Chris Owen - Sex, Lies and Celluloid by Chris Owen Jodi Payne

Author:Chris Owen Jodi Payne [Jodi Payne, Chris Owen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

the shower. Then I made her coffee and spiked it for her. "Hair of the dog," I said as I handed her the mug. She was

blinking slowly and muttered something, but took the cup and

drank it while I dressed. I'm lucky in that I don't get much of

a hangover, even when I've gone to bed completely sodden.

A couple of cups of coffee and I'm good to go.

One spiked cup seemed to do the trick for Celia and she

said, "Good morning," as she got out of bed and shuffled into

my bathroom. She came out a new woman; showered and

smiling. "Gotta run. Lunch date, remember?"

"It's that late?"

"Almost noon. I need to run home and change." Damn. I'd had no idea. I thanked Celia for her company

and kissed her as she was heading out the door, then went

into the kitchen and poured myself another cup of coffee. I hadn't been tailing Daniel all that long. How had I fallen

so hard? Was there really a way out of this mess I'd gotten

myself into? Did I deserve a way out? I wasn't proud of the

things I'd done; watching Daniel with other men, tailing him

more to satisfy my own curiosity than my client's. How was

he ever going to be okay with that?

I was counting on Celia more than I really wanted to. I was putting the bottles away and throwing out the

remains of Celia's Chinese feast when my Treo chimed at me

from the living room. I went out and picked it up, my stomach in a knot. I'd forgotten I'd sent a message. A

drunken one. To Daniel.

The words were short, and there weren't many of them. "I

think I need you, too. So no. I'm sorry."

I felt worse for Daniel than myself as I read his message

for the fourth time. I was trying to be optimistic and hanging

onto the idea that we might at least be able to see each other

on the QT despite his marriage. Daniel wasn't even letting

himself entertain the possibility. Or maybe he had and

decided he couldn't handle it, or handle the responsibility, or

handle the spin if it came to that. Whatever it was, I could

read between those very short lines.

He was alone, and in pain.

Quickly, I forwarded the message to Celia with a note that

read, "Sent him a drunken 'I need you' last night. This was

his reply. Help?" Then I replied to Daniel. "Door is always

open," I said simply, and sent it off.

Then it was time to get my act together and figure out

where to go from here. I thought for a moment about going

to the office, but what would I do there? I assumed Daniel

was at work today, but I didn't know if I ought to earn my

keep and tail him despite my assertion that nothing new

would come of invading his privacy further, or just leave the

poor guy alone. The answer in the end was simple. Client be

damned, I wanted to know what Daniel was doing. I grabbed my keys and headed for my truck. I'd just

unlocked the door and wasn't even in it when my phone rang.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.