SecondSightDating (9 page)

He came across as tongue-tied, unable to dish out any
credible compliment to a female date.
Then again, he did say some nice things
to her.
But, that could just be part of his devious plan, a ruse to win Serena
over and throw her off from following his true agenda.

Mike.
She had to talk to her brother about the whole
situation.
Serena took the file already in hand, then hurried into the back
room.
Once there, she picked out files for Miss “X” and Gino, Mr.
“Eight”.
Mike
might need to read about the women Dan would be meeting.
He’d probably find it
important to know about his alter ego, Gino, just in case he and Dan ever
appeared in the same spot again.

Her mind kept replaying the events of the evening as she
drove home.
While pleasant and attentive to her, Dan acted like a naïve clod
when it came to his date.
He welcomed Sean, never hinting he’d viewed him as a
rival.

As she drove home, Serena inhaled a deep, shaky breath,
speculating over whether or not Dan could be unbelievably dense but legit.
Her
body and soul urged her to trust him.
Alan’s betrayal came to mind, but somehow
Dan never gave out the same type of negative vibes her former lover sent her
way.

Those thoughts kept swimming in her head as she entered her
apartment, searching for her brother’s comforting aura and the reassurance of
her sanity.

* * * * *

Dan crouched down in the driver’s seat, certain that Serena
hadn’t spotted him.
He’d found her sweater in his car and driven back to the
parking lot just as she’d driven away.
Following her, he decided to use
returning the garment as a ruse to maybe check out her apartment.

He peeked out just as she’d knocked on her own door, only to
have it opened by “Gino”.
The man had smiled and planted a kiss on her
forehead.

Strange.
A kiss on the head.
Didn’t seem to be the
passionate type of kiss he’d give Serena if given the chance.

Grabbing the sweater, Dan exited his car and headed for her
first floor apartment.
The blinds were partially opened so he glanced inside,
curiosity and a tinge of jealousy getting the better of him.

Jealousy crept through his body.
He wanted her.
She couldn’t
be involved in any crime ring.
Desiring a woman on the wrong side of a case
wasn’t an option.

Never happened before.
Couldn’t be happening now.
He’d
always been a good judge of character except, well, when it came to his
ex-wife.
Dan snorted.
Real piece of work.

Serena wasn’t like her.
Right?
He marched to
the door.

The door swung open after his rapid knocking.
“Gino”
appeared.
“Oh.
You.
We met in the office, right?”

Dan glanced around him, trying to locate Serena.
“I came to
return Serena’s sweater.
She left it in my car.”

With a shrug, the man offered, “Fine.
Come in.
She’ll be
right out.”

Dan’s head swiveled toward a hallway as Serena appeared,
dressed in a bathrobe.
She stopped short, surprise masking her face.

“What are you doing here?”

Chapter Eight

Dan’s insides roiled with disappointment.
This didn’t look
good.
Serena, in a bright pink fuzzy bathrobe, freshly scrubbed face, bare
feet.
The man with his jacket off, tie undone and some opened buttons on his
shirt.
Nope.
Not good at all.
The scene played out as a picture of lovers about
to embark on some wild night of passion and that rankled his innards.

Did he care so much that she apparently had a lover or that
the man wasn’t who she said he was?
Or, both?

Deep in his gut, he had to admit his trust in her dropped a
few notches.
Bottom line, she lied about “Gino”.
What possible excuse for that
could she offer?
Only a guilty person, someone with something to hide, would
resort to this charade.

Dan found his voice and finally answered.
“I, uh, came to
return your sweater.” His eyes roamed from her to “Gino”, carefully
scrutinizing both.

Nose tilted up slightly and eyes narrowed, Serena replied in
a clipped tone, “How did you know where I live?” He detected a slight hint of
pink coloring her cheeks.

Hell.
Her question, tone, accused him of…what?
He had
nothing to feel guilty about.
Her shrinking innocence image just ditched down
further into the murky waters of suspicion and probable guilt.

In a stern but calm voice, he responded, “I tried to catch you
at the office, but you were in your car so I followed you here.” He glared at
her then at “Gino”.
“Sorry if I’m interrupting something.”

Serena panicked as Mike took a tentative step toward Dan.
Oh, no.
Although her brother probably wanted to defend her, this wasn’t the
time for a battle.
She quickly moved to her brother, resting her hand on his
arm.

“Would you wait in the kitchen for me, Gino?
I’d like to
speak to Dan in private.”

Her brother’s warning stare before he reluctantly strode
away spoke volumes.
He wanted to deal with Dan his own way, but to appease her,
he’d back off for now.
She’d better handle her client, send him on his way and
spend the rest of the night soothing Mike’s ruffled feathers.
Satisfying his
curiosity later and appealing to his detective skills couldn’t hurt either.

Serena turned her attention to Dan.
“You shouldn’t have come
here.
I like to keep my personal life private from my work.”

“Isn’t Gino a client, too?”

Damn.
Think fast
.
“Actually, we’ve been talking about
him becoming my partner.” Even as she uttered those words, Serena wondered at
her own sanity.
It even sounded phony to her, but desperation made people say
stupid things.

Surprise registered on his face.
Did he buy her excuse?

“You need a partner?
Are you in financial trouble or just
expanding your business?”

Now even more annoyed, her nerves danced on the brink of
shattering at his game of twenty questions.
Hands on hips, she glared at him.
“Business is booming and I’m considering adding a partner.
However, I don’t see
where that’s any of your business.”

He relaxed his stance.
“Oh.
I see.”

She shivered as a mixture of senses bounced off Dan back
onto her.
Strange.
All she deciphered pointed toward disappointment and relief
intertwined.
Did he dislike the fact that her business was booming and she
sought a partner?
Or, happy and relieved at her success?

Dan eyed the entry into her kitchen then aimed an
embarrassed peek at her.
“Sorry for the intrusion.
I’ll go now.”

Huh?
Could he have gotten a completely different idea when
Mike opened the door and she appeared in her bathrobe?
Could he be jealous?

Hmm.
She’d encountered that green-eyed monster herself back
in the restaurant.
At first jealous over Dan’s date with size two,
model-goddess Monica, relief had settled in after he’d been dumped.
No matter
how hard she tried to tell herself otherwise, his failure pleased her.

It could have been because she still wasn’t
convinced of his honesty at wanting to meet women.
Then again, Dan had a way of
causing her body temperature to jump a few degrees every time he looked at her
with those bedroom eyes.

A tiny niggling of remorse replaced her anger.
So did
curiosity.
Was he jealous?

Serena quickly padded over to the door, opening it for Dan.
“Look, it’s been a strange night for both of us and it’s late.
Neither of our
dates turned out the way I thought they would.”
Not true.
I knew they
wouldn’t work
.
“Come to my office at noon tomorrow.
Let’s work on what
you’ll say to Miss ‘E’ for your next date.”

His face brightened a bit as he said, “You’ll still help me?
Can we set up a date soon?
Like Sunday?”

Desperate Dan, on the prowl for a date?
Or, a woman to
fleece?

“I’ll, uh, try for that.
For myself, too.
See you tomorrow.”

* * * * *

“Steve, I still can’t believe she’s involved in shady business,
but there’s no doubting Serena comes across as someone with something to hide.”

Dan’s night had been anything but restful after leaving
Serena’s apartment.
He’d lingered outside for awhile, hunkering down in the
driver’s seat of his car, keeping a close eye on her front door and window.

After an hour of spying, frustration set in and he’d made
the decision to leave.
Why the hell had she let “Gino” stay but kicked him out?

“What happened?”

Over the next few minutes, Dan related his evening’s trip into
the dating world of Serena’s making.
Not a pleasant sight, no pun intended.
Things had gone from bad to worse.

“Romeo, turn on the charm.
You’ve got to get her away from
this new Gino guy.
Make her think you’re interested in being her partner.”

Dan rubbed his face with both hands, then aimed a dubious
look at his boss.
“Her even considering me as a partner has to be a long shot,
but hey…all she can do is say no.
I’ll have to have some bankroll behind me for
this if she somehow wants to check my finances.
Are you authorizing funds?
How
much?”

Steve shrugged.
“See what she’s asking.
We’ll go from there.
Tell her you have a trust fund you can dip into for a good investment.
But keep
working on the dating thing and meet these other two women.”

“Why?
If I get her to take me on as a partner, why do we
need the others?”

Steve shrugged.
“Witnesses, part of her stable of women, who
knows what we’ll come up with.”

Hands balling into fists by the sides of his legs, Dan
trudged out of Steve’s office after uttering an audible, “Hell.”

* * * * *

“Sis, I’m not sure I understand what’s bothering you about
this Dan guy.
Quite honestly, I’d say he’s jealous and has a crush on you.”

Serena scrutinized her brother as he sat across from her at
the kitchen table, ready to do verbal battle with him.

She’d looked like an undesirable fool with playboy Sean.
Did
Dan take pity on her?
Commiserate with a fellow dumpee?
Dan?
Jealous?
Maybe he
really thought she and Mike, newly named Gino, were an item.

“I told you already.
I watched him snooping around my
paperwork, checking out bios.
And, come on.
How could such a handsome, sexy man
need help in finding women?
Wouldn’t women line up outside his door, fighting
each other for a chance at him?”

“Oh, little sister of mine.” Mike laughed as he waved a
finger at her.
“You’ve got it bad for this guy.
Admit it.
This is me you’re
talking to.
I’ve always been able to read you like a book.”

Serena jumped up from her chair and stomped over to the
coffee machine.
She proceeded to slosh the brown liquid into her cup and onto
the counter.
“You’re so wrong.
He means nothing to me.” She sniffed.
“Just
another client.
A very suspicious one at that.”

“Sure.
And all those crazy things that seem to happen since
he entered your life don’t mean a thing.”

She pivoted to face her brother while trying to calm tiny
rumblings bouncing in her stomach.
Mike was so off-base on this one.
Or at
least, she wanted him to think so.

“All right, older and smarter brother of mine.
What things
are you talking about?”

“Sit down before you spill coffee all over the floor.
Jeez.
This is the first time I’ve seen you get so wound up over a guy since Alan.
Actually, more with this guy.”

Willing her breathing to convert to a more
normal pattern, Serena fought hard to control her every movement, every word.
She took slow and deliberate steps to the table, ensuring a steady stride.
Thankfully, her hands remained calm, neither shaking like her insides.
She sat
once again, waiting for her brother to explain his theories.

Mike smiled at her and said, “Much better.
Okay, here goes.
First, he doesn’t fit into your usual range of client.”

“Right.
That’s why I’m leery of his motives.”

“Let me continue, okay?
Second, you’ve never had someone
give you so much trouble with your number-letter match-ups.”

“So?”

“Third, I’ve seen how he looks at you and, more importantly,
how you look at him.” He rocked back in his chair and smirked at Serena.
“Do
you think I’m blind?”

“You have this all wrong.
He’s up to something.
Why all the
sneaking around?
He peeked through my files.
He followed me here.
He acted the
complete loser with his date in the restaurant.
No, he’s not real.”

Michael inhaled and exhaled with a loud sigh.
“Okay.
I know
you did your own background check.
I don’t have the same connections here I
used to have so I can’t do too much, but I sure can check out where he works.”

“And you’re out in left field if you think there’s anything
between us.” Serena tipped her head up to give credence to her statement.

“Sis, I’m not trying to get into a fight with you over this.
There’s something between you two.” He shrugged.
“I can tell.
It’s our curse,
being blessed with this extra power of ‘sight’.
We can’t shake it off or ignore
it.”

Serena’s head dropped and she exhaled a loud “whoosh” sound.
“Damn our powers.
You and I never could fool each other, could we?
I want so
much to trust Dan, but why all the subterfuge?
What’s he hiding?”

“Like I already told you, I’ll check on him.
Who knows?
We
may luck out and uncover something.”

“Thanks, big brother.
You’re always there for me.”

“Now don’t go getting mushy on me.
I may not be able to do
anything until Monday.”

“You’ll be back in Wichita then.”

“Nope.
I’m staying put for the week.
I have some leave time
coming and you’re a good, desperate enough excuse for me to use it.”

Serena grabbed a nearby dishtowel and flung it at her
brother’s smirking face.

* * * * *

Dan entered Serena’s office the next afternoon, unsure of
his sanity.
Half of him, the spontaneous “follow-those-urges” side, wanted to
seduce her and spend the rest of the day making love with her.
His analytical,
suspicious other half reviewed everything that had transpired in her case and
kept coming to the conclusion that she was a fraud.

Get a grip, man.

Primly seated at her desk, she looked up at him as he walked
in, offering a smile of welcome.
If only it could be one of genuine interest in
Dan as a man, not Dan as a client.
That last part had two different spins to it
and one of them could get her thrown in jail.