Back in Her Husband's Bed

“Hey,” he answered.

“Good morning, sunshine,” Gabe said dryly. “We need to talk about something that happened yesterday.”

Nate frowned and settled into his desk chair. “What?”

“I was down on the floor watching Eddie as you directed, but one of my guys, Stuart, was doing surveillance and listening to Annie’s conversations.”

He didn’t really want to know what his friend would say next. It would ruin his sex buzz. “And?” he said reluctantly.

“She was talking to the Captain and having a fairly blunt conversation about Walker. He indicated that he’d heard Walker had recruited a new woman to work with him. Just when he was about to elaborate, Annie went into a mad coughing fit and immediately dismissed herself.”

That wasn’t good. Knowing the accomplice was a woman reduced the suspect list dramatically. Knowing Annie had abruptly ended the conversation, hadn’t followed up and hadn’t passed any information on to him or Gabe narrowed it to a party of one. Was it possible that Tessa was more than just Eddie’s girlfriend? Could she be involved in the cheating, as well, or was the Captain just misinformed? He needed to get Annie away from the casino and all the intrusions.

“I think I’m going to take Annie to the house today. We both know Eddie is up to something, possibly Tessa, as well, but I’m not sure about what Annie knows. I was thinking I could get more information out of her if we’re away from the casino.”

“Make sure you don’t get played. You don’t know how involved she is with all this. For all we know, she’s the ringleader and using her relationship with you as a diversion.”

“I guess we’ll find out.” At that, Nate hit the button to disconnect the call. He didn’t like thinking about Annie like that. He would do what was smart, but he hesitated to be instantly suspicious of her like Gabe.

Flipping through his address book, he punched in a name and within seconds had his housekeeper, Ella, on the phone. The older woman was in her late fifties and lived exclusively at Nate’s house. She kept the place clean and organized. If he decided to do something at the house, Ella would make sure everything was taken care of.

He explained his plans and she was all too eager to prepare everything for their arrival. Honestly, he hadn’t been back to the house in more than a month. The poor woman was probably bored to tears and suddenly all atwitter as she readied the house.

“Nate?” Annie’s sleepy voice called to him from the bedroom.

Nate switched off his phone and headed back to her. “Good, you’re up,” he said and sat on the edge of the bed. “Get dressed.”

“You mean you’re going to keep your hands to yourself long enough for me to put clothes on?” Annie sat up in bed, the navy sheets clutched to her bare chest.

Nate eyed her for a moment—the sexy mess of her hair over her shoulders, the smooth length of her leg peeking out from beneath the covers, the full swell of her breasts pressed against her arms. That was a very good question. He was considering having her again before they left. The only thing stopping him was the opportunity to make love to her someplace new.

“Only if you hurry.” He grinned and disappeared into the closet.

They did hurry, hopping into his convertible Mercedes as the valet pulled it around. Within minutes, they left the bustle of the Strip behind and settled into the sprawling suburbia that surrounded it. He’d told Annie to dress casually and bring a swimsuit. He expected her to ask questions, but she seemed content to watch the scenery go by.

It took about twenty minutes to get to his subdivision. The two-story Spanish-style house was typical for the area, with the sand-colored stucco walls and red clay tile roof. The yard was well landscaped but lacked any sort of personality. It could’ve been anyone’s house. Were it not at the very end of the cul-de-sac, it might’ve been hard for even Nate to pick it out from the others.

Nate hit the button to open the garage and pulled in beside the empty spot where Ella’s green Buick normally parked. He felt bad about the sudden plans, so he’d sweetened the deal with the offer of an afternoon of pampering at the Sapphire Spa. She deserved it. It also got her out from underfoot. Ella didn’t know about his marriage to Annie and he wanted it to stay that way.

Nate sighed and opened the door. “I’d give you the tour, but I’m a little rusty on it myself.”

Annie chuckled, scooping her purse off the floor and climbing out of the car. “You really need to focus on some work-life balance, Nate.”