Deception (Carrington Hill Investigations Book 1) (18 page)

Lexi pushed the door open and ran her fingers over the name on the door to her new corner office at Carrington Hill Investigations. Two weeks had passed since everything that happened at the beach house. She’d quit her job and decided to work with Marco. Her notoriety had come in handy with some of their new clients. It wasn’t just women wanting their cheating husbands investigated anymore. The new wealthy clients specifically asked for her to work their parties. They’d said that word spread of what happened with Celia and how she’d saved Trip’s life. Her presence alone would deter any would-be party crashers.

Trip had called a few times
, and Lexi had told him she needed time and space because she had. She’d been the one who had done wrong in the relationship, but his words had hurt too. She turned on her laptop and started going over the logistics of her new case. That’s what she did now. She would lose herself in her work just like before. Before she’d been told her best friend was missing, before she’d gotten married, and before Trip and she divorced.

She didn’t have to look up to know who
’d entered her office without knocking. It was the same visitor she’d gotten three times over the last two weeks. Garrett’s cologne drifted to her nose.

“Don’t you ever take a break?”

He meant well by checking up on her. He never pushed the relationship envelope. She’d made it clear that working was the only thing she was interested in. He’d tried to argue and yell, but she didn’t have the energy. She’d simply walked away from him that last day in the FBI office.

She clicked away at her keyboard
, pulling up the latest specs on the mansion she’d be covering next weekend, hoping that he’d go away. “What do you want, Garrett?” she asked without looking up.

He reached over her desk
and placed his hands over her fingers, stilling her progress. “I want to know how you’re doing. Marco called. He’s worried about you.” Garrett sat down when she looked up. “But don’t tell him I told you. He’ll never admit it.”

She leaned back in her chair and crossed her legs. “You can tell everyone I’m fine.”

Garrett leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees. “Lexi, you may be able to fool other people, but you can’t fool me.”

She threw her arms up in the air. “What do you want me to say? I’m sad…I miss him...
Fine, but it doesn’t change anything. I don’t fit into his world.” She shrugged. “And he doesn’t fit into mine.”

Garret
t stood and walked to the door. “Now who’s lying? I never thought I’d see the day you’d give up, but I guess I was wrong.”

She shook her head and started tapping on the keyboard again. She did miss him. Her heart still ached every day
, but she just couldn’t bring herself to call him, to ask him to take her back. Truth was, she’d given up, and she was okay with that and going back to the lifestyle she had before. She’d quit dreaming about fairytales and happy endings. None of them ever came true. No…not for her. She was done.

Marco tapped on her door. “Dinner at Flannigan’s tonight at eight. Don’t be late and w
ear something nice. We’re meeting new clients.”

She nodded and went back to work.

****

Garrett sauntered into Trip’s office uninvited.

Trip glanced up. “What the hell?”
He stood up behind his desk. “Where the hell is my secretary?”

Garrett
grinned. “You mean the lovely old woman out front? I flashed her my badge when I walked by her desk.”

Trip sat back down
when Garrett did. There wasn’t a damn thing he could do to get the FBI agent to leave. “What do you want, Garrett? I’m busy.”

Trip shuffled some papers into a folder on his desk.

“She doesn’t love me.”

His hands stilled
, and Trip leaned back into his chair. That statement got his attention. “Seems we have something in common. She doesn’t love me either.”

“Quit being an ass, Hathaway.
Both of you are miserable, and I kissed her. It was all me.”

Trip let out a
long breath. “She’s miserable?” He shook his head. “Doesn’t matter. I was willing to work it out with her. She’s not interested.”

Garrett
gave a slight nod. “Seems your mother was right. You are a schmuck.” Garrett stood. “You know…all she ever wanted was a normal life, not the lifestyle her parents tried to give her. She wants to be loved and have a family, and for some reason, she’s got it in her mind that you two are too different. But I guess you already knew that.”  

Trip’s
heartbeat quickened for a brief second hoping there might still be a chance. His excitement died just as quickly as it came. “She won’t talk to me.”

“If you’re not willing to fight for her, then maybe I am the better man.”
Garrett chuckled. “Besides, she has no choice. Hathaway Enterprises is her new client, compliments of your mother.” Garrett opened the door and paused. “Although, I do suggest you bring a contract. We both know she won’t agree to anything unless she’s got it in writing.”

Garrett
walked out, leaving Trip to his thoughts.

****

Lexi arrived at seven
-fifty and glanced around the swanky restaurant. Marco was nowhere in sight. She bit her painted lip. She was going to kill him if she had to do this all by herself. She didn’t even know who the client was. She smoothed her palms down the imaginary lines of her dress and approached the reservation desk. “I have a dinner meeting at eight.”

“Name?”

“You should have it under Carrington-Hill Investigations.”

The woman looked up and smiled.
“Of course. Please follow me. Your party is already here.”

Lexi followed the lady
not seeing anyone she recognized. Maybe there were tables out of sight. It’s not like she frequented the place.

The woman
pushed open the double doors to a private dining room and left, closing Lexi in the room. She froze. Standing on the other side of the table was Trip dressed in a suit. “Please come in, Lexi.”

“What are you doing here?” She tightened her grip on her clutch.

“We have business to discuss.”

Lexi’s
heart dropped into her stomach. He was the last person she’d expected to see. He was the last person she’d expected as a new client. She walked to the table, and he pulled out her chair. “Thank you.”

He
rounded the table and sat across from her. Trip cleared his throat. “I had a visit today.”

Her brow rose a half inch.
“Really?”

“
Garrett came to see me.”

Lexi’s
grip tightened on her purse. She was going to kill him.

“Relax. We had a good talk.”

“Trip…” She pushed on the table to stand, and he leaned forward and covered her hand with his.

“Please, just hear me out.
I have a proposition for you.”

She lowered herself in her chair.
“Because the last one turned out so well?”

He pushed an envelope on the table closer to her. “I’ll let you be the judge.” He motioned to the envelope.

Her hands trembled as she picked up the envelope not knowing what to expect. She pulled the papers out and read, not sure this wasn’t a game.

She looked up perplexed. “Is this a joke?”

Trip’s eyes twinkled as his gaze held hers. “No joke.”

She glanced down again and reread the contract in her hands. She flipped the page to a realtor listing of the cutest
two story house in the hills she’d ever seen with gardens and a white picket fence. She tried to hold back her excitement, trying to calm the thumping in her chest. “You would give it all up…for me?”

“Yes
,” he answered without pause.

She lifted the picture of the house. “You would live here? No servants, no butlers?”

He nodded. “As long as you live there with me…yes.”

He rounded the table and got down on one knee. A move she’d only ever seen done in the movies. Her hands trembled as he took them in his. “I love you, Lexi. I want you in my life
, and if it means giving everything up to give you the life you want, I’ll do it…for us.”

He reached into the inside pocket of his jacket
, pulled out a box, and flipped the lid. Another ring, only this one was different. It wasn’t the one from their marriage, and it wasn’t his grandmother’s. He pulled the ring out and held it up for her. “I need you, more than I’ve needed anything. I want to marry you, and I’ll never quit asking until you say yes. You are my life, my heart, my world. Please be my wife?”

She could
n’t hold back the tear that slipped down her cheek. She couldn’t think of anything she wanted more. “Trip…”

“Say yes, Lexi
, and let me make you happy. I promise to love you forever.”

She chewed her bottom lip raw and held his gaze. This was the first time she’d ever seen uncertainty in his eyes. A man
who was always so self-assured kneeled before her, offering her more than his money, more than his house, more than his company. He was offering her his heart.

She nodded as another tear slipped down her face. “Yes.”

A look of relief instantly filled his face as he let out an audible breath and slipped the ring on her finger. He stood, pulled her into his arms, and tenderly pressed his lips to hers, cupping her cheeks.

“I love you.” Her words were
but whisper on his lips.

Lexi snuggled into her fiancé
’s arms and gazed into the crackling fire. Her life was full, complete. She couldn’t have been happier if she’d tried. She spent her nights with the man she loved and her days with her best friends at a career she wouldn’t change for the world. Their wedding was still a week away, but true to her word, Mrs. Hathaway had arranged all of the details with little help from Lexi. She didn’t like extravagant, and getting Lillian to agree that it would be a small affair was the best wedding present the woman could have given her.

Trip stroked her hair and pressed a kiss to the top of her head as they sat in comfortable silence, enjoying a less chaotic day. They were both officially on vacation and loving the extra time together.

“How are the girls?”

Lexi stroked her finger up and down
, tracing a path on Trip’s chest. “Good. They’re covering my cases and fitting in great at the agency. It didn’t take too much convincing to get them to join me at Carrington-Hill.”

His chest rumbled with satisfaction. “So if you needed extra time off, it would be okay?”

She glanced up at her fiancé with a questioning look. “Sure...but why would I need extra time off?”

He held her gaze. “I know we haven’t discussed it, but how do you feel about a big family?”

She laid her head into the crook of her arm. “We already have one.”

He was silent again.

“I meant, how do you feel about us having a family of our own?”

“I want children.”
Lexi’s mouth went dry even as her heart raced. She’d wanted children; she always had. She tilted her head to read the expression on his face. “Do you?”

He leaned do
wn and pressed his lips to hers kissing her with a tenderness she wasn’t expecting. He nibbled on her bottom lip before he pulled back. He pulled her up to straddle him and she leaned her forehead against his.

His voice deepened.
“How about we start trying now?”

Her
heart blossomed at the thought. “I think we might need another contract.”

His hands s
lid underneath her shirt, caressing her bare skin. “I’ll get right on that.”

He
reached up and kissed her with a passion and urgency they could no longer deny. Any teasing thoughts of more contracts were pushed from her mind. He lifted her in his arms off the couch. She locked her ankles around his back. He carried her through the house toward the bedroom.

“Anything you want
, baby, and it’s yours.”

She ran her hands through his hair. “I’ve got what I want
. Everything else is a bonus.”

I hope you’ve enjoyed Lexi and Trip’s book. Please continue reading for
a
Sneak Peek of Book 2 in the Carrington Hill InvestigationsSag
a
.

Chapter 1

Ex-FBI Agent Sara Johnson rushed through the halls of her new office and pushed
through the conference room door, trying to catch her breath. She was late again, but this time, it wasn’t really her fault. When her father got on a rampage, it was hard to get him off the phone, and he was definitely on another rampage.

Her blood boiled
as she remembered their latest conversation. Spouting the words “disinherit” and “disown” was becoming second nature to the assistant director of the FBI. She was embarrassing her family. Her latest mistake had been making the headlines in the gossip rags. She sighed and slipped into her seat between her two best friends and braced herself for the teasing she knew would be coming her way. She dropped the manila envelope on the table and waited.

Lexi Hathaway, her newly
engaged best friend, was the first to lean into her. “Loved the black fishnets.”

Catherine leaned in from the other side. “
They went perfectly with the short leather skirt.”

She let out a sigh of resignation as she patted down her perfectly straight hair. “I wore a wig. T
he reporters weren’t supposed to notice me.”

Marco Hill,
Lexi’s business partner and co-owner of Carrington Hill Investigations stood at the end of the table. His usually expressionless face wasn’t so expressionless today as he cleared his throat, clutching a paper in his hand.

“It seems Ms. Johnson has done it again.”

He threw the paper into the middle of the table, and Sara felt the heat travel into her cheeks. “I can explain?”

He gave her a pointed look
, indicating he doubted it. “Sara, is the word
discretion
even in your vocabulary?”

Lexi and Catherine chuckled
before Lexi spoke on her behalf. “She was just doing her job. You can’t blame her. You’re the one who sent her into that club.”

Sara
pushed the manila folder down the table. “Congressman Boyles has been a very naughty boy.” She inclined her head toward the package. She’d taken the pictures herself of the congressman dressed in leather chaps, shirtless and holding a whip in his hand, the one he used to hit the half-dressed woman chained to the bars. They had both been too busy enjoying the play to notice the waitress snapping pictures with a camera hidden in her bra.

I
t had only taken a week to worm her way into the underground lifestyle. Her snitches with the FBI had vouched for her cover to the club owner that she could be trusted. Her cover wasn’t as a patron. It was as a waitress in the sleazy club. She’d had a hard time not shooting the clientele, whose wandering hands touched her as she walked by.

Marco lifted the envelope and pulled a picture
out halfway, smiling before he pushed it back inside. “Good job, Sara.” He pushed a file in her direction. “I’ve got another assignment for you.”

Catherine smiled. “I hope it involves her wearing more clothes.”

Sara elbowed her friend. “I hope it’s more than a cheating husband.”

Marco sat. “The
congressman’s file is more than just his exploits. He’s into some heavy shit.”

She nodded
, flipped the file open on her latest assignment, and froze. An eight-by-ten glossy photo of a man the papers had deemed the “world’s most eligible bachelor” stared back at her and, God, he was gorgeous. Her mouth parted as both of her friends leaned in for a closer look. Sara knew his name without looking. She glanced up at Marco, whose brow was raised.

“Problem
, Ms. Johnson?”

Sara narrowed her eyes.
“Seriously? Collin Martin?”

She glanced back down at the picture and started flipping through the file. “What’s his story
? Someone finally break his heart and he wants us to find out why?”

Marco leaned back in his chair and
steepled his fingers in front of him. “You aren’t that lucky, Sara.”

She
suppressed the smile that threatened to tug at her lips. “Suing a plastic surgeon, or, oh, I know. He’s suing his manicurist over a hangnail.”

“Murder
,” said a deep voice from the doorway behind her.

She spun her chair
at the sound toward the sound of the unexpected voice. Leaning against the wall was the client himself. He winked at her.

“I beg your pardon
,” she said in a shaky voice. The man oozed sex appeal. She had a physical attraction to him that she knew would prevent her from doing her job.

Marco’s voice pulled her back from her thoughts.
“Seems the world’s most eligible bachelor is also currently undateable.”

Collin chuckled as he pulled up a chair at the other end of the table. “It’s true.”

She turned back to Marco, ignoring the playboy at the end of the table. “And what’s my job? You want me to investigate the murder?”

Marco’s lips finally tilted up in a grin. “Your job is to date him.”

Her brows knit together, not sure she’d heard him right. “Excuse me?”

“It appears some of Mr. Martin’s ex-girlfriends are turning up dead
, and we’re going to set you up as the next target.”

Lexi nudged her.
“Solves your problem of finding a date to my wedding.”

Thank you for taking the time to read my stories. As always I appreciate each and every one of you. If you liked it and have a moment, please leave a review on Amazon.

Please keep reading to enjoy the beginning of Tara and Brody’s book (Book 3 in the Phantom Protectors Series).

This is completely unedited, so pardon any mistakes.

Chapter 1

“Handcuffs.” Brody shouted as he ran passed Tara chasing after another man dressed in camos. Her mind paused not expecting him to demand what she’d remembered he’d used on her last night in her dreams. “Focus, Tara.”

She shook her head, unable to shake the sexy images that flashed through her mind.

He glanced over his shoulder and halted to a stop, turning he sauntered back over to her stopping in front of her. He chuckled and lifted the string of condoms she’d conjured from thin air. “A woman after my own heart, but as much as I like where your mind was heading….this wasn’t quite the restraint I was looking for.”

Heat flooded through her body, undoubtedly flushing her cheeks and giving him the same reaction she’d been giving him all afternoon. Why she couldn’t keep her thoughts from straying into the forbidden territory was beyond her. The whip cream had literally been the icing on the cake; especially when Brody squirted some first in her mouth and then filled his. She threw her hands up in the air. “That’s it. I’m not cut out from this crap.”

She spun on her heel and trampled back through the bushes and trees toward the compound. The daily drills and training were useless, under pressure she wasn’t anywhere near ready to be useful to anyone out in the field fighting for their life. Now if someone needed a pizza or apparently condoms she was your girl.  

Brody caught up to her and threw his arm around her shoulders. “I know what you need…”

“To get the hell out of this town.” She answered as she emerged into the open field.

“Not likely darling. You need a good old fashion roll in the hay. The
kind where you’re so warn out your mind quits working.”