Page 23 of Callan

“Keep track of her?” I mutter, looking at the money. “I’m notthatnosy,” I say, tipping my chin to the cash, suggesting he needs to increase his bid.

He pushes out a quiet laugh.

“All right…” he drawls, reaching for the rest of the money. “What about this?” he asks, adding three more one hundred dollar bills. “Would this make you nosy enough?”

Our eyes meet again.

“Huh?” he murmurs, tenderly moving his fingers over my cheek. “I guess yes,” he adds, pushing the extra cash inside my bra.

The bills are cold, but his touch is warm, exciting the nerve endings dormant in my skin.

“Why are you so interested in what she does? You already know what she’s up to. She does it with you every damn evening.”

He presses his lips together, crushing a smile, wickedly entertained.

“I’m just curious like you,” he says.

I finger his chest.

“I don’t buy it. Truthfully, why do you care? She’s not faithful to her husband. And she’s not faithful to you. Do you really need to know whether she’s seeing other men or not?”

His smile fades, and his eyes darken, an invisible door closing over his good disposition.

It may have been an act on his part, after all.

“Just keep track of her. That’s all you need to do,” he says in a bossy tone.

His stern look makes me pause and mull over his words.

“And how am I supposed to get in touch with you?”

“Don’t worry about that. I know where you live,” he says, straightening.

I don’t like the sound of that.

What if he’s not happy with the information I collect for him? What if there isn’t much information to begin with?

This involves a lot of risks.Risks I prefer to avoid.

“I need more than five hundred bucks if you want me to do work for you,” I say, holding my hand out for more cash.

His eyebrows lift, intrigued.

“Five hundred is not enough for doing what you’ve been doing anyway for free?”

“Are you going to be difficult now?” I retort with sass. “That was before I met you. What you’re asking from me incurs a lot of risks, and I don’t know who you are orwhat exactly you are doing with the information. For sure, it’s not about you being in love with her. That much I know. Plus, her old man is a little nuts. What do I know? She seemingly likes crazies a lot.”

His upper lip trembles with a barely stifled smile.

“You know nothing about crazy people,” he tosses back at me. “I’m sure your little'old man’didn’t rock your world. If he did, you’d bust his balls now, not mine.”

He moves his hand to the belt and traces one of the seams for a secret pocket.

“He dumped you for another woman, didn’t he?”

My heart drops, and my cheeks are about to melt off.

I stand stiff, with my lips tightly pressed together.

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