Epilogue
Charlie
The hedge was killing my knees.
I'd been crouched behind a boxwood for twenty-two minutes, camera braced on a low stone wall, waiting for Cupid City's most beloved pediatrician to leave his mistress's townhouse while his wife hosted a fundraiser for children's literacy three blocks away. The irony was almost too perfect. Morty was going to lose his mind.
February's cold had broken into a raw, damp March that couldn't decide if it wanted to be spring. My jeans were soaked from the mulch bed. My coffee had gone cold an hour ago. My lower back had opinions about my life choices.
I loved this job.
The townhouse door opened. Dr. Brennan stepped out, straightening his tie, checking his watch. Running late for his wife's event. I fired off twelve shots in four seconds -—face,hands on the tie, the lipstick smudge on his collar he hadn't noticed. Gold.
I checked the playback. Sharp. Clean. The collar shot was money.
My phone buzzed. Morty.
MORTY: Where the hell are you?
ME: Working.
MORTY: You were supposed to file the zoning board photos an hour ago.
ME: I got distracted by a pediatrician.
MORTY: ...go on.
I sent him a preview and counted to three.
MORTY: Charlotte, you beautiful maniac. File everything. Now.
I packed up, brushed mulch off my jeans, and headed for the street. Dominic's black SUV was parked at the corner, engine running. He'd stopped arguing about waiting outside when I worked solo jobs around the second week. The Heartline assignment had closed three weeks ago. Cass had put him on something corporate, low-risk, a job that bored him stupid. But he still parked at the corner when I worked.
Neither of us had discussed whether that counted as off-duty or obsessive. It was Dominic sitting in his SUV with a book and a black coffee while I hid in shrubbery, and I'd stopped pretending I didn't like knowing he was there.
I knocked on the passenger window. He unlocked it without looking up from his book.
"Get the shot?"
"Doctor Handsy left with lipstick on his collar. Morty's already composing the headline."
"Classy."
"It's a living." I climbed in and the warmth hit me. He kept the heat running. He always kept the heat running. "Take me home. I need to shower before tonight."
"Nervous?"
"About dinner with your mother? Why would I be nervous? I lie to strangers professionally. How hard can your mother be?"
He glanced at me sideways. The almost-smile. "She's going to love you."
