Page 40 of Not Mine To Love

He didn’t smile as I approached. Instead, he crossed his arms over his chest and watched me without expression. I couldn’t read his face. I couldn’t read his eyes. For once, he wasn’t an open book. I couldn’t read his emotions. Uh oh. This wasn’t going to be good.

I gave him a watery smile which he didn’t return.

“Hi,” I said, suddenly forgetting my plan and what I was going to say to him.

“Hi, now tell me why you’re following me.”

6

I wanted to jump in my car and pretend this night never happened. Darn it. I shouldn’t have been so greedy and taken this stupid assignment. I should have just told Leona that I was too busy. And now I had to face the consequences.

“I’m not following you,” I blurted out. Yes, lying. That was a good place to start. Now I just needed to be convincing.

He tilted a brow. “Oh really? So you just happened to be parked across the street at the coffee house several days in a row, and you just so happened to be here tonight?”

Wow. I wasn’t as stealth as I thought.

“I uhhh... I wasn’t following you. I was trying to follow your friend. I thought maybe he would be hanging out with you.” I felt proud of myself for coming up with such a convincing lie so quickly.

“And why exactly were you following him then?”

Half-truth time. “I do some freelance work for a local P.I sometimes. And I was hired to follow your friend around.”

“Hired by who?”

I shrugged and lied, “I don’t know. My employer didn’t share too much info. You know... privacy reasons.”

He considered that for a moment, and when he finally spoke it wasn’t what I wanted to hear. “I don’t believe you. Try again. Did Claire hire you?”

“Nooooo,” I said, probably a bit too forcefully. “Why would you think that? That’s ridiculous. I don’t... I mean... I barely know her.”

He continued to study me. “I have all night,” he said. “So spill it. Tell me who you are and why you’re following me.”

“I’m Becca… as you already know...” I was stalling and didn’t know what I was talking about. I just figured if I talked enough I could get myself out of this mess.

“So that’s really your name? You didn’t lie about that; you’re just lying about everything else.”

“No.”

“Try again.”

His voice was cold. And I felt like crying. I hated confrontation. And I hated that it looked like he didn’t trust me. Well, he didn’t trust me. He didn’t even know me.

“So, let me guess: Claire paid you to follow me? And she probably arranged for that little blonde to throw herself at me.”

I didn’t say a word. I didn’t know what to say.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to confirm it. It’s clear. So did she think she would catch me cheating or something? And how long have you been following me?”

“Not long.” I felt so stupid. This was my chance to explain myself, yet I couldn't say much at all.

“It’s not what you think,” I said, trying again.

“Then explain. Go ahead. I’m a patient man.”

“She was just worried about Ana, and I really needed the money.”

He was silent for a long moment and then said, “How much is she paying you? I would like to know exactly how much my privacy being violated is worth.”