Snoops in the City (A Romantic Comedy) Read online

  "That's exactly what I'm going to do," she told Ms. M.

  From the noises on the other end of the line, it sounded as though the other woman were clapping.

  After Tori hung up, she looked up the phone number for City Hall.

  She didn't seriously believe Grady was involved in illegal dealings but needed to rule out the possibility now that Ms. M had raised it.

  She ignored the nagging, internal voice that claimed Ms. M wouldn't have paid to have Grady investigated if there were nothing to find.

  Ms. M was obviously a businesswoman. She dressed as if she had money and had placed her last call from a private office. Maybe Ms. M needed a builder and didn't want to commit to hiring Palmer Construction until she was sure the company's dealings were aboveboard.

  Then she would have hired Sassenbury Investigations to look into the company, the little voice said, not the man.

  "Shut up," she told the little voice.

  Grady was a good man. She felt it. She knew it. And now she might be able to prove it.

  She dialed the mayor's office and identified herself. Within a moment, Honoria Black came on the line.

  "Mayor Black, it's Tori Whitley. Remember when you said I should call if you could ever do anything for me? I hope you were serious, because I need a job."

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Lorelei held the bag of Lazenby products she'd bought at the Macy's cosmetics counter with her left hand as she strode through the store. Over her right arm was the requisite little black dress she'd found in the women's department.

  She had other black dresses. What fashion-conscious young woman didn't? None of the others were backless, which had made this dress a must have.

  Her high heels clicking on the shiny, white floor and her mind full of the sexy way she'd looked in the dress, she strode through the store with the confidence that came from familiarity.

  Her head swiveled from side to side, checking for new merchandise, forever on the lookout for that certain something she couldn't do without.

  Thanks to corporate America's greatest consumer tool — the credit card — she seldom denied herself. Count her as grateful the banks never asked for more than a minimum monthly payment.

  The children's department occupied the rear of the store, next to the exit leading to the parking garage. The racks of tiny clothing usually served as Lorelei's signal to pick up the pace.

  She accelerated, glancing toward the clothes only out of sheer habit. A darling green dress, its hem and neckline decorated with tiny daisies, halted her forward progress.

  She veered, not stopping until she got to the miniature dress. She set down her bag of cosmetics and fingered the material, a soft cotton that would feel luxurious against the skin. The dress also came in a pale yellow that reminded her of hot buttered popcorn.

  "Have you ever seen anything more precious than that dress? A bit pricey, I know, but well worth the cost."

  Lorelei hadn't been aware of the saleslady's approach until the woman stood next to her. She looked to be in her thirties, with a practiced smile and a killer dress Lorelei remembered seeing on sale last month in career clothing.

  The cloth of the child's dress slid through Lorelei's fingers, along with the price tag at which she hadn't glanced.

  "Who is it for?" the saleslady asked.

  "Oh, no," Lorelei said. "You don't understand. I was just. . . It's not for. . ."

  She clamped her mouth shut, mildly surprised she couldn't communicate to the saleslady that she didn't have anyone in mind.

  She started to explain again, only to be stopped by a mental vision of two tiny green-eyed, blond girls wearing the dresses.

  "They're for my boyfriend's twin daughters. They're three and about the same size as that little girl over there." She indicated a small girl clutching onto her mother's skirt. "Help me decide on a size, and I'll take two of them. One in green, one in yellow."

  Lorelei added tiny white purses, frilly white socks and pretty green-and-yellow barrettes to her purchases.

  She felt quite smug by the time she pulled up to the immaculate ranch-style house where Wade Morrison lived with his adorable daughters.

  If I was as self-absorbed as he claimed, she thought as she gathered up the packages and slammed the car door, I never would have bought gifts for his girls.

  She imagined his reaction when he opened the door and saw her. Surprise. Pleasure. Apprehension. She was ready for it all.

  He'd probably be adorably confused as to how she knew he lived in this charming, older Seahaven neighborhood even though anyone with internet access could find these things out with the click of a mouse.

  She gazed down at herself before ringing the doorbell. Her khaki miniskirt wasn't knock-your-socks-off sexy but her red top clung quite nicely to her ample breasts. The heels of her sandals were high enough to show off her calf definition and she was enjoying a good hair day.

  All in all, not a bad showing considering she hadn't planned to come calling on Wade Morrison today.

  She stepped over a plastic Barbie car in bubblegum pink and a Ken doll who'd not only been stripped naked but decapitated and rang the doorbell.

  The flirtatious smile died on her lips at the sight of a brown-skinned, frazzled-looking girl who was probably still in high school. Her short dark hair, unbecomingly styled to begin with, stuck out in three or four directions. A large brown spot that smelled like chocolate milk stained the dolphins that leapt on the front of her white T-shirt.

  "Hi, is Wade home?" Lorelei ventured, afraid she might have the wrong house. The girl was too young to be romantically involved with Wade, and her darker coloring made it unlikely that she was a relative.

  "No," the girl snapped. "But I'll give you twenty dollars if you can tell me where he went."

  Ah, the babysitter.

  "He didn't leave a number?" Lorelei asked.

  "He left his cell number, but he's not answering."

  A thunderous booming came from the stairs, sounding like the front end of a stampede. Whatever was coming down the steps had to be powerful, large or. . . a pair of three-year-olds.

  Lorelei peeked into the house. M.K. had written on herself with pink magic marker. She'd probably sucked on the end of the marker, too, because pink rimmed her mouth. Ash didn't have a mark on her. Neither did she have on panties.

  When the twins saw Lorelei, they picked up the pace and ran toward her full tilt.

  "Chop, chop!" M.K. jumped up and down with what looked like glee before taking Lorelei's hand and pulling her into the house.

  "Hey, M.K.," Lorelei said, bending over to put down her Macy's bags and to rustle the hair on the top of the child’s blond head.

  "You can tell them apart?" the babysitter asked incredulously.

  "Sure, it's easy. M.K.'s eyes are more mischievous, aren't they, sweetie?" She turned to the little girl's sister. "Ash, what happened to your underwear?"

  "Had an accident," the little girl announced cheerfully. Lorelei got a whiff of something and noticed the back of Ash's shirt was soaked.

  "Whoa.” She backed up a step.

  "It wasn't an accident," the babysitter said. "She did it on purpose."

  "Hey," Lorelei said. "That's a nasty thing to say."

  "They're nasty children," the babysitter said.

  "They are not! You take that back this instant."

  "I take it you've never babysat them, then. They don't listen to a word I say."

  "They're three!"

  "They're impossible. Once Mr. Morrison gets home, I'm never babysitting them again."

  "Why wait until he gets home?" Lorelei shot back. "I'm here now. Go if that's the way you feel."

  Resignation instantly replaced the leap of hope that had entered the girl's dark eyes at Lorelei’s offer. She ruffled her already messy hair and suddenly looked about sixteen, which was probably her age. She also looked miserable.

  "I can't. I know you think I'm terrible because of what I just said, but I'm not
a bad person. Really I'm not. I can't leave the twins here with a stranger."

  Just like that, Lorelei's anger at the girl faded. She'd obviously gotten herself into a situation she couldn't handle, which had certainly happened enough times to Lorelei.

  "Want Lei Lei," M.K. said.

  "Lei Lei," Ash echoed, jumping up and down and stomping her size-nothing feet.

  "I'm not a stranger," Lorelei assured the girl. "I'm . . . Wade's girlfriend. You can leave the twins with me. I could tell them apart, couldn't I?"

  "That's true," the girl said slowly. "You don't think Mr. Morrison will be mad?"

  "He won't be mad," Lorelei said with more assurance than she felt. "Don't worry. I can handle the girls no problem."

  The babysitter didn't have to be told again. She picked up her key ring from a table in the foyer and dashed out the door.

  "Thanks," she called.

  When she was gone, Lorelei smiled down at the two little girls and tamped down abject terror.

  Why had she said she could handle M.K. and Ash? Nobody had ever trusted her enough to leave her alone with any child before, let alone two little, blond gremlins.

  "Okay, Ash," she said with false bravado, "I guess the first thing we do is clean you up."

  "Me, too," M.K. piped up.

  "You can wait," Lorelei said, taking Ash by the hand.

  "Can't," M.K. said.

  "Why not?" Lorelei asked.

  M.K. pointed to the carpet, which had a purple spot on it that was slowly spreading outward. The lid was off her now-empty sippy cup, and grape juice streamed down her legs.

  "I spill," she said.

  ***

  THE STREET LIGHT TURNED from green to yellow but the rear lights on the car in front of Wade's Volvo didn't glow red. Wade stamped on his brakes, cursing at himself under his breath for not following the car through the intersection.

  He didn't have the girls along, but the curse word he used was darn. That's how being a father changed you. He used to at least let loose the occasional damn.

  But, heck, swearing set a bad example.

  He tapped the steering wheel, impatiently waiting for the light to turn green.

  The meeting with Ned Weimer, the mayor's Chief of Staff, had gone better than expected even though finding a babysitter had been dicey as usual.

  The girls gave babysitters such a hard time that he'd yet to come across one who would agree to a repeat performance. Tonight he had a new guinea pig, the daughter of one of his neighbor's friends.

  "Don't worry," the new girl had told him before he'd left. "Mary Kate and Ashley will be fine with me."

  He'd worried anyway, his mind as much on what might be happening at home as it had been on the Chief of Staff's proposition.

  The new babysitter came with a solid recommendation but she'd seemed awfully young. On the few occasions he needed to be away from the girls in the evening, he preferred leaving them with a more mature care giver.

  Everything at home was probably fine. The babysitter would have rung his cell phone if it weren't.

  Even though the phone had been quiet all night, he unfastened it from the clip on his belt to reassure himself that he had no messages. The screen was blank. He pressed the power button but nothing happened.

  The infernal thing acted as though it had lost its charge, which was impossible. He religiously put it on the charger each night to prevent this from happening. Yet the phone was still dead.

  A car horn blared behind him, alerting him the light had turned green. He checked in both directions for traffic before pressing his foot on the accelerator. Kicking himself for not checking the phone earlier, he did the maximum speed limit all the way home.

  A sporty red Miati sat at a cockeyed angle in the driveway. The personalized license plate read 2hot4U. Hadn't the babysitter arrived in a battered green Chevy?

  He scrambled out of his Volvo and instantly knew something wasn't right by the muted sound of rap music. He listened closer. It seemed to be coming from his house.

  A lump of fear clogged his throat. He broke into a run, burst through the door and stepped on something. His right leg shot forward. He stiffened his left arm like a clothesline to prevent a full-body slam against the wall.

  Breathing hard, he glanced down at his feet. The wooden dalmatian from the movie with one hundred and one of them perched on its side. He recognized it as the pull toy Mary Kate dragged around the house with a red string.

  The dalmatian had plenty of company. Ready to trip the unexpecting was a shabby, one-eyed teddy bear, a nerf ball with a bite taken out of it and a half-bald Raggedy Ann doll.

  Not far from the balding doll, part of the beige carpet was purple. Grape juice, if he weren't mistaken.

  Now that he was inside the house, the music was louder with an occasional blip signaling the radio station had edited the lyrics. He heard something in addition to the rap music and the blips. Voices. Three of them singing along with the lyrics.

  The first two sounded more noisy than musical, especially since the singers knew none of the words. Mary Kate and Ashley.

  The third voice was rich and beautiful, managing to sound in key even though in Wade's opinion rap music had no melody.

  He straightened from the wall, stepped over the toys and followed the beauty of the woman's voice.

  He spotted Mary Kate and Ashley first. Mary Kate was curiously dressed in a fancy green dress he'd never seen before but Ashley wore only underwear and a T-shirt. Their tiny feet were bare.

  They ran circles around a bleached blonde with a killer body who knew how to gyrate. Her eyes were closed, her arms raised above her head as she rapped along with the music.

  Lorelei Palmer.

  None of the three females heard his approach over the loud music, leaving him free to watch.

  His panic was gone but he had a hard time controlling his breathing. The material of one of those tight shirts Lorelei liked to wear strained against her breasts, instantly making him picture her naked.

  He hadn't taken a woman to bed since his divorce nearly two years before. He'd been too busy with the twins to make the time. She did a sinuous bump and grind that sent his blood pressure into the stratosphere. He wanted to make the time now.

  The music ended. Her eyes blinked open and locked with his before he could pull a shutter over his desire. She smiled long and slow. The tip of her tongue appeared between her ruby lips, moistening the lower one.

  Heat shot straight to his groin. She shook out her hair, thrust forth her breasts, arched her eyebrows and silently told him she knew exactly what effect she had on him.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  "Daddy!" Mary Kate's shrill voice broke the sensual mood. She ran at him full tilt, followed by her sister.

  Mary Kate took a flying leap when she'd almost reached him. Wade caught her easily, swinging her up in his arms. Ashley clutched at his leg.

  "Me want daddy, too," she said.

  He ruffled her hair while enduring the sloppy kisses Mary Kate plastered on his cheek. Then he bent down to deposit Mary Kate on the floor. Ashley immediately assaulted his other cheek with kisses

  "Now that's the kind of greeting a man could get used to," he said, laughing.

  "Maybe I should come over there, too," Lorelei said in a husky voice. "Except it wouldn't be your cheek I aimed for."

  Her gaze did a slow slide up his body, touching on various body parts before settling on his lips. The heat blasted him again. He willed it not to reach his face but felt a blush rise from his neck. She grinned. Darnit.

  He stood, pushing his glasses up his nose to give himself time to get under control. It wasn't enough time.

  "Hello, Lorelei," he said. "What are you doing here?"

  She turned off the music, thrust her lower lip out in a pretty pout, then sashayed across the room toward him.

  "What kind of greeting is that? I'd suggest something more along the lines of, 'Hot damn. It's good to see you, babe.'"

 
"Hot damn," Mary Kate repeated.

  "Damn," said Ashley.

  "Don't swear, girls," Wade chastised, raising a scolding eyebrow at Lorelei. Even as he lifted it, he wondered when he'd become so uptight. "I don't refer to women as babes.”

  She walked toward him in such a way that all her attributes swayed. "Then can I call you babe? Because that's what you are."

  He swallowed, trying to get control of the heat rushing toward him as though released from a furnace. A cold shower seemed in order but rushing for the bathroom would be inappropriate.

  "You haven't told me what you're doing here," he reminded her.

  "I'm babysitting. I told the girl you hired she could leave. She seemed nice enough, but I wouldn't recommend that you call her again."

  "Of course I'm not calling her again. She left the girls with you when she'd never seen you before."

  "Cut her a break," Lorelei said. "She thought I was your girlfriend."

  He felt the blood drain from his face.

  "Oh, don't look like that. Even if I hadn't said so, she would have jumped to that conclusion because of all the presents I brought."

  He arched an eyebrow. "Presents?"

  "I was in Macy's and couldn't resist!” If shopping made her this excited, he wondered what sex would do to her. Stop it, he scolded himself. “M.K., show your Daddy what I got you."

  "Pretty dress," Mary Kate said, executing a pirouette. Ashley followed her sister's example, spinning round and round until the two girls twirled like tops.

  "I got Ash a yellow one just like it, but she took it off almost immediately,” Lorelei said. “She says she likes to be naked but I made her put on panties and a T-shirt."

  "You shouldn't have bought them anything," Wade said. "It's not their birthday."

  Lorelei laughed, showing even white teeth. "If I had to wait until somebody's birthday to go shopping, I'd kill myself."

  The twirling girls collapsed on the floor, laughing hysterically.