LITMIR.BIZ

      Chapter 3

      “And we’re off,” Autumn whispered under her breath as she watched Isaac round the corner.

      Way to go, Sterling.

      Her plan was falling together nicely. Though she was curious what her new boss had said on the phone to make Isaac invite her to lunch, it hardly mattered. She routinely left the initial minor details of a surveillance case up to the client. Experience taught her that doing so put her on the fast track to gaining her client’s trust. In the end, she did what she wanted, when she wanted to do it, whether the client liked it or not. All was forgiven when she solved a case and got the answers they wanted.

      Autumn shifted the stack of papers in her hand, wishing she could toss them into the nearest trash can. She had no need for any of the Paxton benefits, the government took care of her quite nicely. Whether she had a nosebleed or a gunshot wound, she could walk, run or crawl to any hospital and get medical help. No questions asked and no payment required. Being a friend of Uncle Sam was the best insurance policy in the nation.

      Hopefully neither of those injuries would occur on this case. But Autumn wasn’t so sure about what would happen to her heart. Over the past few years, she’d been in some pretty scary situations, but none of them made her heart beat as hard as it did when she looked at Isaac, or when he looked at her.

      The raw power that he exuded, even when he was relaxed, made her unabashedly wet between the legs.

      She smiled with pleasure. It wasn’t until the end of the meeting, when she had stood before him and his hot gaze sent a jolt of fire down her body, that she’d realized his hunger was for her.

      Sadly, she’d almost laughed. The man had no idea that she was there to potentially destroy him.

      It had been a while since she’d seen that look in a man’s eyes, and even longer since she’d welcomed it.

      But Isaac? He was different. If she were to be truly honest with herself, there was something about Isaac that made her want to run into his arms. Yet, for the good of the case, she knew she would do well to remind herself on a daily basis that she was there to learn the truth, not hop into bed with the most gorgeous man she’d seen since—well...ever.

      What she needed right now was a distraction. A nice cup of tea would make her forget about Isaac’s tawny-brown eyes and help her refocus on the investigation.

      She was just about to try to find the Paxton cafeteria herself when she heard a voice calling her name. She turned to see Felicia walking toward her. How she didn’t manage to trip in those stiletto heels was an unfortunate miracle in itself.

      “There you are. I’ve been looking all over for you, and here you are exactly where I left you.”

      Felicia’s voice was so syrupy sweet that it made Autumn want to gag.

      She opened the door to the conference room, peered inside and quickly shut it. “Where’s Isaac?” she demanded.

      Autumn pasted a smile on her face. “He had to run to a meeting.”

      “You mean he left you here without giving you a tour?”

      “No. He gave me the tour,” she lied. “We stopped back at the conference room because I accidentally left my paperwork on the table.”

      Autumn grasped the wad and waved it in Felicia’s face so hard her eyes blinked. “See?”

      Felicia pushed the paper away with annoyance. “All I see is that it’s not filled out. You’d better get to your desk and get started.”

      “Sure. I would be happy to do so if I knew where my desk was located.”

      Felicia touched the back of her hair. “All analysts are housed in the cubicles on the second floor. Didn’t Isaac show you?” she said impatiently.

      Autumn shook her head. “No, that was our last stop but then he was suddenly called into a meeting.”

      Felicia let out an exasperated breath. “Come on, I’ll show you.” She started down the hall, muttering under her breath. “I guess if you want something done right around here, you’ve got to do it yourself.”

      “Wait,” Autumn called out. “Sterling wrote down the location of my work space. He said it was somewhere on this floor.”

      Felicia swiveled on her heels, her eyes narrowing. “Are you sure? This floor is for members of the Paxton executive team only.”

      Autumn accidentally dropped the scrap of paper Sterling had given her earlier. She bent to retrieve it and when she stood, Felicia rudely snatched it away.

      “Let me see that.” Felicia’s cheeks reddened and she crumpled the paper into a ball.

      Autumn bit back a smile. She had no idea where her work space was located, but it was obvious the woman didn’t like it.

      They walked down the carpeted hallway, in the opposite direction from where Isaac had run, and through a small corridor. A few minutes later, they stopped in front of a door with no nameplate. It was constructed of heavy wood and there was a thin plane of glass running vertically down one side of the door, the view through which was obstructed by cardboard.

      “I think my father has made a mistake. We use this room for file storage.”

      Felicia’s hand shook a little as she placed it on the knob and turned. “I don’t understand this,” she shrieked.

      Autumn stepped into the small but clean room. Two rusty gray file cabinets lined one wall, one of which was graced with a plastic houseplant that had lost most of its leaves. The old-fashioned metal desk had a couple of beat-up chairs in front of it. On the desk was one of those spotlight lamps, the kind with the lightbulb that burned so hot it could singe anything that got to close to it.

      Clearly, the room had been hastily furnished with some vintage finds from somebody’s attic or basement. A laptop was the only modern thing in the whole place.

      Autumn walked around the desk and set down the stack of papers she was lugging around, as well as her purse. Then she sat in the vintage wooden chair and spun around to face Felicia, who was still by the door.

      “It’s perfect!” she exclaimed with a broad smile. “What’s wrong with it?”

      “It’s...it’s...ugly,” Felicia sputtered. “The furnishings are horrendous,

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