Stilettos & Scoundrels (17 page)

While this exchange was happening, Dirt jumped up from the table as if he’d been bitten. “Sorry to interrupt, but I need to get going,” Dirt said tersely.

“Hey, man…” Chris started to say then trailed off, as he too noticed the stormy expression on Dirt’s face.

“I thought you were going to stay and hang out for a while. You said you didn’t have to go to work until later. Just spot a criminal you need to catch or something?”
I
asked, confused
about
why he was sudden
ly
in a hurry to leave.

“Something like that,” he replied as his gaze traveled over
Cooper
. The air was thick with tension
as Dirt made it clear he
didn’t want to be around
Cooper
.
Cooper sneered as Dirt walked past him; the
feeling was mutual.
I noticed that Cooper wasn’t
surprised that Dirt was acting this way. “I’ll catch up with you later Pres, Katy.” With that,
Dirt
strode out of the restaurant.

“What was that all about?” Katy asked to no one in particular. “Dirt doesn’t usually act that uptight.”

“So
,
do you want to enlighten me
about
what just happened?”
I
asked
Cooper
, eyebrows raised.

“Not really,”
Cooper
said, blowing
me
off
.
Cooper had his issues with Dirt, issues
he wasn’t willing to share. “Hi
,
Katy, haven’t seen you in a long time. My stepmom says your salon’s fabulous.”

The way Cooper quickly
chang
ed
the subject
confirmed that
there was a story behind the tension between him and Dirt, though he clearly didn’t plan to talk about it. Little did he know
that
I
was an expert at getting information out of people
. I had my
ways
and he inspired me to consider some new
persuasive
tactics. That thought was putting my
hormones back into
overdrive. I took another sip of my
margarita to cool off.

“She should know. She’s in every week, one of my best customers. Thanks
, though.
Presley tells me you’re working for the Senator.”

“Not exclusively. My company,
Sands
Security Solutions, has provided security for him over the last six months. We do a lot of work with politicians.”

“What could he possibly need security in Alkon for? For that matter, anywhere? He’s a senator for God’s s
ake, not the President.” I
said.

Cooper
shrugged. “I’m sure he has his reasons. It’s not my place to ask
,
nor do I care, as long as I am paid.
But e
ven if I did know
,
I wouldn’t tell you
,
”
h
e teased, eyes twinkling.

“Why? Is there something called security-client privilege?”
I
asked sarcastically.

“No, it’s just none of your business, nosey. It’s called being a professional.”

I
just looked at him and shook my
head.

“What’s your opinion of the Senator,
Cooper
?”

“Not my place to judge.”
Cooper knew that giving me short, vague answers was driving me crazy. He was enjoying it, but also knew that it wouldn’t be professional to give me his honest opinion anyway.

“Surely you have an opinion. After all, you do work for him.”

“I don’t agree with everything he does, but he’s a nice guy. Besides, in my line of work, it’s important to stay objective
,
and again
,
as long as he pays me, I don’t really care what he does. As long as it’s legal.”

“Which don’t you agree with
,
Cooper
? The gamb
ling or the womanizing?” I
ignored his remark about wanting to stay a professional
. Maybe if I
asked enough questions
Cooper
would give an indication about the alleged gambling problem that Dirt
alluded to
. Instead, he just raised h
is eyebrows questioningly at me
and smiled in a really irritating way.

“So
,
have you provided security for
anyone famous? There has to be some juicy gossip you can tell us about a politician. Or have you ever provided security for an actor?” Katy interrupted,
obviously
changing the subject.
She had a feeling that
Cooper
and I
might be heading into an argument
,
and she always wanted people to get along.
Besides how cool would it be if he did know famous people?

I was enjoying my
self. This verbal sparring was
a bit
like foreplay
and e
ven bett
er than most of the foreplay I
had experienced
. At least with Rick anyway, I chuckled to my
self.
Men always seemed to be so impatient about it.

“Probably no one you’d recognize,”
Cooper
answered
Katy.

“Besides
,
Katy,
h
e wouldn’t tell us anyway. There’s that security-client confidentiality.”
I
couldn’t resist needling him.
I
could tell he was more amused than annoyed, which rather ticked
me
off.
I
wanted him to be annoyed
, but I
could tell
that,
under
his cool exterior,
there was something going on
with him
. He didn’t seem quite
so
relaxed. Maybe that was normal for him these days with his job
; maybe he had to be
vigilant and on edge. Or maybe it was still the conflict with Dirt.
I knew I
probably shouldn’t even be tryin
g to figure it out. What did I
know about him or his personality these da
ys? More importantly, why did I
even care?

As we
talked, Chris just sat there quietly
. I
almost forg
o
t he was there.
I
noticed he kept
checking
his watch furtively.
Eventually I asked,
“You got a hot date
,
Chris?”

“What?” He glanced up, startled, his brown eyes wary.

“You keep looking at your watch. Do you have somewhere to be?”

Chris just stared at me
as if in a trance or maybe he didn’t know what to say.

“Are we not interesting enough for you?”
I
teased.

“Yes. No. Well, actually I do need to go.” He stood up. “Catch you later
,
C
oop. Ladies.” He
turned and left
. Katy
frowned
as she watched Chris leave and
I
looked at
Cooper
. “Didn’t you two come together?”

“Nope. Just met up in the parking lot. I haven’t talked to him in a long time and thought we could catch up. Guess not.”
Cooper
shrugged.
Cooper
stayed and chatted with
us while we ate our
food.
I found my
self enjoying his company. Not only was he hot, but
he was
intelligent and funny as well. He told
us
some funny stories
about
clients he had worked with, of course ke
eping the names private, and I
found out that this was the first time in a long time he had been back to Alkon too. He said he had just recently started working with the Senator
and that this was his first
trip back
here
with him. He also opened up a little about the Senator
,
and while he didn’t come right out and say anything bad,
Cooper
conceded that
the Senator
wasn’t always
ethical
, b
ut obviously still legal.
I
had forgotten how fun
Cooper
was to talk to and
I had to admit
that was more important anyway, since
,
at some point
,
hotness wears off.
In high school, Brian
seemed to have the whole package
and
look
how he ended up. I
wanted so badly to ask him about that night and
about
what happened after
wards
. It was history, water under the bridge and all that, but seeing
Cooper again
, made many of those feelings of uncertainty rush back and
I
wanted an explanation.
I
vowed not to leave Alkon until
I
had a chance to
ask him
about it.
I
wanted to know.
I
also wanted to know why such a seemingly great guy was still single. Though
I
was sure he would reveal his flaws sooner rather than later,
Cooper
sure didn’t seem to have any now.

We
finished way too many margaritas a
nd said our
goodbyes
.
I
told Katy
I
would call her the
next
day
; Katy didn’t work on Su
nday and
we’d have a bit more time together. We
had decided
to
have a picnic and hang out
—c
atch up on more old times.
I
had hoped
Cooper
might ask to join
us
,
but the
idea was farfetched.
No luck
.
I
was sure he
had to be
incredibly busy
,
or he would have jumped at the chance to spend more time with
me
. Several thoughts race
d
through
my head, but I
pushed them out of
my
mind and just blamed them on too many margaritas clouding
my
good sense. It
was
no use getting all excited. He hadn’t shown that much interest. Yet
I
still giggled to
my
self at the thought.
As I payed the bill and walked out, I noticed the diner was almost empty. I checked my watch and saw that it was after one in the morning. The place had been closed for twenty minutes. Tomorrow was going to come early and my mom would be sure to wake me early, as usual.

I
headed back to
my
parents, thinking about the argument
I
had had with
Brian
the
night before.
I
still felt bad
about it
.
I didn’t have
any feelings for him, but
I
could have handled it better.
I
knew
I
acted like a bitch,
but his revelation
just took
me
by surprise. Maybe
I
should swing by his shop and talk to him. That would probably be the right thing to do
—
try to smooth thing
s over. There was no reason we couldn’t be friends. As I
started to turn right on Darby Street,
on
the way to Brian’s,
I
saw something
strange out of the corner of my
eye.
I
slowed down and pulled off to the side of the
tree-lined
road.

I
glanced in my
rearview mirror
and saw
something completely shockin
g. It was a train wreck, and I couldn’t look away. I wished I had a video camera. I
was looking at Helen Daniels, the Senator’s wife, and someone whose
face was blocked from my sight, sitting in a red car I
didn’t recognize
—
making
out. Like a couple of teenagers.
Holy crap!
No one would think she
was the one cheating
on Senator Daniels
.
Who the hell was she was with?