A Guilty Affair (15 page)

N
oah
was already at the office when Riley arrived a few minutes after eight o'clock.

To her immense relief, he was in a closed-door meeting with his brother and a client—which worked out perfectly for her.

She hung around the office long enough to return a few phone calls and finish some paperwork before making her escape, telling Janie she had a lot of errands to run and wouldn't be back until later that afternoon.

She spent half the day delivering documents to clients, conducting research at a local law school library, and sitting in on a civil court case that had an impact on one of their prospective clients. For lunch, she hooked up with an old friend and colleague from the
San Antonio Express-News
.

“What's this I hear about you working at Roarke Investigations?” Leticia Barnett demanded as soon as they were served their meals at an outdoor table nestled along the River walk. Lety was a petite, brown-skinned woman with beautifully dreadlocked hair that hung halfway to her waist and eyes the color of bittersweet chocolate. An award-winning investigative reporter for the
Express-News
, the two women had met when Riley left Houston and returned home to work for the local newspaper. On Riley's second day, Lety had taken her out to eat at the same restaurant they were now seated outside. Over lunch, they'd talked about being one of only a handful of black women in their college journalism classes, and had traded horror stories about tyrannical managing editors. They'd been friends ever since.

“Word spreads fast around this town,” Riley murmured, buttering a hot, crusty roll.

Lety snorted. “What did you expect? You're Riley Kane—beloved daughter of the San Antonio Police Department, hometown girl gone AWOL for three years. Of course it's gonna cause a minor commotion when you return home. Besides,” Lety added accusingly, “it's not as if
you
were going to tell me you were working at Roarke Investigations. Look how long it took you to give me a call to let me know you were back in town.”

Riley felt a sharp pang of guilt. “Girl, I'm sorry about that. I've been trying to get settled in and take care of some last-minute details for my grandmother's birthday party. Which reminds me, did you receive your invitation in the mail?”

“I sure did. And you know I wouldn't miss Florinda's seventy-fifth birthday bash even if the president himself was granting me an exclusive interview.”

Riley laughed. “Well, considering how you feel about the current President…”

Lety grinned and cut into her blackened salmon. “Stop avoiding my question. Why are you working at Roarke Investigations? I thought you were on sabbatical.”

“I am,” Riley said, absently twirling fettuccine around her fork. “But you know me. I can't just sit around the house for the next two months doing nothing. I'd go stir-crazy. When Janie Roarke offered me the job at the detective agency, I thought it was a great way to keep myself occupied and learn about the inner workings of the P.I. business, which I've always been curious about, anyway.”
A half-truth is better than nothing at all
, she mentally reasoned, suffering another stab of guilt when Lety nodded, seeming to accept her explanation.

“Have you done anything exciting yet?” she asked. “Staked out a motel room to catch a cheating spouse in the act? Gone on a high-speed chase to track down a deadbeat dad?”

Riley shook her head. “Nothing that exciting, I'm afraid. I've mostly been doing background checks on new employees and making a lot of trips to the courthouse.”

“Waste of your talent,” Lety pronounced indignantly.

Riley laughed. “No, it's not. The work I've been doing is just as essential to the business as anything else they do. And I'm learning a lot.”

“If you say so.” Lety speared another forkful of salmon and chewed for a moment, her eyes narrowed thoughtfully on Riley's face. “Another reason I was surprised by the news is that I couldn't see you voluntarily deciding to work with Noah.”

Riley kept her expression neutral. “Why not?”

Lety frowned. “You know why. Because you've never particularly cared for him.”

“That's not true,” Riley said, pausing with her fork halfway to her mouth. “I never said I didn't like Noah. He was Trevor's best friend.”

That seemed to be the refrain of the day.
He was Trevor's best friend, Trevor's best friend
.

And she'd slept with him.

“Maybe it's not so much what you did or didn't say about Noah,” Lety elaborated. “It was the way you were around him. Slightly uncomfortable. A little on edge. For example, I remember being at Trevor's birthday party and watching you go out of your way not to walk past Noah and the woman he'd brought as his date.”

Riley gave a dispassionate shrug. “So maybe I was trying to avoid
her
. I seem to recall most of us thinking she was a bit of an airhead. Whatever happened to her, anyway?” she asked offhandedly. “Did she and Noah date for very long after I left town?”

Lety snorted. “Of course not. You know that bimbo couldn't hold the interest of a man like Noah Roarke. Neither could most of the women he's dated since then. Although,” Lety said thoughtfully, tapping a manicured finger against her upper lip, “there
was
that one woman he stayed with for a long time.”

Riley was surprised by how hard her heart was pounding. “How long?”

“Several months—at least five, I think. Her name was Kimberly and she worked in the District Attorney's Office. Smart, really pretty. From what I heard, she was absolutely crazy about Noah and was just waiting for him to pop the question.”

Riley's throat felt inexplicably tight. “So what happened?”

Lety shrugged. “They broke up. According to what Kimberly told other people, Noah had ‘serious commitment issues 'and seemed to be holding out for a ‘perfect woman that doesn't exist.' As you can tell, she was pretty bitter about the whole thing. And who could blame her? Noah Roarke's quite a catch. He's caring, intelligent, has a great sense of humor, runs his own successful business. Not to mention that he's fine as hell.” She chuckled, shaking her head at Riley. “You're the only woman I know who seems to be immune to what a total package he is.”

Little do you know
, Riley thought, taking a sip of her white Zinfandel. She wondered what Lety would say if she knew Riley had spent the night making love to Noah, sobbing his name and doing unspeakable things with him.

“Anyway,” Lety said with a mischievous grin that made Riley wonder for a panicked moment if she'd read her mind, “I figure now that you're back in town, you can help a sista out.”

“Sure. With what?”

“Now that you're working closely with Noah, you can put in a good word for me.”

Riley stared at her in confusion. “You want to work at the agency?”

Lety laughed. “No, silly! Girl, you've been out of the game for too long. I wasn't talking about getting a
job
with Noah. I want you to hook me up with him.”

“What?”

“You heard me. I want you to get him to ask me out on a date.”

Riley shook her head quickly, maybe too quickly. “I can't do that.”

Lety scowled. “Why not?”

“Because I'm terrible at matchmaking. Just ask any of my old friends from college. Every time I tried to play matchmaker for them—which I'll admit wasn't often—it turned out to be a disaster.”

Lety grinned. “Well, we're not in college anymore, and I'm sure your matchmaking skills have improved since then.”

“Don't count on it.”

“Come on, Riley. You've known Noah for years, longer than you've known me. And even though you say you've never been close to him, you could definitely tell me what his likes and dislikes are, what he looks for in a woman and what turns him off.”

“Says who?” Riley sputtered.

Lety gave her a look. “He was your fiancé's best friend. Between what Trevor must have told you about Noah, and what you observed yourself, I think it's safe to assume you know him pretty well.”

“I wouldn't be too sure about that.” Noah Roarke was an enigma, a man she'd never understood or pretended to understand. Before kissing her senseless last week, he'd scarcely ever touched her. And now that they'd become lovers, she had a feeling he would remain a mystery to her. He, like her, probably regretted what they had done last night. He was too noble, too devoted to Trevor's memory, to make light of the transgression they'd committed. To cope with his own guilt, she could see him pushing her even further away.

That, she realized, was an incredibly depressing thought.

Lety was watching her carefully over the rim of her wineglass. “If you don't think Noah would be interested in me—”

“No, it's not that. It's just—”
The thought of him with another woman, any woman, makes me feel slightly ill. I know that sounds crazy, but it's the truth
. “Tell you what,” she said aloud. “I'll bring up your name to Noah. If he seems receptive, I'll start talking you up.
Subtly
, of course.”

“Of course,” Lety agreed with a sly grin. “But not so subtly that he doesn't get the message that I'm available.”

Riley chuckled, glancing at her watch. “Of course. Anyway, I've gotta head back to the office. It's getting late.”

“Yeah, me too,” Lety said, signaling for the waiter. She shook her head as Riley pulled out her credit card. “Don't worry about it. Lunch is on me.”

“Oh, girl, you don't have to—”

“I know, but I want to. Consider it a small homecoming gift. Besides, it's the least I can do for the woman who may be hooking me up with my future husband.”

Riley could only muster a weak smile.

Ten minutes later, as she drove back to Roarke Investigations, she realized that it had never occurred to Lety that Riley might be interested in Noah.

Which is as it should be
.

When Riley arrived at the office, she was unprepared for the sight of Janie, Kenneth and Noah huddled around Janie's computer in the reception area. All three glanced up in unison as she approached the large desk.

“Hey Riley,” Janie and Kenneth greeted her cheerfully.

“Hey y'all.” Her eyes met and held Noah's for a prolonged moment before sliding away. Striving for a normal tone that would mask the sudden quaking in her knees, she asked, “What're you guys watching on the computer?”

“Daniela e-mailed some photos from Italy,” Janie answered.

“Looks like she and Caleb are really having a nice time on their honeymoon,” Kenneth added.

“
Nice?
Try incredibly, unbelievably romantic. They're taking moonlit gondola rides in Venice, exploring lush, beautiful vineyards in Tuscany, touring ancient cathedrals and museums in Florence. Oh, look, here's a photo of Michelangelo's
David!
” Janie sat back in her chair and heaved a long, plaintive sigh. “All right, I admit it. I'm jealous.”

Chuckling, Noah clapped his brother on the back. “Looks like you'd better start calling travel agents.”

Janie tilted back her head and batted her long eyelashes at her husband. “Well, now that I think about it, our anniversary
is
coming up in August….”

Kenneth scowled good-naturedly. “Damn that Caleb Thorne.”

Smiling at the couple, Riley left the reception area and headed down the corridor to her office. She'd barely sat down behind the desk when Noah materialized. Dressed entirely in black—his surveillance attire, as she'd learned—he struck a negligent pose in the doorway, propping a shoulder against the door frame and folding his arms across his wide, muscular chest.

He didn't speak for several moments, his dark, hooded eyes roaming across her face as if he were trying to reconcile the coolly aloof woman before him with the passionate lover who'd writhed in his arms the night before. If Riley had anything to say about it, he would never see that side of her—the wanton side—again.

“Did you have a productive day?” he murmured.

She nodded briskly. “I took plenty of notes from the court hearing I attended this morning. I'll go over everything with you and Kenneth whenever you're available. Also, I typed up the minutes from Friday's meeting with Delilah Stanton and left it on your desk while you were out yesterday. Did you see it?”

“I did,” he said softly. “Thank you, Riley.”

She faltered for a moment, at a loss for words. Seeing her reaction, his lips curved in an ironic smile. “Contrary to what you might think of me as a boss, I
do
know how to show my appreciation when it's deserved.”