A tall, dark skin brother strolled into the room. He was a big guy, looking as if he’d probably played football or basketball at some point in his life.
Recognition had shown on the man’s face when they made eye contact, but he didn’t acknowledge Tristan. Instead, he gave Cree his full attention. His gaze skimmed her body and the way he’d done it didn’t look professional.
Tension coiled inside of Tristan. The one thing he didn’t know was whether Cree had a man. He hoped not. If she wasn’t married, there’d be nothing to stop him from pursuing her.
“Sorry to interrupt, Cree, but Shantel wasn’t at her desk. Should I come back later?” the man asked, barely sparing Tristan another glance.
“No, I’m glad you’re here, Milton. Come on in. Mr. Whitmore was just leaving.”
Well, damn. Tristan might’ve been planning on leaving soon, but she didn’t have to dismiss him so carelessly.
Cree returned her attention to him. “Mr. Whitmore, I’ll be in touch tomorrow. Have a good evening.”
Tristan approached her. “Oh, so we’re back to Mr. Whitmore?” he said, briefly placing a hand on her waist as he started to pass her, and he didn’t miss the way she shivered. “See you soon.” He walked out without a backwards glance.
Soon. Soon he’d have her again.
“Wow, Tristan Whitmore, huh?” Milton Banks, the firm’s private investigator said as he took a seat in front of Cree’s desk. “Seems you’re moving up in the world, and my guess is your client list just got more interesting.”
Cree chuckled and sat across from him, realizing Tristan’s documents were still on her desk. She made quick work of putting everything back into the large envelope. Milton knew a lot about their clients, but for some reason, she didn’t want him to know any more than necessary about Tristan.
And interesting? That was a good word for Tristan, but she didn’t want to talk about him. Especially since her heart was still beating faster than it should be. Now that he was gone, maybe she could settle down and forget he’d ever been there. But that was going to be impossible since she could still smell his cologne.
“Just another day at the office,” she said noncommittally. “I hope you have some good news for me. What did you find out about Andrea? Is she staying out of trouble like she agreed to?” Cree asked of one of their clients. She was on the verge of cutting the B-list actress from her roster because of all the negative attention she’d been garnering over the years. Lately, she stayed in the tabloids with one scandal after another.
“I’ll have a formal report to you by the end of the day. In the meantime, I’ll let you decide if she’s keeping her agreement,” Milton said and handed Cree his high-end camera.
Cree sighed at the first photo, then started skimming through the others. Andrea definitely liked getting naked. Too bad she didn’t care where she did it. She and the man she was having sex with appeared to be in an alley.
It always amazed Cree of the photos and videos Milton could get without anyone knowing they were being watched. Then again, even if Andrea had known he was filming her, she probably wouldn’t have cared. The woman had been a problem to work with from day one. But Cree thought the movie and a commercial deal Andrea had gotten recently would make her think twice before doing anything that could cause her to lose the deals. Apparently not.
“This girl has no decorum.”
“Yeah, she is a lot. My guess is, with some of her antics but not this particular one, she’s trying to stay relevant. Maybe thinking any press is good press. Not sure what she was thinking in this situation. They could’ve gone back to her place for their rendezvous,” Milton said.
The former Chicago P.D. detective had been working for their law firm for over five years and had become invaluable to Cree and the partners.
She handed him back the camera. “It would be good if she could stay relevant by doing something that shows her in a good light. Maybe volunteer work like I suggested last week. At least she didn’t get arrested this time for indecent exposure. I think our PR department is frustrated. They had a hard time spinning a tale regarding her buying weed and some pills from a known drug dealer last month. Who’s the man in those photos?”
“A local DJ. I haven’t seen the two of them together before. So, I’m assuming he’s the new guy since Grant dumped her.”
Grant, an A-list actor, had been a mentor of sorts to Andrea. That was until she’d gotten arrested recently. Not wanting his reputation to take a hit, he had dumped her and had done it very publicly. Cree was fairly sure the scene had been planned by Grant’s people.
At any rate, she needed to decide what to do about the woman. She’d bring it up at the next staff meeting.
Milton shoved the camera back into his bag. “So, are congratulations on signing Tristan Whitmore in order? Rumor has it that he’s going to be a hot commodity even though he’s no longer playing football. I heard a couple of NFL teams are looking at him for coaching positions.”
Cree was always impressed at how in-the-know Milton always seemed to be.
“Yeah, the league loves him,” Cree said, still not wanting to discuss her ex.
The only time she talked about clients with Milton was if she needed information on them. Tristan’s life, for the most part, had played out in the media, especially for the past few months. From what she knew so far, she didn’t need Milton’s assistance. No, any research into Tristan would be done by her. Which probably wasn’t the best idea, but for now, she’d keep details about him as a client in-house.
“What about you?” Milton asked, and Cree glanced at him.
“What about me?”
Milton was a handsome guy with tawny brown skin, friendly eyes, and a roguish smile. Though he had shown interest in more than a professional way, she never encouraged him.
