He nods and heads to the bar to buy my drink, while I contemplate how weird my life has become. Yesterday I almost pulled an unloaded gun on him—not that he knows that—and today he’s buying me a drink. He knows more about my life than I do right now, and it’s messing with my head.
Constance.
In this moment I’m glad that I came here alone, because I know that no one is going to like this idea, my parents especially. Wade has always been one to use whatever and whoever he can to get what he wants—usually money, or so I’ve heard—and it could be that he’s using his daughter to get something he wants now.
Is this a plan of theirs, or am I just jaded?
“You look worried. Is everything okay?” Decker asks, his gaze locked on me. He has beautiful green eyes, like the ocean, framed in thick dark lashes.
He slides me my beer and I expel a deep sigh. “I haven’t seen my sperm donor since I was six years old, and he is a deadbeat. So just wondering what his daughter is going to be like.”
His eyes widen, and he nods in understanding. “You don’t have to see her if you don’t want to.”
“I know. I have an idea—what if I hire you to find dirt on her? Can you do that?” I ask.
“Wow, you have trust issues, don’t you?”
“I’m serious.”
“I could run a background check on her. What exactly am I looking for?”
“I want to know if she’s genuine. If she really wants to meet me, or if she just wants something from me.”
“Major trust issues,” he mutters.
I ignore that. “It’s not a conflict of interest?”
He laughs under his breath. “Like I said, I work for myself. I can finish my job for Constance, which I have since I’ve found you, and then I can start working for you.”
“You switch loyalties like that all the time?” I ask, unable to stop myself.
He shakes his head. “No, when I’m loyal to someone, I’m loyal as fuck. This is business, though, and you seem like a nice woman, which I’m surprised that I’m saying considering you almost pulled a gun on me yesterday.”
I flash my teeth at him. “When are you going to let that go? And I’m not one to mess with. Best that you know that now.”
“I can see that.”
“But neither are you,” I admit. I can sense that. I’ve been around deadly men my entire life. A wolf can smell a wolf. And Decker is a pack leader. An alpha.
“You’re smart, too,” he replies, glancing away and taking a drink.
I don’t know why we are sitting here, having this conversation. We just met. I don’t know him, or know how trustworthy he is. Yet I find myself feeling comfortable. A little too comfortable.
“When do you head back?” I ask.
“Tomorrow. You know, it’s sad, but this has been the closest thing I’ve had to a vacation in a long time,” he admits. “And I’m not even far from home.”
“That is sad.” I grin and look down at his hand. There’s no ring there, but he must have a woman to go home to.
Why am I thinking about this?
I clear my throat and look toward the stage as a band starts to play some sexy, chill jazz music. “Why did you leave the police force?”
“You still don’t believe me?” he asks, amusement flashing in his gaze.
I shrug but say nothing.
“It’s a long story.”
He’s clearly not going to give that away, and I hate that I’m curious. “You can ask me something.”
He arches his brow. “Okay. Why isn’t your boyfriend here keeping an eye out on you? Did you even tell him what’s going on?”
I purse my lips. I don’t want to talk about Rhett with him, or admit that no, I did not tell him what’s going on. Shittiest Girlfriend of the Year Award goes to me. “I didn’t want to worry him, so no, I did not. Your turn.”
He nods slowly. “I helped a friend of mine exonerate someone who was convicted of murder, the cops found out I shared confidential information, and I was told I was not going to get my promotion. I needed a change, so I left.”
“That’s not what I was expecting,” I admit.
So he’s not here to find shit on the Wind Dragons. Good to know.
“How did you and Felix get along as partners?” I mentally tell myself to ask Felix, but I want to hear Decker’s perspective. Felix is one of those straight-shooter, do-gooder type of guys who is actually very loyal and trustworthy. If Felix likes this guy, then that is saying something.
Decker smiles a megawatt smile, and I’m momentarily blinded by his good looks. You have a boyfriend, Cara. “Felix is my boy. I was paired with him shortly after Clover left the force, and things were great. He is a really levelheaded guy.”
We chat a little more, finish our drinks, and I throw some money on the table for mine. Decker looks at me like I’ve insulted him.
I grin. “What? This wasn’t a date. You don’t have to pay for me.”
“It doesn’t matter what it is. If I’m here, I’m paying,” he grumbles, adding more money on top of mine just to make a statement.
I shake my head at him, amused. “Well, it was nice to meet you.”
“Come on, I’ll walk you to your car,” he says, and we both walk out together, like it was a date. It’s not a date, Cara. You have a boyfriend.
“Did you mean that?” he asks, as I open my car door and sit inside.
“What?”
“That it was nice to meet me?”
I close the door, turn the car on and lower my window, looking out at him. “I don’t say anything I don’t mean.”
He smiles, and I drive off.
Chapter Five
Decker
What the fuck was that?
Sitting in my car, I try to process everything that just happened. I’ve never had a mark turn into a client and want information on my original client. I call Nadia and ask her if this is a thing and how ethical it is.
I can hear her amusement on the other end. “Surprisingly, no, this has never happened to me. What are you going to do?”
“What do you think I should do?”
“Decker, you make the rules. You found Cara, which is all you were asked to do. The job for Constance is done. If Cara wants to hire you, that’s up to you.”