heading to bed.”
Eve approached them. Jessie had always thought the woman was charismatic on TV, but in person she was stunning. “That was a great interview, Jessie,” she said.
Jessie immediately felt her sincerity. “Really? I was afraid I was coming off a little cynical.”
Eve shook her head. “The studio audience was loving it. I could have used you myself in the past. I’ve had a boyfriend or two who I know had a lot of dirt. Speaking of which, I heard you went to high school with Cole. Now, that’s some dirt I want to hear.”
“You knew Cole in school?” Penny asked as she returned to Jessie’s side. “Was he hot then, too?” She giggled.
Yes.
Jessie resisted the urge to say, “Hey, that wasn’t so long ago,” complete with a giggle of her own. Then she realized Eve and Jane were also looking at her expectantly. Her eyes narrowed as she glanced from one woman to the other. Now this was interesting. These ladies were really curious about Cole, which meant that he likely hadn’t changed much from the keep-everything-to-himself teen he’d been. And just like always, women wanted to know his secrets.
Jessie did know some of them. They were some of hers, too. But although she was in the business of spilling other people’s secrets, she kept hers under lock and key. “Uh…”
“Uh-oh. I can see we’ve made you uncomfortable,” Penny said. Then her face brightened. “Hey, you should go out with us tonight for our end-of-the-week stress down. Cole will be there.”
“End of the week? But it’s Thursday,” Jessie said, feeling confused.
“Right after the sign-off for the Friday show, Cole leaves town and heads over to his sister’s place to see his daughters.”
“So really, Thursday is our Friday,” Penny told her.
Jane nodded. “And that’s why Fridays are our worst shows.”
Eve shrugged. “Or our best. Depends, really.”
Both Eve and Jane laughed. Clearly this was an inside joke. But Jessie was getting really good information about Cole. Excellent. Now she had an explanation about where his kids were, and she’d avoided having to look through filed court cases. Those were the worst. If she had enough money—Wait a minute! When. When she had enough money to hire an assistant, poking through judgments would be the first thing reassigned.
Man, this was almost too easy. Jessie hadn’t even had to resort to the tools of the trade. Blank expression. Innocent-sounding questions. Where was the challenge?
Just then Cole came striding toward their group, looking far more relaxed than earlier, but still very, very sexy.
Hmm. Here was her challenge now. A little thrill ran down Jessie’s back. Little? Who was she kidding? Her whole body grew tingly. It was ready to take up the task at hand. Cole.
“Tell him you want to go to Club Octane,” Eve said, her lips twisting as if she were trying to hide a grin.
Jessie glanced toward him. She sucked in a quick breath, because the purposeful way he was moving in her direction reminded her of a dark gym when she was fifteen. High-school dance.
Oh, the agony and the angst of not being asked to dance. She’d spent thirty minutes with her back against the padded gym wall, the basketball net casting a shadow across her face. She’d stood