“I can multitask! It’s just…” I huffed, not wanting to disclosethe real reason my brain was more scattered than usual. “Never mind. You go first.”
“All right.” Wyatt shifted slightly in the darkness. “Freddie has a criminal record. Fraud. Dealing in stolen goods. But nothing from the past five years. He spent a lot of time at the local pool hall and various bars in the neighborhood. Some of his acquaintances are of questionable character, but so far, I haven’t come across any recent conflicts with any of them. However, Freddie was seen meeting a man on a couple of occasions in the days before he died, a man no one I’ve talked to has been able to identify. One of those meetings took place at Shanahan’s Suds.”
I was a little annoyed with myself because it hadn’t occurred to me to study Freddie as a person outside of his role as superintendent of the Deco Mirage.
Some of that annoyance came out in my voice. “How did you find out all that?”
“By asking around. And I called in a favor or two from former associates.”
“Associates?” I echoed with suspicion. “What kind of associates?”
“I’ve got a background in security, remember?”
“What, exactly, does that mean?” I still had trouble picturing him as a bouncer or security guard.
“I worked for an executive protection agency.”
It took a second for my brain to translate that into something more familiar. “You mean a bodyguard agency?”
“I guess you could call it that.”
I wanted to ask why a rich guy like him, with a fancy car and a country club membership, worked at all. Maybe it was to fend off boredom. Or maybe he liked the pop stars and supermodels he probably got to work with.
Thinking about him associating with gorgeous female celebrities made me painfully aware of how ordinary I must seem in comparison. I tried to move away from him, but my back hit therough wall, and something sharp jabbed into my skin near my right shoulder blade.
“Ow!” I tried to get away from the offending object but ended up pressed against Wyatt. “Sorry!”
I inched away from him, wary of what might be behind me. I was glad it was too dark for him to see my flaming cheeks. Embarrassment had sparked the fire in my face—and the rest of me—but not by itself. Even in the fleeting moment of contact, I’d noticed how perfectly our bodies fit together.
I will not think about that! I will not think about that!I repeated in my head.
Maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing that the pain in my back was providing a distraction.
“What happened?” Wyatt asked.
“Something jabbed into my back.” I tried to reach over my right shoulder with my left hand but came up short. “I think it might still be in there. Oh, God. Maybe it’s a scorpion! Is it a scorpion?”
I had to put all my energy into not panicking.
“Not too likely here in New York.” Wyatt woke up his phone, bathing us in blue light. Then he switched on the flashlight app. “Is it all right if I take a look?”
Even though I’d moved away from him, there were still only a few inches separating us, and I had to tilt my chin up to see his face. He held my gaze as he waited for my answer.
“Yes,” I said, telling myself that my heart was galloping simply because of whatever venomous creature might be latched on to my back and absolutely not because of the man sharing my personal space.
I gathered my hair over my left shoulder and drew in a shaky breath as Wyatt moved so close that I could have nestled my face into the crook of his neck. I inhaled his scent, which reminded me of fresh air and the great outdoors. It left me lightheaded.
“Can I…?” Wyatt asked, the hand not holding his phone now hovering close to my neck.
It was simply my overactive imagination thinking I could feel his body heat against my skin, right?
I nodded and used my left hand to slide my loose, wide-neck sweater down my arm, exposing my right shoulder and part of my upper back. The air buzzed between us, and my every breath suddenly felt amplified. I tried to turn but could move only a few inches. Wyatt’s chest touched my shoulder as he leaned in close to get a look at my back with the aid of the light from his phone.
This time it wasn’t my imagination. I could definitely feel the delicious warmth of his body seeping through my thin sweater.
“Hmm,” he said in a way that set off alarm bells in my head. “Maybe I was wrong about the scorpion thing.”
“What?!”
