Suddenly Sexy (20 page)

“Those pictures are going to eventually lead back to you. It’s how I found you.” She sat on the edge of the desk, allowing her dress to hike up high. If the glittering of his eyes was any indication, Jeremiah was enjoying the view.

“All this for Mercedes’s job?” he asked.

“What can I say? I have champagne taste.” She leaned forward, letting Jeremiah get a good look at her breasts. It made her skin crawl, but she tried not to show it. “I want everything life has to offer, but I don’t want to work that hard.”

“A girl like you shouldn’t have to,” Jeremiah murmured as he placed his hand on her bare thigh.

Julie didn’t flinch. Instead, she smiled in response and she had a spurt of pleasure when she heard Mercedes’s jealous growl. Julie straightened and let her foot sway gently. Just as she expected, Jeremiah’s attention was drawn to her legs.

“And I’m happy to give you the pictures in exchange,” Julie said casually. “Even better, I can delete them.”

“You haven’t shared them with anyone else?” he asked mildly.

“Julie…”

She heard Eric’s warning, but she was already aware of the trap. If she didn’t play this right, she was going to wind up in a hospital or in a hearse.

“Stop calling me Julie,” she said to Eric over her shoulder. “I’m not going by that name anymore.” She flattened her hands on the desk and leaned back. It made her open and vulnerable to Jeremiah and her nerves were shredded. “I think I’m going to go by Sapphire.”

Eric groaned. She couldn’t tell if he understood her signal. She was about to make her move and go all Sapphire on Jeremiah.

“Sapphire,” Mercedes said with a snort.

“Tell me, Sapphire…” Jeremiah rose from his seat and placed his hands on either side of her. He towered above her, trapping her on the desk. “Did you share the pictures with anyone else?”

She smiled but her stomach roiled. She needed him closer, but she couldn’t take it anymore. Julie curled her hand into a fist and punched him hard in the nose.

She saw the spurt of blood as he howled. Jeremiah staggered back and covered his nose with his hands. Just as she had hoped. Julie took advantage of his exposed position and kicked him in the groin with her pointed heels.

As Jeremiah doubled over, she sensed that Mercedes was rushing to attack. Julie jumped off the desk and slammed her stiletto heel on Jeremiah’s foot.

The man crumpled to the ground. She whirled around to take on Mercedes, but she wasn’t behind her. She was trapped in Eric’s headlock. Julie raised her fists above her head and did a little victory dance.

“Where did you get that move?” Eric asked as he struggled to keep Mercedes still.

“I got an A in my self-defense class,” she said proudly. She sounded out of breath and the adrenaline was rushing so fast in her body she felt a little light-headed. “I told you my shoes were my secret weapon.”

“I can’t believe you did that,” Eric called out as he kept Mercedes from grabbing the Taser on the floor. “Boone is twice your size.”

“Excuse me?” Julie was offended. “Try three times as big.
At least.
”

He tightened his grip on Mercedes as she squirmed and kicked. “Don’t forget to—”

“Frisk and immobilize him. I know.” She watched Mercedes fight back. If Eric didn’t watch out, the blonde was going to sink her teeth into his arm. “Need help with that one?”

“I think I can manage.”

Julie walked over and picked up the Taser. She pushed the button and exclaimed with excitement when it crackled. “Can I at least use this on her?”

“What?” Mercedes yelled.

“No,” Eric said firmly. “I don’t let you use a gun. Do you really think I’m going to let you play with electric voltage?”

“She used it on me,” Julie reminded him as she twirled the gun with her trigger finger. “Fair is fair.”

“Don’t you dare!” Mercedes tried to get away from her.

Julie pointed the Taser at the blonde. “Then lie on your stomach. Keep your hands where I can see them.”

Mercedes reluctantly followed her orders, cursing under her breath.

“And no talking,” Julie added. She gave a quick look at Eric. “What do you think of my skills now?”

“Keep swinging that thing around and you’re going to Taser yourself,” he said.

“Funny.” She saw Eric frown. She wanted to rush over and comfort him, but she knew he was too proud and would decline her offer. “I’m going to tie up Boone and Mercedes. You can call the police.”

He cradled his arm and gritted his teeth. “Why do you get to have all the fun?”

“Because you’re the sidekick.” And because he was in no condition to help. Not that she would tell him that.

“Now I’m back to being a sidekick?”

She saw a sneaky movement from the corner of her eye. She immediately pointed the Taser at Mercedes. “I’m really looking for a reason to use this.”

Mercedes sagged against the floor and surrendered.

“I really need to get me one of these,” Julie told Eric.

He groaned. “God help us all.”

* * *

T
WO DAYS LATER
J
ULIE
strode into the offices of Gunthrie Security & Investigations. She felt like a different person. Bolder. Stronger. She showed that she could take care of herself—and her sidekick—when the occasion called for it. More important, she proved it to herself.

She walked to her cubicle and stared at the jumble of uniforms. Her sunny attitude took a dip. She may have helped uncover an act of corporate espionage, but her job description hadn’t changed.

As much as she adored Perry and enjoyed working with her colleagues, she didn’t think she could keep being Uniform Girl. She wanted action and adventure and that meant leaving the cubicle. If it meant she would have to find work elsewhere, she would. It wouldn’t be easy, but she was ready to move on.

Though there were some things from which she couldn’t move on. Julie glanced at Eric’s office and saw the door was closed. She wasn’t sure if she should go and knock. He had been guarded, very aloof, after they had called the police.

At first she thought it was because he was trying to stay strong when he was in so much pain. But she hadn’t heard from him since they’d given statements. Her call went unanswered and none of the excuses she came up for him erased her uneasiness.

“Oh, hi, Julie.” Asia looked up from an opened file and stopped at her cubicle. “Perry’s called a meeting.”

“This early in the morning?” She looked around and noticed everyone else was walking into the conference room. Julie dropped her purse in the bottom drawer of her desk as Asia waited for her. “So…” Julie tried to hide her smile. “How was your weekend?”

“Not as exciting as yours.” Asia playfully swatted her with the file folder.

“Oh, you heard?” she asked modestly. “Gossip travels fast around here.”

Asia linked her arm with Julie’s. “I’m sorry I didn’t believe you,” she said. “I really thought…”

“It’s okay, Asia.” She patted her friend’s hand. “You were right to question it.”

“I should have believed you,” she said as she shook her head with regret. “I should have been there to back you up!”

“Next time,” Julie promised. She opened the door to the conference room and stumbled to a halt at the threshold as she was greeted with confetti and cheers from her coworkers.

Julie spluttered the confetti out of her mouth as she stared at the banner and balloons. “What’s all this?” she asked.

“Julie!” Perry greeted her with a big hug. “Thanks to you, we have a very lucrative security contract with Z-Ray Studios.”

“How? Why?” She didn’t expect anything like this. She didn’t look that far ahead and had only wanted to figure out what had been going on.

“Z-Ray is very appreciative and Eric finalized the deal last night,” Perry explained.

“That’s great.” Her heart did a funny flip at the mention of Eric. She looked around the crowded room but didn’t see him.

“And,” Perry continued, “because you saved our bacon with your perseverance and instinct, you are moving out of your cubicle and moving into Eric’s old office.”

“Old office?”

Perry nodded. “You can move in right away. Eric’s medical leave is over and he returned to D.C. late last night.”

“He left?” Her heart stopped. No, he wouldn’t do that without saying goodbye. Without promising to keep in touch. Not after all they’d been through. Not when they had shared something special.

Perry turned to the group. “Let’s get the guest of honor some coffee cake.”

“Eric left?” she repeated weakly.

“That reminds me…” Perry snapped his fingers and reached into his pocket. He pulled out an inner-office envelope. “Eric says congratulations and he wanted me to give you this.”

She grabbed the brown envelope from Perry’s hands and clutched it to her chest. She had no idea what was inside, or what he wrote. Her heart was galloping as she made her way to a corner and cautiously opened the heavy envelope.

Julie—forget everything I said that morning. You will make a great detective. I’m glad we’re on the same side.

E

She tipped the contents into her hands. Her cell phone slid out along with a gold cigarette lighter and Swiss Army knife.

Julie bit her lip as she stared at the gift. He remembered her joke about how a detective only needed a cell phone, lighter and pocketknife. It should make her smile but she was breaking inside.

Because she knew what he was saying with the gift. She would be fine on her own. He didn’t need to watch over her anymore.

It was what she’d always wanted. His respect. His belief in her abilities. But it wasn’t enough. She was greedy. She wanted the whole dream.

15

Two months later

J
ULIE FLINCHED WHEN SHE
heard the ball crashing against the pins. She looked up just as Asia exclaimed with joy and punched her fists high in the air. The electronic beep and whoops of the overhead monitor declared a strike.

So that was what a strike sounded like. Julie yawned and drank the last of her warm soda. She never did like bowling.

“Congratulations,” Julie said as she discreetly removed the earpiece and slipped it inside her purse. “Looks like you won. Again.”

“I wonder how high I could really score,” her friend said as she looked at the scoreboard. “It was so tempting to let the ball fly tonight.”

“That would have ruined our decoy assignment. Those guys would have been too intimidated to talk to us. You know, that’s why I threw only gutter balls.”

“Oh, is that why?” Asia said in a teasing tone. “That was so great of you for swallowing your pride and taking one for the team.”

“Just do me a favor and erase my bowling score from the video feed. I don’t want to see that showing up during the highlight reel at the next Christmas party.”

Asia smiled. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Julie stretched and rubbed her hand against her back. She had spent the past few hours bowling and flirting with a bunch of suspected cheaters. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I miss the nightclub.”

Asia patted Julie’s arm. “That nightclub is so boring. It’s the same people dancing to the same songs and giving the same pick-up lines.”

“Maybe.” She bent down to take off her rented shoes. “But at least I get to wear stilettos at the nightclub.”

“That’s true. And who knew those bowling shoes were so dangerous. When you slipped, I thought you were going to slide down that alley. You recovered well.”

“Thank you.”

“I kept scuffing the soles of my shoes after that. But don’t I look cute? What do you think of Bowling Asia?” She raised her arms and twirled like a model on the runway.

“Adorable. Only you could rock that shade of yellow.” Her friend wore baggy jeans and an oversized bowling shirt that hid their brand-new video feed, but it couldn’t diminish her glamour. The bowlers on the other lane, including Julie’s target, had been showing off to catch Asia’s attention.

“We should pair up again,” Asia said as she gathered her shoes from under the plastic chair. “I forgot how fun it was to be out in the field.”

“I’m all for it.” It was different and had its own challenges, but she liked it. She and Asia worked in tandem, but she missed working with Eric.

Eric. She needed to stop thinking about him. He had never called or emailed. Their fling was officially over.

“Everyone is meeting up at the pizza place across the parking lot,” Asia said. “Come celebrate with us.”

She’d rather curl up in bed and pull the covers over her head. “Thanks, but I’m not really in the mood.”

“Julie, I insist. You did a super job as a decoy. Because of you, we got some great video of Wade cheating on his girlfriend.”

“Wade would have stuck his tongue down any
woman’s throat. It just happened to be mine.” She shuddered from the memory. Either decoying was getting easier or their targets were getting slimier.

“I thought he was a creep even before he offered you money for sex,” Asia confided as they walked to the main desk with their rental shoes.

“Can you imagine what he would have pulled if I had worn my Trashy Julie alias? You would have had to use your kung fu on him.”

“With pleasure.” She placed the shoes on the counter and looked at Julie’s white T-shirt, faded jeans and knee-high boots. “Which alias are you?”

“No alias.” She didn’t feel as if she needed to hide under a sexy disguise. “It’s just me.”

“I approve,” Asia said with a smile. “You’ll have to let me wear those boots for my date tomorrow.”

Asia wanted to borrow her clothes? That surprised Julie. Maybe she had kept some elements of her sexy aliases in her everyday clothes. “Sure, but I don’t think we’re the same size.”

“I’ll squeeze into them.” Asia slung her arm over Julie’s shoulder as they walked by the arcade. “Now tell me the truth. You’re not getting bored with decoying, are you?”

“No.” She should have realized that her general lack of enthusiasm was becoming noticeable. “I don’t want to do it forever, but I like having a chance to brush up my skills.”