The Perfect Solitaire. Carmen Green
and Zoe was short on sorrow.
“I’ve got work to do. I’m sure Daddy needs you to do something for him at the house. Why don’t you go over there and help him with his exercises?”
Faye scoffed. “He needs a physical therapist, not a daughter.”
“That would be me the evenings I don’t work, and Mom when she’s not teaching. But since you’re here you can pitch in.”
Zoe left the stockroom, heading to the front of the store spraying each display case with special cleaner so that they gleamed after she wiped them. She intentionally left a cloth to see if her sister would get to work. Faye neglectfully dragged her finger along the glass and pouted as she followed Zoe.
“It’s just one more day,” Faye said in her own defense. “Besides, I’d rather be with you. I’m more accustomed to dressing up for work at the bank than dressing down to help Dad stretch, and I can meet handsome single men, right?”
“Yes, they come in here to shop for their fiancés. Would you stop with the finger? I just cleaned the glass. Get that cloth and wipe off all those cases, Faye. You’re making double work for me. I’ll be back.”
Zoe paced the small stockroom, stretching her tense neck muscles. She touched every drawer, making sure all were closed that held plastic and velvet bags of earrings, bracelets and necklaces.
If she stopped moving, she might tell Faye she’d all but written her off. Zoe stopped herself from saying the words and tried to center herself. She had a job to do and that didn’t involve Faye.
“All done.” Faye popped in back without the cloth.
“I’m going with Hood. If you want to help me, stay here with Ireland while she opens the store. Be an extra pair of eyes and ears. Make sure nothing happens. When I come back, we’ll have lunch and really talk this out.”
She threw out the conciliatory bone, hoping her sister would decline. Truth be told, Zoe was tired of entertaining and paying for her assistant-vice-president-of-the-bank sister to eat out nearly every night.
Twice she’d asked Faye to pick up the check, but her cards had been declined. Though Zoe’d asked about Faye’s money troubles, her sister had claimed her paycheck must not have been posted yet.
“Why waste the gas going back and forth when I can just go with you? Then after the meeting, we can eat.” Faye looked around anxiously. “I can listen in on your meeting with the Hoods and be a second pair of eyes and ears. I’ve got lots of experience you don’t give me credit for. I’ve sat in on security meetings at the highest levels, Zoe. I’m an officer at the bank in Greenville. I hold an extremely high security clearance. Possibly higher than your little security people.” Faye took another look at Zoe’s face and gave up. “I’ll stay here.”
Zoe left the store, relieved. She needed some peace from Faye’s prying eyes and constant talking. She also needed to forgive her sister, she knew that, but not right now. Right now she needed a few minutes to compose her thoughts.
There was so much she wanted to say to Robinson Hood. She’d met him at a Young Entrepreneurs’ luncheon of Atlanta three months ago, and had been impressed with his speech about the work he and his family did. Too bad. She’d done something she’d rarely done: gone back to a man’s house.
Since then, she’d done her research and had found out that Hood Investigations was revered by cops because they didn’t have to play by cops’ rules. Cops who would hire them if they had a problem. With that endorsement, she’d made the call.
Rob had set up the meeting right away.
Settling in her car, Zoe locked the doors and inhaled and exhaled the warm June air until her nerves no longer felt like the jumbled ball of rubber bands she kept in her office. She needed Hood to move fast and catch these people that were threatening her future. That’s how she’d open. Then she’d outline the facts. She programmed the address into her GPS, and planned everything else she’d say all the way to the front door with the black block letters announcing Hood Investigations, Inc.
Opening the door, she walked inside. “I’m Zoe McKnight to see Rob Hood.”
The male receptionist asked her to wait, and she soon saw Rob Hood.
“Good morning, Ms. McKnight. Rob Hood.” He approached with a confident stride, his features prominent and chiseled like his brother’s, yet slightly different from Ben’s. The magnetism wasn’t there. If she wasn’t attracted to Rob Hood, she wouldn’t be attracted to Ben, who was nearly Rob’s spitting image.
“Pleased to meet you again. Please, call me Zoe.”
“Zoe.” Her head jerked involuntarily at the sound of his voice.
“Ben.”
The strangest look appeared on Rob’s face then his lips closed, he blinked and realization ignited the depths of his eyes. A half smile formed. “You’ve met my twin brother and business partner.”
She’d met him on his bed just three months ago and had let herself be taken to the stratosphere and back, yes. She’d been too high on lust to ever ask what he did for a living.
When he’d asked if she’d wanted a lick in the crease of her elbow, she’d moaned her consent. When he’d said to give it to him, she’d opened her whole body and given him a free pass to every pleasure zone, and each time he’d rung her bell, she’d hit the jackpot. There wasn’t a night that had passed by when she didn’t fantasize about making love to Ben. Sometimes she was the aggressor and other days he totally possessed her. Those nights, a cool shower was needed to cool her feminine energy.
Last week she’d broken down and gone to an adult store and bought a sex toy that she thought was close to his size and length. Zoe looked away from Ben, embarrassed. Yesterday she’d thrown it away. Nothing compared to the real thing, and now that she was looking at him, nothing ever would.
Maintaining her composure, she acknowledged him. “I remember your brother.” She looked back at Ben and several curls came to rest against her MAC lip gloss. She slowly peeled the hair away from her mouth.
Ben sucked his teeth and muttered, “How well I remember.”
She faltered, with Rob approaching from the right and Ben closing in from the left. Rob was a step ahead and her palm met his first. “Rob, I won’t take up much of your time.” She turned to Ben and couldn’t quite meet his gaze. But she saw the pulse beating above the white collar of his shirt. Her tongue had been there.
“Zoe,” Ben said. “Long time no hear.” He made it sound as if each word weighed a hundred pounds.
He captured her left hand and held it, leaving it up to her to take it back. Damn him.
“Good to see you, too,” she managed. “I’m here because I need your help, please. It shouldn’t take too much time.”
“Take as long as you need,” Ben said. The same words had been issued that night, when she’d told him it took a long time for her to come.
Her legs seemed to have a mind of their own, but Zoe made herself stand still. The portfolio she’d been carrying slipped from her hand and papers scattered. Ben and Rob bent to retrieve them.
There was no denying it. The twins could pass for guards on any professional basketball team. They were tall, handsome, dark-skinned men with beautiful smiles, short haircuts and big hands.
The magic for Zoe had been in Ben’s eyes. Almost as soon as she’d looked at him the night of the party, she’d known she would know him, and once she’d heard his voice and experienced his intelligence, she’d known she’d have him. The White Linen Party had been an auction and wine-tasting party designed to raise money for local animal shelters, and Ben had bid against her several times for exotic vacations. He’d gotten so bold, he’d come to stand beside her and bid. She’d found his boldness alluring and for the remainder of the night, he’d held her rapt attention. He’d