who says I don’t have proof?”
“So do you?”
“Not yet, but I will once my friend finishes her audit.”
“Until you have some concrete evidence, it’s called slander, Jenna.”
“Doug Wentworth is sitting in jail. How’s he going to hear me? Unless you plan to tell him.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Then there’s no problem, is there? I’d love to see the look on his face when he finds out there’s a forensics audit going on right now. Of course, I’ve never seen his face… I should go confront him.” Why hadn’t she thought of that before? It made so much sense. She was pretty good at reading people. If Wentworth embezzled money from the city, he wouldn’t be able to hide it from her. She would be able to see it in his eyes, which were probably shifty.
“Confront him? Where do you— You’re going to visit Wentworth. In jail? You think he’s just going to admit to you that he’s an embezzler?”
“Why not? He seems to be in a confessing mood.”
“Promise me you’ll forget all about this cockamamie scheme of yours.”
“Why should I?”
“Because Wentworth could be a sociopath for all we know!”
The vehemence in Ben’s voice startled her. “Lower your voice. The man is behind bars. What could he possibly do to me?”
“I don’t know and I don’t want to find out.”
He sounded worried about her. Like he cared. Like he cared a lot.
Only maybe his protests weren’t quite so altruistic.
“If I can prove that Doug Wentworth is an embezzler, then there’s a chance that his confession about Earl is nothing more than a lie, and that would ruin your clients’ case.”
He got up close to her. His voice was quiet, but it still felt like he was yelling. “You think I don’t want you to see Wentworth because I’m afraid his confession is going to fall apart? Is that what you really think of me? I’m not a dick, Jenna.”
“I never said you were.”
“But you still haven’t forgiven me for what happened thirteen years ago.”
“Don’t be silly. I already told you. I’m way over that.”
“Prove it.”
“How am I supposed to do that?”
“Go out with me again.”
“What would be the point?”
“I don’t know,” he said sarcastically. “Maybe a nice dinner. Some good conversation. A pleasant evening?”
“Followed by some more sex?”
His face hardened. “If you really think that’s all I want from you, then you don’t know me at all.”
Her breath caught in her throat. She hadn’t meant to insult him, but that’s exactly how he’d taken it.
“Hey, you two!” Viola called from the house. “The game has started!”