LITMIR.BIZ

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adjustment. “That’s certainly a powerful stimulus.”

      “Oh, yeah. Well, for me it is. And obviously for you too since you spend your life traveling around.” She checked her watch. Why, she didn’t know. Her vision was still too blurred to see the tiny numbers. “Where has the time gone? I really need to get back to the factory.”

      “You didn’t say why you dropped by.”

      She stopped midway to the door. “Didn’t I? Must have slipped my mind when I saw Jasper here.” And it was continuing to slip her mind.

      Bobbie finally snapped her fingers. “The missing Gigolos? That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. My assistant said you stopped by the factory this morning when I was in a conference call with our suppliers.”

      “I was just asking a few questions. No one seems to know anything about the merchandise, but I’ll keep digging.” He picked a manila folder from his desk and handed it to her. “I requested background checks on several of your employees. It’s routine procedure.”

      Bobbie thumbed through the papers in the file to find the names of all the supervisors and several newly hired warehouse workers. “You think one of these might be our thief?”

      He shrugged. “Maybe. But I want to add Jasper to that list. After all, the underwear vanished the very day he returned to Liffey.”

      Bobbie nodded and handed the file back to Aidan. “Good job. Maybe you’ll catch this person before they strike again.” She opened the door. “Don’t worry about picking me up for the picnic. I’ll ride over with my uncles and just meet you at the park.”

      “Sure.”

      Since there was no way she could hold onto her faux composure a moment longer, she issued an overly perky goodbye and went on her way.

      This was the last time she’d play kissy kissy with the studly Aidan. The absolute last. She had to be smart about this. No more Pavlovian conditioned responses. No letting wanderlust get in the way of common sense.

      But that left Bobbie with one burning question.

      Wanderlust aside, how was she supposed to get rid of this sudden bout of regular lust that she felt for Aidan?

      “AIDAN, we’re sure glad to have you with us here in Liffey,” Sheriff Cooper commented. He downed another half cup of coffee and tackled the remainder of his Blue Plate Special—a hamburger just slightly smaller than Aidan’s head and a platter full of thick chili fries.

      “I’m glad to be here. And I’m glad you’re feeling better.” Of course, with the volume of food the sheriff had just consumed, that feeling better status might not last much longer. After all, the man had only been out of his sickbed two days.

      Both Sheriff Cooper and Aidan sat in the window booth at the Chew and Chow, the tiny but bustling diner on Main Street. Since the sheriff’s return to work, he’d insisted that Aidan join him for the cholesterol-laden lunches that were the diner’s trademark.

      “You probably miss all the noise of the city,” the sheriff continued. “I guess you’re used to a little more activity than this, huh?”

      Aidan shrugged and sipped his coffee. “It depends. Each assignment is different. Some are quiet like Liffey. Others are nonstop.”

      And therein was the lure of his job in a nutshell. For him, different was good. Variety was even better. And in just four short weeks, he’d be gone from Liffey, and the Twango-Drifter Plan—and Bobbie—would be a dimming memory.

      Well, probably.

      She’d be as much of a dimming memory as he could manage to dim. Too bad he hadn’t had much success in dimming anything when it came to her.

      Even now, if he closed his eyes, he could see her. Bobbie, in one of those snug little business suits. Bobbie, smiling at him. Bobbie, her mouth poised for him to kiss. And Bobbie, as she made those sounds of pleasure as he did all sorts of things with her.

      Of course, that last part was pure imagination sprinkled with some fantasies, but he hadn’t been able to dim those raunchy musings either.

      “I’ve been giving all this stolen underwear business some thought,” the sheriff went on, pulling Aidan out of his sprinkles and fantasies. He waved at a couple of elderly ladies who strolled past the window. One of them winked at him, and then at Aidan. “My thoughts have been straying in the direction of Rudy Tate, the floor manager at Boxers or Briefs. Call me old-fashioned, but there’s just something a little unnatural about a man who likes being surrounded by butt-enhancing underwear.”

      Aidan nodded. It certainly wasn’t one of his top ten job choices. “Nothing came up on his background check, but I’m looking into his past employment records.”

      The sheriff grinned and stuffed some more fries in his mouth. “I figured you’d be right on it. My detective skills are a little rusty since we hadn’t exactly had a real crime here in a dozen years or so, but I’m hoping you’ll put this to bed before your time with us is up.”

      Aidan hoped the same thing. And that time was practically ticking away. Four weeks and counting. “What about Maxine Varadore? You think she could have done something like this?”

      “It’s a good possibility,” the sheriff agreed. “She’s riled because Bobbie fired her, but from what I heard the woman just couldn’t sew a fly on straight. A man can overlook plenty of things in his Skivvies, but that’s not one of them. Seems Bobbie did us all a service by letting Maxine go.”

      Aidan just nodded and moved on to his next suspect. “And then there’s Jasper Kershaw. He’s at the top of my list.”

      Sheriff Cooper grinned some more. “Now, you sure that’s your badge talking, or does that have something to do with all the personal attention you’ve been giving Bobbie Fay?”

      It seemed a good time to nod again and continue with the business at hand. “What does concern me about this case is that none of the stolen merchandise has surfaced.”

      “Oh, it’ll turn up somewhere I’m sure. Hard to keep magenta Gigolos a secret for very long.” The sheriff finished his last French fry and eased out of his side of the booth. “I think I’ll head over to the counter to chat with Esther Lynn. Wanta come?”

      Aidan glanced at the woman in question. She had more facial hair than he did and could probably arm-wrestle him into traction. “No thanks. I’ll just stay here and finish up my chili.”

      “Suit yourself. I won’t be long.”

      With the same easy pace as his drawl, Sheriff Cooper moseyed toward the counter. He’d hardly gotten there when Aidan’s cell phone rang. He unclipped it from his belt and answered it.

      “Hi, Aidan. It’s Mom.”

      It was one of those good news–bad news sort of deals. He loved his mother dearly, but she never called in the middle of the day unless she had matchmaking on her mind.

      Aidan checked the time—something he usually did when he experienced one of her impromptu calls. Just how long would it take for her to let him know that she’d found him the perfect woman?

      His mother started the covert attack with some chitchat about the weather in Boston. Aidan listened and watched as the second hand on the clock ticked on. He was betting she couldn’t make it a full minute.

      “It’s been muggy…”

      The sound of her voice faded when he spotted Bobbie coming out of the bank across the street. Aidan smiled before he could stop himself. Sweet Nantucket, she had on one of those short skirt sets again. Somehow, he had to find a way to make himself immune to her fashion choices.

      “By the way,” his mother continued. “Did I mention that my new kick-boxing instructor is a woman? Her name is Tracy Hillman…”

      Aidan checked the time. Thirty-nine seconds. His mother was obviously

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