Page 41 of Pretty Poison
Rocky reluctantly shook his hand and gestured for Peter to take the empty stool beside him. Peter parked his ass on the stool and gestured the bartender over.
“Dazzle me with your proposal, Peter,” Rocky said once the man had his drink.
“I’ve started a private investigation firm, and I’m looking for a seasoned investigator to teach me the ropes.”
“So you’re trolling all the bars looking for a poor schmuck who might happen to have a PI license?”
Peter threw his head back and laughed. “I asked around town and your name kept coming up. They even told me I might find you here.” He looked around again. “They didn’t tell me everything, though.” Rocky was charmed by how little the kissing men on the dance floor affected the man. That was big points in his favor.
“I’m flattered, but I’m not interested,” Rocky said. Except he was. He fucking missed the thrill of investigating, but his confidence was shaken. “I’m sorry you wasted your time on me. Let me buy you dinner for your trouble. I know this place doesn’t look like much, but the food is delicious.”
“What do you recommend?”
“They make the best burger and fries in town, if you like that kind of thing.”
Rocky sized Peter up again and figured he was a salad guy, but Peter surprised him and ordered wings and fries. The surprises kept coming when he talked about his dreams for his agency over dinner.
Fuck, it had sounded so good. “You don’t need someone with my baggage dragging you down.”
“I know about the trouble you ran into in Vegas. I still want you to come work with me.”
Rocky had wanted to hang his head in shame, but Peter’s piercing gaze hadn’t allowed it. “Just give me a chance.”
Rocky took a deep breath and something other than pain and sorrow unfurled in his chest. He hadn’t recognized it then, but he understood now. Hope. “Tell me more,” he’d said.
By the end of the night, Peter had convinced Rocky to give him a shot, which he’d found hilarious since it should’ve been the other way around. They clicked together so effortlessly that Peter proposed a full partnership within a few months. This was Rocky’s chance to thank Peter for believing in him.
Trudy let out a soft squeal, snagging Rocky’s attention. “We’re having a baby!” she said, clapping between each word and making her blonde halo of curls bounce.
Rocky chuckled. “Pretty sure Shelly is doing all the hard work.”
Trudy waved him off. “You know what I meant. I can’t wait to hold him or her.”
Unlike most parents, Peter and Shelly had no idea the sex of their baby. Rocky thought he’d want to do the same thing if he were ever brave enough to go the surrogate route. He and Asher had discussed a future that included children, but they hadn’t decided how to go about it.
Rocky gave himself a mental shake. No good would come from him pining. “We need to order flowers and balloons. Should we do it now or wait?”
Trudy tilted her head. “With it being her first child, she could be in labor for quite some time. Maybe we should wait.”
“Okay,” Rocky said. A mother of three would know much more about this than he would. “What about one of those edible arrangements instead of flowers that will die?”
“Perfect,” Trudy said. “I’ll order it as soon as our little angel arrives. Oh!” She moved a cardboard box in front of her. “Speaking of deliveries…” Trudy grabbed a pair of scissors from her desk caddy and sliced through the packing tape. “I’ve been waiting for you to arrive before I tore into it.”
Rocky suddenly felt as giddy as a kid at Christmas. “You didn’t have to wait.”
Trudy removed several sheets of bubble wrap, then looked up at him. “You pouted the last time I dove in without you.”
“Did not,” he scoffed.
“There,” she said, pointing at his face. “That’s the look. You have sad puppy eyes, a puffed-out bottom lip, and the corners of your mouth are turned down. I’ve seen the look a million times when one of my kids or my husband tried to make me feel guilty or manipulate me into doing something for them.”
“I’m wounded,” Rocky said.
“Save it and come see what we got.”
He never argued with Trudy. The woman’s instincts were the best he ever witnessed, and her bullshit meter was never wrong, even when Rocky was the one tripping it.
They fussed and fawned over their new high-tech gadgets. To be the best agency, they had to stay up with the current trends. Their recent haul of listening devices and cameras disguised to look like everyday objects made Rocky particularly gleeful.