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It would also keep her in my life until I found a way to…keep her in my life.
My phone pinged with two texts from Kevin. I didn’t mean to read them, but the words caught my eye, delivering the blow of bad news.
He’s hired a private detective to investigate the girl.
I’ll probably get fired for telling you that.
Fuck. Nice move, Dad.
I deleted the messages. There was nothing I could do while we were away. But then I sat there, ruminating, wondering how the hell I would handle this situation. Because itwasa situation, now. My father was like a dog with a bone. Once he got his teeth into something, he wouldn’t stop until he ripped it to shreds.
I argued with myself, examining both sides. On the one hand, he was threatening Jenny by hiring someone to look into her. There was no outright danger at the moment, but that could change at any time. I needed to protect her from his ire. Hopefully, getting her out of the business would help shield her. If she were holed up in her South End condo, she would be that much more removed from the heat of any fires he started.
On the other hand, I wondered if I was overthinking the whole thing. So what if my father hired an investigator? Jenny was an escort. I knew that, my father knew that, and Jenny knew that. I wasn’t sure what he was thinking, trying to dig up more dirt.
If this was more ammunition for him to threaten me about my inheritance, so be it. My father was an ass, but he was also proud. Surely he wouldn’t squander his vast fortune. He’d spent a lifetime amassing his wealth. He wouldn’tactuallydisinherit me and give the money to strangers who also happened to be low-lying fruit enemies of mine.
He was vindictive, but he wasn’t reckless.
I decided, once again, that all of this was his problem. Not mine. And I refused to think about my father or the private investigator for another minute while on vacation. There was nothing I could do from the island except let it be. In fact, we were heading out on a snorkeling excursion with Todd, Evie, James, Audrey, and some of the others; I would be happy to put some distance between myself and my phone right now.
Jenny looked super-hot in yet another thong bikini and a sexy cover-up. She grinned at me when I said, “I’m going to have to give Shirley a raise.”
“You totally should,” she agreed. “Wait till I show you the lingerie she bought me!”
I felt relieved—Jenny seemed much more like herself. We packed sunscreen, water, and mango for her new iguana BFF, then headed down to the beach. Jenny put me at ease, chatting and ooh-ing and aah-ing over the resort and the island. She was like a kid at Disneyland, happy and carefree. What had I been so worried about?
When we reached the dock, she made a beeline for Audrey. James took the opportunity to pull me aside. “How’s it going with Jenny?”
“Awesome. She’s incredible. I’ve never met anyone like her,” I said.
James raised his eyebrows. “Are you talking about her in a sexual way? Or as a person?”
I gave him a long look. “I didn’t realize it was necessary to parse this out,” I said. “But I meant both.”
“What’s going to happen after this trip?” he asked.
“What’s going to happen with you and Audrey?” I countered. “I asked you first, if you’ll remember. Back in Boston.”
“I asked her to move to California with me,” he said. “I love her.”
I almost fell off the dock. “To borrow Jenny’s phrase: Ho my frickin’ God, James. I’m so proud of you.” I clapped him on the back and grinned. “I knew it.”
“Well, you were right,” he said, grinning back. “Now I want to know if I’m right about you.”
“Huh,” I said. “This should be interesting.” I was half-excited, half-dreading his assessment.
“I think you have real feelings for this girl,” James said. “I think you might just have an emotional boner for her.”
I sighed. Then I nodded. “It’s obvious, right? It’sbig.”
“It’s not as big as mine, but you can still see it,” he joked.
“Ha,” I said. I watched Jenny as she laughed and talked to Audrey.
“I think I might be in love with her,” I admitted. My jaw clenched as I said it—maybe I was trying to keep the words from getting out. Because once they were out, they were real.
“She told Audrey you offered to buy her a house when we get back,” James said.