Christmas In The City (Imperfect Match 1.50)

“Thanks. It was my idea. I planned this party.”

Shit. I’d forgotten she was an event planner. That explained what she was doing here and why she wasn’t dressed like a fool.

She glared at me. “And Carl Rhodes is your client? He’s my client, too. Does he realize how crooked you are? That you have no heart?”

I gripped my glass tighter. “Excuse me?”

“Going after my grandmother’s money? An eighty-year-old woman’s life savings that she uses to pay for her healthcare. You should be ashamed of yourself. If you’re such a good detective, how about making yourself useful and going after the money Rex stole from me. I was an idiot to believe the balance of my stocks took such a nose dive last year.”

“This is neither the time nor the place to be discussing the case. I don’t make a habit of discussing legal matters dressed as Buddy the Elf.”

“Really? I think the idiocy suits you well. And it figures Rex would find a lawyer who’s as dirty as he is.”

Before responding, I downed the rest of my drink, wishing it had quadruple the amount of alcohol. I needed something a fuck of a lot stronger than this spiked jingle juice right about now.

She’d called me crooked? I’d only been doing my job in uncovering those funds connected to her grandmother. I’d never lost a case and didn’t intend for this to be the first one. But that didn’t mean my clients were always in the right. Rex Adams was not a good person. I’d always known that to be true. And deep down, I’d actually felt bad for his ex—before I actually met her.

But now? I didn’t feel bad for her at all. Her calling me crooked was real ironic, considering she was the crooked one.

She went on, “Nice of you tell me that day in the café that you represented my husband, by the way.”

“You can’t be serious. You think I knew who you were that day?”

She placed her hands on her hips. “How could you not have?”

“You told me your name was Margo. I knew Rex’s wife as Margaret. It never occurred to me that you were the same person.”

“Margo is my nickname. And I was there with my attorney after your client stood me up. What were you even doing there since Rex cancelled our meeting?”

“I was there for the same meeting you were. He called me only a few minutes before you walked over and told me you cancelled at the last minute.”

“Well, that sounds just like Rex.” She leaned forward and squinted at me. “He’s a damn liar. I would never have cancelled. I can’t wait to have this divorce finalized.”

“Your attorney was also supposed to be a man, according to the documentation I’d had. How would I have known your friend—who sent you on some immature high school dare—was your goddamn lawye

r?”

“It was a last-minute change,” she muttered.

Shaking my head in disbelief, I said, “Look, I had no clue it was you. I would’ve never touched you if I’d known.”

“So, if you didn’t know it was me, then you just get your kicks leading women on?”

What is this woman smoking?

“Leading you on? You approached me.”

Her tone was filled with emotion. “You never called.”

What?

I leaned in. “Kind of hard to call someone who gives you a fake phone number.”

Her eyes widened. “What are you talking about?”

“I did try to call you—that night. I got some man named Mauricio. He wasn’t thrilled when I rang him a second time ten seconds later, either. He confirmed that the number I had was his—not yours.”

Margo’s eyeballs moved frantically from side to side. “Could I have entered it wrong? Do you still have it…my number in your phone?”