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“I’ll speak to Penelope and let you know when she can meet with you.”
“Did you get that phone fixed?”
She tugged on the end of her scarf. “My grandfather insisted on a phone in every room. I’ve checked all of them and can’t find the one that’s off the hook.”
The thought of her stomping through every room in that apartment to check the phones had me fighting a smile. Probably with each one that wasn’t off the hook, her irritation ramped up.
“It’s not funny,” she said as her lips twitched.
“It kind of is. How many phones are in that apartment?” The laugh I tried to contain burst out.
“I might as well unplug the lines from the wall.” Her shoulders shook as her smile broke free.
She’s beautiful when she smiles.
I hadn’t meant to think that. I hadn’t meant to notice. Now that I had, I couldn’t unnotice.
The smile fell when she caught me staring.
“So what you’re telling me is you’re unreachable.” What was new? She had been from the time we’d left the Hamptons that Labor Day weekend.
“I have a repairman scheduled to come out.” The stiffness was back in her tone.
“I’ll be by later. Make sure the doorman knows I’m on the list.” I sure as hell didn’t want a repeat of last night. Except the part where she chased me. I liked that. A little too much.
“I-I should go.”
“Do you feel like taking a walk?” I pushed out of my chair and put my suit jacket on. I needed to meet with a private investigator on another case in an hour and could use the air to clear my head.
“I have things to do.” She looked down at her feet.
“The whales or the plants or whomever is next on your list to save can wait thirty minutes.” I motioned with my head toward the door. “Come on.”
“Don’t patronize me.”
I stopped abruptly and leveled her with a look. “I wouldn’t dare.”
To my surprise, she followed me out of my office, and once we were out of the building, she fell in step beside me.
“Did Alma say anything to you about the divorce?”
I’d hardly slept after the unwelcome visit from my nearly ex-wife. She was smart. She always had an angle. And for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out what it was.
“That she needed the best lawyer and unfortunately she was divorcing him.”
“She said that yesterday?”
“Yes. Why?” She put her hands in the pockets of her coat.
I drew in a deep breath. “When I got back to my apartment last night, she was there.”
I shouldn’t tell JoJo anything. She was the enemy’s sister. Hell, shewasthe enemy.
“Alma?” she asked incredulously.
A smart response was on the tip of my tongue, but she sounded as flabbergasted as I felt.
“Yeah.”
