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Claire felt her lips curl back and she realized she was

snarling. Not at Haley’s bored, defiant tone, but at the thought

of her with another woman. “I’m sure your girlfriend wouldn’t

be happy to hear you say things like that.”

It was fishing and she knew it. She cursed herself for saying

it.

Haley swam another lazy turn through the water, her strokes

deceptive because she was just as strong of a swimmer on her

back. “I don’t have a girlfriend. And how did you know I was

a lesbian anyway?” Her muscles worked in her arms as they

churned overhead and her feet kicked gently, making the

tiniest splash.

“I had people look into you and your dad. I did my due

diligence before I made my offer.”

“Hmm.” Haley didn’t appear overly concerned about that

information, and that surprised Claire. She expected fast, hot

anger at the intrusion of privacy. Haley probably knew all

about that already. Her dad must have told her.

“But also because you asked for a female security guard,

when most people would assume it’s a male profession. And

the comment about Jenny was a dead giveaway.”

“Hmm.”

It was so frustrating. That stupid sound. Claire refused to

rise to it. Her emotions were running rampant enough. She

wasn’t going to get angry on top of her annoyance and

frustration.

“Is that why you really wanted me to come here?” she

asked, still swimming on her back. She finally flipped over

and turned to tread water, looking directly at Claire, pinning

her to the spot. “The way you looked at me when I was