Page 86 of Mr. Flirt

She shook her head. “Nothing more than any other couple. We’d get in little arguments about his spending money at the casino or not coming home on time.”

I nodded, taking notes. “How much did he take from your bank accounts?”

“I was a good saver,” she said, twisting her tissue. “He took about seventy-five thousand from our joint savings account and ten from our checking.”

I nodded. “Did he tell you he was going to do that?”

She let out a distorted sob and shook her head. “I came home one day and noticed that all of his clothes were missing from his side of the closet, and he took everything of his from the dresser too. I froze when I realized what I was actually seeing. I ran into the kitchen, and everything looked normal. I looked over at the family room and saw he’d taken the flat-screen television, gaming consoles, and his favorite chair.”

“Was there a note?” I asked.

“Nothing.” She let out a deep breath. “As I stood in the kitchen, completely dumbfounded, a thought occurred to me that I should check our bank accounts, so I logged in on the phone and saw that he’d left like a buck in the savings account and about three hundred dollars in the checking.”

“When did this event happen?”

“Last Thursday.”

“And you’re sure there wasn’t someone else?”

“I don’t know anymore.”

“How’d you find out he went to Colorado?”

“His plane ticket automatically populated into our shared calendar, and I was able to see a cashier’s check cut to a moving company. I called them, and they confirmed where they were moving the items to.”

I smiled and nodded. “Nice work.”

“So, there wasn’t a big event that led to this or an out-of-the-ordinary fight?”

She shook her head. “No, but I noticed he was getting antsy. He’d come home from work and barely talk to me. He spent a lot of time on his phone.”

There is someone else, and I’d be willing to bet she’s in Colorado.

“Well, I have good news and bad news, but let’s start with the good news.”

Leslie dabbed tears away and nodded as I went into explaining her options, how we would get the money back, and what to expect in the future. Relief slowly crept over her features by the end of our appointment, but I felt worse.

A lot worse.

By the time I’d said goodbye to Leslie, I had closed the door and collapsed on the chaise.

Not because her case was any more difficult than any others.

But because it struck a nerve.

This was exactly the problem with trying to date while I handled the breakup of everyone else’s marriages. The parallels were uncanny. I had a giant red flag waving right in front of me on our first date. He’d lied to me. Sure, he confessed, but why would he think that was okay in the first place? And he never hid the fact that he wasn’t into relationships.

And yet here I was, about to play into his hands.

What if it were all a game?

Why was I willing to suddenly put common sense aside and fall into his trap?

I hung my head in my hands and let out a low groan of annoyance.

Having parameters where we both knew what we were getting into was perfectly settling. I knew I couldn’t allow myself to fall for Mr. Flirt. I’d just use him for his expertise and move on with my idea of one-and-dones all over town. What he came up with on Friday night was completely unsettling, and worse yet, we hadn’t seen one another since. It was now Monday, and on Friday night, we’d decided to scrap the three nights a week and let things naturally fall where they may.

Except nothing fell into place.

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