SecondSightDating (7 page)

A quick peek at her watch indicated their practice session
needed to end and their date to begin.

Not our date, our dates
.

“I think we should leave.” Without thinking, she rested her
hand on his knee.

Covering her hand with his, Dan gave a tiny
squeeze.
“Anything you say.”

The door to her office opened and a man strolled in.
His
gaze went to Serena, then to Dan, finally focusing on their intertwined hands
resting on his knee.

“Sorry.
Am I interrupting something?”

Chapter Six

Serena eyed her brother with a mixture of gratitude, comfort
and anxiety.
It was a blessing to have Mike by her side, there for his sibling
in her time of need.
Now, however, things had become more complicated than when
she first issued her distress call to him.
Dan had become a major player in the
mixed-up saga of her life.

Should she introduce the two?

No.
Bad idea.

She shouldn’t let Dan know Mike was her brother and a cop.

Yes.
Good idea.

Force Dan to show his true colors.
Put him on the spot.
If
he were nervous around Mike, her suspicions would be confirmed.

Hmm.

Giant knots twisted in the pit of her stomach as the two men
shifted their glances from her and began eyeballing each other.
Great.
Mike had
that “I’m protecting my little sister” look on his face and Dan aimed a
possessive stare right back at him.

Serena’s heart skipped a beat as she scrutinized the
expression on Dan’s face.
Could he be jealous?
Or, was he worried some other
male planned to cut into his future group of “clients”?

Her mind spun with confused scenarios of their uncomfortable
threesome.
With shattered nerves and her heart beating a rapid tattoo against
her chest, she decided deception would be best.
For now.
Only good vibes came
from Dan, regardless of the irritating “I was here first” glare he aimed at her
brother.

Her sense could be all wrong about him.
She’d been wrong before.
And that mistake went by the name of Alan.

The awkward silence screamed for her to come to a decision.
Serena decided on a compromise.

“Mr.
‘Four-eighteen’, this is Mr., uh, ‘Eight’.” Even as she
uttered the introduction she winced, hoping both would accept her peace
offering and behave like gentlemen.
She prayed her brother played along without
gawking at her.

Dan’s head swung from her to Mike, then he offered his hand
to the new arrival.

“Nice to meet you.
My name’s Dan.”

Oh-oh.
She hadn’t counted on him being so friendly.
Serena
figured keeping Mike’s identity from Dan was crucial.
Before Mike could speak,
she said, “This is Gino.
He’s another client of mine.”

Her brother’s face glazed over as if trying to decipher what
the hell she was up to.
He shook Dan’s hand, nodding to him as he did.
Grateful
for her brother’s silence, the butterfly rampage in her stomach ceased.
They
evolved into minor flutters and eased into a slow, flittering pattern.

Why Gino, Mr.
“Eight”?
The guy was a playboy, considered
himself God’s gift to women.
After a complaint from a female client two weeks
before about him, Serena had quickly notified Gino that he was no longer a
client.
Whatever possessed her to pick that number?
And, use his name?

Clearing her throat, she broke the silence once more.
“Uh,
Dan?
Gino and I need to discuss something so why don’t you go ahead and leave
for the restaurant.”

Dan’s expression changed to one of a wounded puppy.
“Oh.
I
thought we could go together so I could practice some more in the car.” His
eyes pleaded his case.

“Umm, okay.
You relax here and Gino and I will go to the
back room.
When we’re done, I’ll leave with you.”

“Thanks.” A warm smile beamed at Serena.

She turned to Mike and gently pushed him into the back room.

“What the hell’s going on here?” Mike hissed as soon as they
were inside her file room.

“Shh.” Serena closed the door.
“I don’t want him to know who
you are or that you’re a cop.”

Mike eyed his sister with curiosity.
“What kind of mess are
you in?
Nothing dangerous, I hope?” His hands balled into fists.
“If this guy’s
been giving you trouble…”

“No, no.
It’s not like that.
I’m just, well, not sure who he
really is or if he’s out to meet women or find clients for himself.”

“Huh?”

“I mean, his background checks out, the kind of checking I
do and I don’t get any weird vibes from him, although he is different…”

Mike took hold of his sister’s arms and gave her a gentle
shake.
“Earth to Serena.
Calm down.
You’re rushing through this and I can’t
make heads or tails of what’s coming out of your mouth.”

Serena slumped against her brother’s body.
His warm bear hug
gave her a sense of security she’d always cherished.
Although, she didn’t feel
like she needed to be protected from Dan.
Damn.
He also made her feel
protected, safe.

“Sis, start again but go slowly this time.”

“I think he may be out to find women to fleece as a gigolo.”

Dan squinted as he peeked through one of the beveled glass
panels leading into the back room.
He tried to stay out of sight, sneaking up
to the door and crouching in an effort to remain hidden from Serena and her
so-called Mr.
“Eight”.

Mr.
“Eight”, my foot
.
What was she up to?

He knew for a fact that the man he’d just shaken hands with
wasn’t Gino Conti.
The real Gino’s picture lay in a folder on his desk back at
the office.
So, who was this guy and why had Serena resorted to playing games?

Anger raced through his system as he glimpsed “Gino” hugging
Serena in a warm embrace.
Obviously they knew each other pretty well and that
didn’t make him happy.
Damn.
What kind of vibes did she get from “Gino”?

A more disturbing train of thought to question his sanity
and logic would be why it mattered so much to him that they appeared so chummy
together.
Why should I care?

Giving himself a mental smack on the back of his head, Dan
decided it was time to get back to work, the reason he’d been led into this
mess to begin with.
Be a detective, do your job.
Find out what’s really going
on at Second Sight Dating.
Getting jealous over a beautiful woman’s choice in
lying to him and being real friendly with some shady character needed to be
bumped to the back burner of his mind.

Work.

Job.

Paycheck.

Boss.

He had priorities to consider.

But hell, Serena was now the itch under his skin and Dan
wanted desperately to scratch.
All over.

Another thing bothered him.
“Gino” couldn’t possibly be her
date for the evening.
Could he?
Wouldn’t she have said so right away?

No.
She said they had something to discuss so he couldn’t be
her date.

Something about “Gino” and the protective way he held her made
Dan wonder if they might be involved.
He couldn’t mistake the male signal the
man had given him when they were introduced.
The “I take care of her, you
better watch out, she’s mine” message got across to Dan loud and clear.
Funny.
He thought he’d sent out a “caution” signal to “Gino”, too.

He took another peek at the two.
Why was the guy still
holding her?

“Should I come to dinner with you?” Mike released his hold
on his sister, frown lines appearing on his face to match his worried words.

“No, you better not.
I have a date arranged already.
Maybe I
can use you another time, depending on how this plays out.” She moved away from
her brother and slumped against a file cabinet.
“I know this’ll sound crazy,
but I still get nothing but good vibes from him.”

“Yeah, well, you felt that way about Alan.
Maybe this Dan
character is on the up and up and then again, maybe he’s another loser.”

Serena winced at her brother labeling Dan a loser.
In her
heart, she truly sensed more to him than womanizer on the prowl.
Am I losing
my gift?
Will Dan Reese be my downfall
?
An uneasy feeling landed in the pit
of her stomach, especially since, regardless of her suspicions, she couldn’t
deny her attraction to him.

She handed her brother the key to her apartment.
“Grab his
file off my desk as we leave while I distract him and rush him out.
There’s not
much to go on and like I said, I did all the preliminary checks and he seems
legitimate.”

“Sis, will you be all right?
Sure you don’t want me to
follow and wait outside for you?”

Her brother’s concern touched her heart, but she sensed no
need for protection.
“I’ll be fine.
I’ll meet you back at my place in a few
hours.”

Serena leaned toward her brother and planted a
kiss on his cheek.

Dan hadn’t missed the final kiss shared by the two in the
back room.
With one stealthy maneuver, he backed away from the door and
returned to his original spot in her office.

His insides churned after watching her hand a key to “Gino”.
Had she planned some late-night rendezvous with him?
He almost expected her to
come out and suddenly reveal new plans she had for the evening, making an
excuse why she couldn’t go to dinner.

Just try that, sweetheart.
I won’t let you get away from
me that easily
.

Serena and Mike walked back into the office, turning their
full attention to Dan.
With a slight blush, she apologized.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.
Gino is ready to leave and so
should we.”

She smiled, took Dan’s arm and led him away from her desk.
“Uh, Gino?
Don’t forget the papers on my desk,” she mentioned as they reached
the door.

Dan turned to see what “Gino” picked up from her desk, but
Serena’s body blocked his view.
Files on other women?
Was this man working with
the real Gino and setting up women for stud service?

Serena—a madam doling out potential, vulnerable clients for
a bevy of guys?
Was the mob involved?
Did this new guy have mob connections
like Gino?

Or, Serena—honest businesswoman, tantalizing beauty his body
reacted to while his head swam with fantasies only she seemed destined to
fulfill?

His mind whirled with questions as he wondered whom the real
Serena would turn out to be.

Outside, Mike bid Serena and Dan good night and left them
standing in the parking lot.

After a brief conversation, Dan somehow managed to convince
her that they should drive together.
Actually, Serena welcomed the suggestion.
It gave her more time to scrutinize his every word and move.

“Dan, stop worrying about this.
You’ll do fine.
What can go
wrong if you just be yourself with Miss ‘S’?
Show her the real you.
After all,
you two do have some things in common.”

Serena’s stomach clenched as she spoke.
What she’d just said
wasn’t exactly true.
Dan and his date had very little in common.
She’d
stretched the truth because their letter and number matched.

Sort of.

“What if she doesn’t like me?
I mean, even you found me
annoying when we first met.”

“I, umm, wouldn’t say that’s true.
You’re a likeable guy.
Really.
You just need to relax and take cues from what she says.”

“I’m so glad you’ll be there.”

Serena shifted her eyes from the road to Dan.
Was he telling
the truth?
If he were out to recruit clients for his own purposes, why would he
want her there?
Wouldn’t she just hinder his plan of action, mess up his usual
routine?

Hmm.
Maybe having her there offered a sense of legitimacy to
the women she introduced him to, putting them at ease thus rendering them easy
prey for his future moves.

“Don’t worry.
I’ll keep my eye on you—I mean things—all
night.”

Dan stretched in his seat.
“You have no idea how comforting
that is.”