Page 84 of Bargain With the Boss

“This is not your brightest idea,” I muttered to myself as I headed down the grass toward the boathouse. The path was lit tonight unlike the last time I’d been there. A few guests for whatever soiree Maitland had going on were walking around with flutes of champagne and some fizzy pink drink.

The clink of something metal on metal dragged me deeper into the brush to the side of the boathouse.

Heath had his suit coat thrown over the door of a gorgeous blue ’65 Shelby Cobra with a white stripe down the hood. The hood was up and he was half-hidden, his dress shirt in his back pocket along with a red rag in the other.

I’d bet fifty bucks he went for the wrong one at least once tonight.

“Maitland.”

He popped his head up, banging it on the hood. “Fuck.” He looked over his shoulder. “What the hell are you doing here?”

I snickered when he grabbed his shirt and swore.

“You owe me fifty.”

He frowned as he tossed the dress shirt on the grass and wiped his fingers with the red rag. “For what?”

“Never mind. I was mentally betting you’d grab the shirt instead of the rag.”

“Yeah, well I was distracted by an asshole. Again, why are you here?” He dipped into a cooler for a beer, then leaned his thigh against the car as he twisted off the top on the bottle.

“I need a favor.”

His sun-bleached brows shot up as he finished his sip. “Right.”

“I’m looking for Sydney.”

“Not catching the hint there, shithead.”

I tipped my head back. “This time she asked me to come find her.”

Heath wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Sure.”

“Do you know where she is or not?”

“Maybe.” He kicked the cooler toward me.

I shook my head. “Hopefully I’ll be heading out to find her.”

“Hmm. Bit of a drive for that one.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “You know where she is?”

He shrugged.

“Look, man. She told me to come find her.”

“Sure she did.”

I dug out my phone and flashed it to him.

Heath took it and zoomed in on the photo.

I grabbed it back. “Back off.”

He huffed out a laugh. “She sure is a beautiful woman. Definitely too good for you.”

“Yeah, I’m aware.”