“Look.” He glanced toward the house. “I’d prefer you keep this to yourself. I’d like to keep the Winthorpe Tech reputation as clean as possible during—”
I placed my hand on his arm. “Don’t worry about it. I’m good at keeping secrets.” I held his gaze and hoped he saw the opening in the words.
“Are you?” His gaze dropped to my lips, then flipped back to my eyes.
My stomach tightened in anticipation. So close. Chess pieces, moving into place. But I had to be careful. Very, very, careful. “My loyalties are with you. If you want something to stay between us, it will.”
“Good to know.” He straightened, and I backed away before he had a chance to.
Halfway up the porch, I paused, turning to face him. “You know, I’ve been working with every employee of Winthorpe, except for you.”
A lock of hair fell over his forehead, a break in the precise exterior he always presented. “There’s a reason for that. I don’t need any help.”
“Well, just think about it.” I held his gaze. “Some one-on-one sessions might do us both a lot of good.”
The front door swung open behind me, and I turned, flinching when Cat Winthorpe stepped out on the porch.
“Oh, Neena.” She brightened and gave me a sunny smile. “Have you seen William? Teddy Formont is looking for him.”
I turned, but the Lamborghini was alone, her husband gone. I shrugged. “Haven’t seen him.”
“Damn.” She turned back. “I’ll head upstairs. If you see him, will you tell him to find Teddy?”
“Absolutely.” I smiled as she turned, her dark hair bouncing as she breezed through the door, off to find her husband.
Compared to me, she was bland. A pretty face with nothing behind the facade. William saw it, just as I did.
It was why he was edging toward me, calculating the risks and weighing them against the temptation.
Her blandness was why I would win.
NEENA
Now
The detective peered at me over the edge of her black notepad. “I must say, in the last two years, you’ve become one of our most interesting residents. Your husband and you started in a conservative three-bedroom in Palo Alto but eighteen months later made a sizable upgrade and moved into Atherton. Is that correct?”
I nodded.
“And you work at Winthorpe Tech—or rather, used to work at Winthorpe Tech.”
“That’s correct.” I fought to keep my mouth from twisting into a snarl.
“And prior to Winthorpe, you were at Plymouth Industries.” She paused, and I kept my mouth shut. “You started out as the executive assistant for Ned Plymouth, but were promoted to”—she flipped through her notes—“team business coach after a few months.” She pronounced the title as if it were distasteful. “Is that correct?”
“Yes.” If she thought I was going to elaborate on that, she was wrong.
“Did you receive a raise when you were promoted?”
“Yes.” I pulled at the neck of my shirt, irritated with this line of questioning and well aware of what she was about to imply. The promotion had been quick, my raise substantial. Detective Cullen hadn’t been the only person to draw jagged lines between the actions—she was just the first one uncouth enough to verbalize it.
“Neena, this is going to take a lot longer if you keep giving me single-syllable answers.” The detective sighed, as if this investigation was taking up too much of her time.
She probably had a granola bar to finish eating, or a lesbian wife in cargo pants who was waiting for her at a coffee shop, expectantly tapping her Mickey Mouse watch.
“Elaborate. How much did your salary increase when you were promoted?”
“I don’t know offhand.” I shifted in the hard plastic seat. “I would say that my income doubled.”