Jinxed Read Online Free PDF

to transform herself into an anonymous, low-profile woman. Her heart thudded in answer to the challenge. Or maybe it was because of the one-dimpled smirk he quirked just as Rudy made a right turn. “No,” Afia whispered, mesmerized by the intensity of the enigmatic P.I. “Not my type at all.”Chapter Four

Chapter Four
     
    “I’ve never done anything like this before.”
    Hoping to put his potential client at ease, Jake leaned back in his chair, adopting a casual air. “How can I help you, Ms. Brannigan?” The slender, five-foot-eight woman with the tanning bed glow hadn’t made an appointment. She was a walk-in, suggesting she was either impulsive or paranoid. Given the way she kept looking over her shoulder, his money was on the latter.
    “I think my fiancé is cheating on me.”
    Angela Brannigan was a well-dressed, spike-heeled, curvy stunner with killer legs. Mid-to-late thirties. Eyes the color of iced cappuccino. Between her pouty lips and the honey-blond hair flowing over her shoulders in seductive waves, she reminded him a little of Kim Basinger in L.A. Confidential. She reeked of cool sophistication and hot sex. If her suspicions were true then her fiancé was an ass.
    “I hope I’m wrong. I
desperately
want to be wrong, but if Anthony’s …” In an agitated manner, she twisted her engagement ring, a three-carat rock that suggested
Anthony
was either loaded or in hock. “I need to know, Mr. Leeds. When I marry it will be forever. I … I don’t want to make a mistake.”
    Precisely why he was thirty-three and still single. It wasn’t the life-long commitment that had him dragging his feet, but the fear of failure. His parents’ rocky marriage combined with the domestic investigations he’d conducted, on and off the force, had branded him a cautious cynic. To his way of thinking, if she had any doubts as to her future husband’s fidelity, this pro-active measure was not only logical, but also smart.
    “I found lipstick …” She fingered the collar of her dress. “It’s so clichéd … and, of course, he had a reasonable explanation, but …” Her breath hitched.
    “Do you suspect any woman in particular?”
    “No,” she croaked. “It could be a co-worker or a customer. It could be the woman who tailors his suits for all I know. He’s a very charismatic man.”
    A ladies’ man
. Jake snagged a box of tissues from his bottom drawer, rounded the desk, and had a Kleenex in her hand by the time the first tear rolled. Wronged women and kids. His ultimate weakness.
    The timing sucked.
    Harmon had hired him to keep Afia out of trouble. Although she might wonder if he didn’t conduct some sort of investigation while she was in his “employ.” In addition, if Anthony
was
a faithless pig, he sure as hell didn’t want to be the one responsible for a doomed marriage. “If your fiancé is playing around, Ms. Brannigan, depending upon how careful he is, it could take a couple of weeks to get audio/visual. I’m assuming you do want evidence.”
    She blew her nose into the tissue and nodded. “I don’t care how long it takes. I need to know for sure one way or the other.” She pulled a mirrored compact out of her clutch purse and checked her makeup, which, despite the tears, hadn’t smudged.
    “Could be costly,” he said, folding his arms over his chest. “Between the retainer, expenses, and my hourly fee—”
    “Money isn’t an issue.”
    Why couldn’t this woman have walked into his office a couple of days ago?
Before
his meeting with Harmon. Now he had two plumb assignments and an unqualified assistant—a destitute socialite who still tooled around in a limo—with questionable work ethics. He’d asked Afia to return in one hour. She was now—he glanced at his watch—forty minutes late.
    On cue the outer office door slammed.
    Ms. Brannigan whirled in her seat. The compact flew out of her hands, ricocheted off the center file cabinet, and skittered across the hardwood floor.