"He quit working for whoever today." Mama grabbed Betts by one arm and Lucky by the other. "It's time for us to go so these two can have wild, crazy, first-time s.e.x." She pulled both women to the front door and turned back to look at Charlie and then Wagner. "I don't want to see either of you until tomorrow morning. I'll send over some dinner in a couple of hours. I expect that one of you will answer the door wearing nothing but a sheet."

Charlie could feel her cheeks turn tomato red. "Um."

"Don't look at me like that. I didn't raise you to be all prudish. You need to get laid and he's into you." Mama waggled a finger at Charlie. "I don't want to hear another word about it."

Lucky and Betts both mashed their lips together to keep from laughing. Mama dragged Betts and Lucky out the door. She closed the front door.

From the other side of the door she yelled, "I changed the sheets and there's a brand-new box of condoms in the nightstand. You're welcome."

"Traitors." Charlie was... well, was there a word that meant more mortified than mortified?

A lock clicked in place.

Charlie tried the door, but it wouldn't budge. "She locked us in."

She pounded on the door.

Holy c.r.a.p, not only had Mama embarra.s.sed her, but she'd locked them in together.

She checked the door for a way to open it. The lock was a deadbolt that needed a key to unlock it from both sides. Maybe the windows? She tested the ones on either side of the door. They were both painted shut.

"What just happened here?" Wagner looked a little stunned.

"Mama's, well... there really aren't words to properly describe Mama." Maybe if she climbed on a chair, she could see if the dormer above the door opened. "I should start by apologizing-"

"It's fine. I have interesting family too." He sat on the edge of the bed, realized that he was sitting on the edge of the bed, looked horrified, and flung himself into the chair next to the sofa.

She liked that he'd realized that Betts, Lucky, and Mama were her family.

She took the sofa.

"Are you as embarra.s.sed and uncomfortable as I am?" G.o.d, she hoped she wasn't in this alone.

"I'm not sure embarra.s.sed and uncomfortable are the right words." His brow scrunched up like he was thinking about it, and then he threw back his head and laughed until his eyes watered. When he'd finally recovered, he said, "I've been in some interesting situations, but this is definitely the strangest."

"I work in politics, so this is nothing." The full meaning of her words. .h.i.t her. "I mean, I don't... haven't ever been locked in a room with a man... can we go back to when things were merely embarra.s.sing and uncomfortable?"

Her foot tasted terrible in her mouth. Still, she was a Marilyn-foot-in-mouth syndrome or not, she must carry on. She crossed her legs, fluffed out her skirt, and relaxed back against the sofa. "So, how's your afternoon going?"

If only she'd been wearing a pearl choker, she could have pa.s.sed for a 1950s housewife making polite c.o.c.ktail party conversation.

"Fine, and yours?" He looked like he was doing his best to keep from laughing again.

"My two best friends came into town, I laid down the law to my a.s.sistant, and I got caught breaking into the house of a man that I kind of have a crush on." She smoothed down her skirt and froze mid smooth. "Did I say the crush part out loud?"

This time he did laugh. "Yes, and I have a crush on you too. That's why I quit today. My employer wasn't happy, but I don't care."

"So you'll be leaving soon?" She hadn't seen that one coming.

"Not necessarily." He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I don't think the tension between us is going to go away until we take s.e.x off the table. We are not having s.e.x tonight."

Her shoulders slumped. d.a.m.n, she had just been getting her mind wrapped around the idea. She realized that her shoulders were slumped and sat up. "That would certainly take away most of the tension."

And the possibility of s.e.x, which didn't come her way all that often. Well, didn't come her way with a man to whom she was attracted.

"Interesting outfit." He pointed to her wig. "Care to explain?"

"This are my Marilyn whites. Betts, Lucky, and I met our freshman year of high school when we all dressed as Marilyn Monroe for the Halloween dance. We've been close ever since. Occasionally we dress up as Marilyn and go out on the town."

"So this isn't your first breaking and entering job dressed as Marilyn?" He grinned. "You look fantastic. Too bad there's not a-" He clamped his lips together.

"A sewer grate around when you need one," she finished for him. "I'm sure there's a hair dryer in the bathroom. I don't think it will work, but I'm game to give it a try."

"Around you, my foot seems to end up in my mouth." It was his turn to be uncomfortable. "A lot."

"Me too," she said.

Awkward silence descended like an unseen fog.

After what seemed like forever, Charlie got up and walked to the window.

"The attic light's on again." She watched the attic window for a glimpse of Angelique. "I had my a.s.sistant check, and there's no power to the house." She shrugged. "On second thought, she didn't have electricity when she lived there, so even if there were power, she wouldn't necessarily know how to turn it on."

Now she was babbling.

"Your a.s.sistant. You said something about 'laying down the law.' What happened?" He stood right behind her like he too was watching for Angelique.

"She's a spy for my father. When I told her I was leaving early for the day, she made a comment about how he wouldn't be happy."

"Why didn't you fire her?" It was a fair question.

"Until now, I didn't realize how weak it makes me look that I haven't fired her." She watched his reflection in the window. "She's sleeping with my father."

"How do you know for sure?" He put his arm around her and pulled her in for a hug.

"I didn't until I accused her of it today and she almost had a heart attack." Charlie laid her head on his shoulder. "Now I know why my father was so insistent that I hire her."

"Is there any possibility of her becoming your stepmother?" He kissed the top of her head. It was comforting... he was comforting.

"No. My father has serious fidelity issues. She's just the flavor of the month. If I were a nicer person, I'd tell her that there's no future with him, but sadly, I'm not." Some things a person needed to find out for themselves.

The attic light went off.

"Did you see that or did I imagine that the attic light just went off?" Wagner leaned closer to the window, trying to get a better view.

"No, the light is off." She wrapped her left arm around his waist. "I feel bad for Angelique."

"She did have a pretty terrible life, or at least the last part of it." With his free hand, he pulled out his phone. "I'm going to google how to get rid of a ghost."

She put her hand over his to stop him. "Don't you think we should meet her first?"

"Already did." He slid his phone back in his front trouser pocket. "I mean, I didn't meet her so much as feel her." His voice went up on the last word like he didn't fully believe it.

"What do you mean?" She felt kind of let down. She hadn't felt Angelique, and they were related.

"I'm not sure I actually felt her. It was more like weird daydreams." He scratched the back of his neck, like he was trying to find the right words but there weren't any.

"Daydreams. What kind of daydreams?" She wanted some weird daydreams. Angelique hadn't weird daydreamed her.

He laughed self-consciously. "Maybe someday I'll tell you, but right now I'm still trying to work it out."

"Is that why you ran out of there earlier today?" At least now she knew for sure it hadn't been because of her.

"Yes." He steered her away from the window. "Can I kiss you?"

"I don't know. You took s.e.x off the table, and it's not like we don't have chemistry, so I can't be responsible for my actions." She was messing with him, but by the confused look on his face, he hadn't caught on. "I'm messing with you. Of course you can kiss me." She slid her arms around his neck. "I'm waiting."

"What if I want to put s.e.x back on the table?" His green eyes crinkled in the corners.

She glanced down at the small coffee table. "I don't think it would hold both of us, but I'm willing to give it a try if you are. Just FYI, if it breaks, I'm blaming you."

"G.o.d, I love how your mind works." His lips lowered to hers and he kissed the right corner of her mouth. Softly, he trailed kisses down her jaw and over her collarbone. With his index finger, he gently pushed the white strap of her dress out of his way. "Are you sure?"

He held her gaze and she knew without a shadow of a doubt that he wouldn't go any further if she stopped him.

"Yes." She'd never wanted anything or anyone more than she wanted him right now, but there were still a few things they needed to cover first. "I know you quit and are no longer on the job..."

Had he slept with all of those other women?

He cupped her face and looked her dead in the eye. "s.e.x wasn't part of the deal. It's never been part of the deal. I won't lie to you and tell you that I didn't sleep with some of them, because I did, but it was consensual and not business." He kissed her tenderly. "I have a past. I'm not proud of it. You can ask me anything and I'll tell you the truth."

"Did you care about them?" She didn't feel like just another mark, but that was probably exactly how they'd felt.

"Care about them, yes, but I didn't love them." He led her to the sofa, sat down, and pulled her onto his lap. "I didn't set out to hurt anyone, but I did hurt them. I see that now. If you'd like, I can call them all and apologize."

He was completely sincere.

"No, I'm pretty sure they don't ever want to hear from you again." She couldn't let it go. "How many of them did you sleep with?"

He didn't hesitate. "Three."

"Three? Why only three?" She hadn't meant to say that out loud.

"Really, you think I should have slept with all of them?" He tried to keep from smiling.

"Yes... I mean no." Having read what the women had posted, she'd gotten the feeling that they all had slept with him. Or no, that wasn't true-that they all would have liked to have slept with him. "If they had offered, would you have accepted?"

"Several did offer, but I don't believe in one-night stands. s.e.x without feeling is just a one-night stand even if it lasts more than one night." He could be lying, but she didn't think so-or more to the point, she didn't want to think so.

"Why did you quit today?" She still didn't know who he'd been working for or why, but at this point maybe it didn't matter.

"Because I have feelings for you." Again, straight eye contact and no hesitation.

She hadn't expected that. "Quitting does make sense. I guess you can't achieve your goals if you're afraid of getting hurt."

Lucky for him she wasn't a romantic. Hearts and flowers really weren't her thing.

"When do you leave?" She would miss him. She hadn't expected that.

"Kind of depends on you." He bit his top lip and looked a little nervous.

"Why?" What could his staying possibly have to do with her?

"I was kind of hoping that you might have... or maybe... you know... could develop... feelings for me." His voice cracked, so he cleared his throat. He was nervous. It was lovely to watch.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him lightly on the nose. "You live in California."

"I know, but I was thinking of opening a branch office in New Orleans. I hate to point this out, but Louisiana politics has a bad reputation. I was thinking that you guys could use a fixer." He held his hands up. "No women, no romancing, just straight-up honest crooked politics."

"As long as it's straight-up honest crooked politics." She grinned and tried to ignore the spin-cla.s.s thumping of her heart. He wasn't leaving anytime soon.

"So, what do you say, could you use a fixer?" He snapped his fingers. "I know, you could fire your a.s.sistant and I could take her place."

"So instead of my father sleeping with my a.s.sistant, I would be sleeping with my a.s.sistant." She just couldn't imagine him answering the phone and setting up social media campaigns.

He cleared his throat again. "Are we sleeping together? Because I can wait. I mean, I don't want to wait, but I'm willing to wait. If, you know, you want to wait." He shook his head. "Wait, I just said 'wait' way too many times."

"So, counselor, here's my dilemma. I want to sleep with you, but I'm not into one-night stands either. Never had one, never wanted to have one. So, do I trust that you're telling me the truth and we go for it right here, or do I wait for some sort of proof that you actually quit and are telling the truth?" All her cards were out on the table.

He nodded. "I see your dilemma, and given my recent history, you are justified in wanting proof. So this," he gestured to the bed, "is completely up to you."

Using her hands as a scale, she made a big show of weighing both options. Finally, she dropped her hands and said, "I'm going to have to go with s.e.x. It's been a long time and I'd hate to pa.s.s on what could be the most earth-shattering night of ecstasy I've ever experienced."

"No pressure there." He pulled her closer. "I think we should talk about your expectations. I mean, I've never had any complaints, but I don't believe any of the..." He did some mental calculations. "... seven women I've had s.e.x with in my life ever used the words 'earth-shattering night of ecstasy,' but in all fairness one of them was deaf and my sign language is terrible."

"Now I'm rethinking this whole s.e.x thing." She nodded toward the bed. "Then again, I'd hate to waste a set of clean sheets."

He reached up and traced her cheekbone with-if she didn't know any better-love shining in his eyes. "You're remarkable. You should throw me out, but you're still here. I show you the worst parts of myself and you don't care. I don't deserve you."

Her breath caught in her throat. No one had ever looked at her like that. She wanted it to be true, she wanted him to be true, but something in the back of her mind wouldn't give her heart the green light to let this crush move to something deeper.

She kissed him hard, her tongue mingling with his.

Right now, this was all she could give him in return.