Fair Game Inc (2010) by Stephanie Bedwell-Grime Read Free Book Online Page B

of the conversation, any way, she hadnAEt realized how snide that sounded.
    oSure do.o
    If Heck was making a point, she wished heAEd get to it.
    oIAEm in for quite a few out of pocket expenses,o Heck said at last.
    Amber groaned inwardly. Like she wasnAEt.
    oMaybe youAEd like to reimburse me for all that preliminary work, that way we could kind of work together on it.o
    So that was it. Heck wanted a cut. Even if she had the money, slimy James Heck, proprietor of Heck, Sleuth and Company would not be her choice of a collaborator. Truth was she didnAEt have a dime to spare. Not that sheAEd tell the competition that.
    oThanks for the offer, James, but IAEve already done my own preliminary.o
    oFigured you would.o
    Amber launched herself away from the wall, forcing Heck to follow her if he wanted to keep talking. The longer she fended off proposals from James Heck, the more chance she had of being discovered. oListen, I was just on my way somewhere....o Amber looked around for his car, but the parking lot was virtually empty. oDo you need a lift?o
    oAh, no.o The question took Heck by surprise, as if heAEd been lost in thought. Or taking her refusal very badly. oBut I was wondering something else....o
    Please go away, Amber prayed silently. DonAEt ask me anything else. The irony of James Heck thinking she was so successful he could cash in on her action almost made her laugh. For all his sleazy antics, at the moment Fair Game, Inc. wasnAEt doing any better than Heck, Sleuth and Co. If she hadnAEt had Heck in the flesh to deal with, she might have laughed out loud. With a heavy sigh, Amber turned to face him. oWhat is it, James?o
    oI was wonderinga.o He let the sentence trail off, giving Amber a sinking suspicion of the real reason heAEd tailed her to her own surveillance.
    oYes, James?o
    oSince IAEm the one out of pocket here....o He paused again. Her stomach tightened with tension. oWell, IAEd forgive you if youAEd go out with me on Saturday,o he finished in a rush.
    Only James Heck would accuse a woman of theft and then ask her out, Amber thought darkly. HeAEd made an equally awkward proposition at the association Christmas party. Rumor had it heAEd propositioned every woman there. And only James Heck of the firm his colleagues laughingly called Heck, Sleaze and Co., would suggest she owed him a romantic favor for his loss of a contract.
    oSorry James, IAEve already made plans.o
    oSome other time then?o
    Unfortunately a guy like James Heck would never take some other time as the brush off it was. Some other time would become every other time they met.
    oI donAEt think so, James.o
    He took her refusal in characteristic bad grace. oYou seeing someone?o
    oThatAEs none of your concern.o The words sounded harsh, even through the filter of her annoyance. In truth, there hadnAEt been anyone for a long time. That fact she certainly wasnAEt going to share with James Heck.
    oGuess not.o Without so much as a backward glance, Heck turned and walked away in the other direction. Must have parked his car on the street somewhere.
    oIAEll let you know if I hear of anything,o she called after him. Heck nodded, but kept walking.
    For several agonizing minutes she watched him leave, until he disappeared around a bend in the road. Her heart drummed a staccato beat. Amber glanced back at the building behind her. No one came to investigate. The blinds to all the windows were firmly shut. She heaved a sigh of relief.
    That was close. If Heck showed up a couple of minutes before, sheAEd be explaining her presence there to the police. But for once fate had played into her hands.
    And Amber Shaw had landed herself another lucrative contract.

Fair Game Inc (2010)

    ****
    Her exhilaration died as soon as she stepped through the door of Barlow & Charles.
    Angry voices drifted down the corridor, GraysonAEs and an older manAEs. Amber let herself in quietly. Taking a seat at the secretaryAEs desk, she reached for the last stack of files awaiting organization.