Page 134 of Moonlighter

“Youdomiss me! Just admit it.” I’m on my fourth set of curls.

“I have a problem. I need to go downtown.”

That gets my attention. I set down the weight and grab my shirt. “What kind of problem?”

She waves me inside, where I follow her into the kitchen. She turns on the kitchen faucet, which is what paranoid people do if they are worried about bugs. I’m sure my brother taught her that trick. “Earlier today, I pushed through a contract with a Thai manufacturer who will supply my next shipment of motherboards.”

“Right,” I agree. “The other half of your double order.”

“Well, that manufacturer’s representative just called to say they will be unable to fulfill the contract. Then he said he would like to explain why, but it has to be in person. And would I meet him downtown near his hotel?”

“So you said yes?” I don’t like the sound of this at all. A random nighttime meetup?

“The whole thing is weird, but I really need to know why he’d bail on me. I really liked these guys. Maybe I can still change his mind.”

“Does this sound creepy to you?” I ask.

“Well, it’s weird. But he wants to meet me at The Dutch in SOHO. There’s nothing creepy about that. Nothing bad ever happens at a cute bistro…”

“So you want to go?”

“Of course. Let me just change. Would you warn the doorman that my dinner order is going to show up without me? It’s prepaid. Thanks.” She’s gone again.

I pull out my phone and connect to The Company’s personal security dispatch. “Hey, this is Eric Bayer. Who’ve I got tonight?”

“Your old man,” my father says into my ear. “Got a problem at the Engels place?”

“I’m really not sure.”

35

Alex

“Can’t I sit up front?”I ask Eric as he opens the rear door.

“No. The back is safer,” he says. “It’s standard operating procedure, Alex. You know this.”

He’s right, and The Company makes my father sit in back, too. So I slide into my seat. But still, I feel the need to resist Eric’s little game. “I don’t like being guarded. It’s infantilizing.”

“Uh huh.” He snickers. “Does the quarterback feel infantilized by the offensive line?”

I guess the man has a point. “How long are you going to play at bodyguard?”

“As long as it takes,” he says before shutting the door.

“As long as it takes, for what?”

“To prove my point.”

“But—”

Before I can continue this exchange, Eric begins speaking to dispatch. “ETA is twenty-five minutes,” he says, pulling out of the underground garage. “I’m taking the FDR.”

I can’t hear the other side of their conversation, though, because it’s in his earpiece.

So I settle back in the seat and watch New York City go by. The Upper East Side is decorated for the holidays, with pine boughs, red bows, and fairy lights.

Last Christmas I had no idea what was coming my way. I hadn’t yet complicated my friendship with Nate. I hadn’t hooked up with Jared Tatum. And the Butler was still a big idea in development.