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John arrived home at a little after ten. Jamie was still up, sitting in her favorite reading chair, her fingers flying over the pages. Jamie could probably read faster with her fingers than most sighted people could read with their eyes. It never ceased to amaze him.
Her fingers went still and she marked her place. "You're home early." She said. "In fact, this might be a record."
He himself wasn't all that happy about it. He hadn't expected Candi/Aubrie to want to end the date almost immediately after the meal. He'd offered to take her dancing or for a nightcap somewhere but she'd begged off, claiming. "I need my beauty sleep."
He'd been hoping to get a little more information out of her then he had, to pin her down a little but after her initial obvious irritation over his comments about smart women, she'd slipped back into her bimbo routine and stayed there.
"Yeah, well, she'd an early-to-bedder, I guess." He told Jamie.
She snorted her laughter. "And apparently not with you, huh, hotshot?"
He frowned. "You know I almost never sleep with a woman on the first date."
"Especially if she's not interested."
He didn't mention that part of him wanted to believe that Candi/Aubrie was too afraid to be caught with that contraption on her chest, to sleep with him even if she wanted to. But she sure didn't show any signs of wanting to. Even when he went to kiss her good night in the parking lot, she'd turned her head so his lips hit her cheek. Now that was a first. He'd never had a woman not even want to kiss him. And it wasn't good for his ego.
He'd actually had a good time with her, despite knowing she was a fake. It had been amusing to watch her try to keep up the bimbo performance, even though he knew for a fact that the woman had brains to spare.
And she obviously wasn't used to playing the role of airhead, because she was so bad at it. She'd used just about every cliché in the book when she felt the situation called for it. She was almost a parody and consequently really fun to watch.
He could hardly wait until his date tomorrow night. He planned on pushing her buttons hard and watching her honest reactions.
"So was this one a single-digit IQ or did she manage to make it into the double digits?"
John would bet that Aubrie had a high IQ. "This one was double digits." He said.
"A step up! Miracles do come true."
"Hey!" John made no bones about the type of women he dated these days, and Jamie made no bones that she hated it, but she usually just pursed her lips and kept quiet, because she was well aware of his burning need not to get his heart broken all over again.
It was probably cowardly of him, but everybody coped with their demons in their own way and for now, this was where his comfort zone stood. Still he was feeling a little insulted. "My date tomorrow night is a genius."
Jamie put aside her book. "Oh really?"
"That's right."
"And exactly where did you meet this genius?"
"At my current job."
"Rose Cosmetics?"
"Yes."
"Michelle Mizanin?" She asked and for some reason her lips twitched.
John had to keep from shuddering. "Umm, no someone else."
"I don't understand why you don't ask Michelle out. She seems nice enough. And she'd obviously successful if she can afford you."
"That's just it." He said, jumping on the opening. "I don't date my clients."
"But you're taking out one of the employees."
"But the employee isn't cutting my checks." He shot back, wondering what it was with Jamie that she was pushing Michelle on him. He trusted Jamie's instincts and understood why she'd taken to Michelle, because she really was a nice lady. But….he shuddered again.
Jamie stood and stretched, yawning widely. "Well, maybe after you finish the assignment you can ask her out."
John opened his mouth but she said. "Time for bed." saving him from a further excuse. And she walked unerringly to the hall and down it toward her bedroom.
Michelle Mizanin, Ha! He was sure someone; somewhere would find her type attractive. And he liked Michelle so he hoped she'd find that somebody someday.
At the door to her room, Jamie turned back. "Oh, by the way, Randy called tonight. I left his message on the kitchen counter."
John grinned. Randy, besides having been his partner at the Bureau for many years, was also John's best friend. Now there was a guy who'd lucked out in the female department. His wife, Leah, was gorgeous and sweet and smart. And she tolerated John, even though he'd nearly gotten her and Randy killed a couple of years ago.
He still felt a boatload of guilt over that, even though Randy and Leah had shrugged it off immediately. "But we didn't' get killed, John." Leah kept telling him when he'd announced his decision to leave the Bureau.
A few years before, Randy and John were working a case of fraud. Randy had been taking a minivacation at a dog spa owned by Leah. John had made the mistake of believing it would be the perfect hideout for their star witness. Unfortunately, he hadn't realized that he and the witness were being tailed by thugs, and they followed him directly to the spa.
Then the thugs made the mistake of thinking Leah was the witness and tried to blow both her and Randy away. Randy and Leah had to go on the run but because Randy and John's boss was working for the other side, the thugs were right behind them. John still shuddered to think what might have happened, all because of him. He'd have never forgiven himself. In fact, he pretty much still hadn't forgiven himself. Although John didn't get to see Randy and Leah as much as he'd like, he still considered them his best friends in the world, save his sister.
In the kitchen he glanced at the number Jamie'd written down, and recognized immediately as the one for their house in southern Virginia, a huge, rambling country home with enough acres to handle their myriad dogs and close enough to the pet spa that Leah owned. Randy still worked for the FBI, now in the homicide division, so John guessed he was on vacation, helping Leah set up for the summer season.
John dialed the number and Leah answered. "Hello, beautiful." He said. "What's the idiot want now?"
She laughed. "Hi, I'll let him tell you. One second he's out tormenting Muffin."
John grinned. Muffin was Randy's butt-ugly English bulldog, but probably one of the most intelligent creatures John had never dealt with. Muffin had an eerie way of knowing exactly what people were talking about. It was Muffin who had brought Randy and Leah together in the first place, so they both obviously worshipped him.
A few moments later Randy picked up the phone, sounding a little winded. "I'm going to kill that mutt one of these days." Randy muttered.
"Yeah, right. What's up?"
"We're pregnant."
John went still. Then he burst out laughing. He knew they had been trying for this for almost a year. "You dog! Congratulations."
The pride in Randy's voice was obvious. "Thanks. We're due in November."
"Sex?"
"Lots of it. Great work if you can get it."
John grinned, even if he did feel a twinge of envy. "Boy or girl, idiot."
"We don't know yet. We find out next week."
"Any preference?"
"Leah wants a boy; I want a girl."
"Do you two ever agree on anything?" John asked still smiling.
"Sex. Lots of it."
John laughed. "Too much information, buddy. Give Leah a huge hug for me."
"One other thing." Randy said his voice lowering. "I'm retiring."
That shocked John down to his toes. Randy was one of the best agents in the Bureau, and he loved his job. "Why?"
"I've got a growing family to think about now. I don't want to be gallivanting all over the country and miss watching my kids grow up. It's time."
"What will you do?" Leah was obscenely wealthy in her own right, but John knew Randy well enough to realize he would never be happy with a life of leisure.
"I'm not sure yet."
A thought occurred to John. "Go into partnership with me."
"Excuse me?"
"Become my partner. Business is booming. I could use the help."
"I appreciate that, buddy, I really do. But we want to stay down here full-time."
"Fine. We'll open a branch office in Richmond."
There was a pause. "I don't need handouts."
"This is no handout, idiot. I really could use the help and I've been thinking about opening satellite offices for a while now." That was absolutely true. He hadn't been thinking of Richmond but then, he never thought he'd get Randy, either. He really missed working with the man.
"Let me talk it over with Leah." Randy said. "I'll call you soon."
"Good. And if you're even remotely thinking about it, come up to DC for a few days. I know you've been to my office but I'd like you to see some of my handiwork."
"Show-off."
"That's me."
"Okay. I'll get back to you real soon."
"And Randy, I mean it. I would love to work together again. And I do need the help. I would have asked long ago except I thought they'd have to throw you out of there."
"You're not too bad for a conceited jerk. Thank you."
"Thank you for even considering it. I'm really excited. I'll be totally pissed if you turn me down to flip burgers somewhere."
Randy laughed. "There's a thought."
John smiled. "Congrats again, buddy."
They hung up and John went to the fridge and pulled out a cold one. Slugging it down straight out of the bottle, he sat down and thought through the logistics. This could really work. And the thought of partnering with Randy again was fabulous.
He didn't know how long he sat, lost in thought, but just as he dumped the bottle into the recycle bin, his phone rang. He lunged for it quickly so as not to wake Jamie. "Yeah?"
"He'll be there the day after the doctor's visit." Leah said.
"I'm glad one of you has more sense than a worm."
"One of us has to. Thank you, John."
"My pleasure. And congrats again, lady."
"Thank you. We're pretty happy."
They said their good-byes and John hung up, a goofy grin on his face. Randy, a father. Randy, his partner. Life was good.
If only he could find a woman as special as Leah, he might even consider taking the plunge himself someday. And for some reason, as he headed to the bathroom to brush his teeth, a split-screen image of two gorgeous women—one a floozy blonde, the other a demure yet sexy brunette—flashed before his eyes.
His smile disappeared. "Don't even think about it, buddy."
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