36 Inches (Size Matters 3)

“I have a new job for you.”

“Name it.”

“There’s a man I want you to follow. He owns a bookstore that I’m looking to buy. His name is Ryan Cooks. Just get me anything you can find on him. I’ll get Jessica to send you the details. I need it done as soon as possible. Do you have something else on your plate?”

There is a short silence, then, “I have some free time. When would you like me to start?”

“Yesterday.”

“That soon? Okay. I’ll have a report tonight.”

“Good. Talk to you later, Will.”

“Sure, I’ll call as soon as I have anything worth looking at.”

I don’t need to tell him what to look for. He’s worked for me for a long time and knows exactly what I need, so as soon as he hangs up, I have a sense of relief knowing it’s all in good hands.

There’s one person that I wouldn’t mind adding to the list and that’s Elia herself, but I decide that I’ll find out what’s up with her without getting an invoice from my PI. I’ll wine and dine her, and then after that who knows. I don’t like mixing business with pleasure. But with her curvy ass and wide hips, I might make her an exception to my golden rule.

Elia

I close up the store early. I know I shouldn’t, but Ryan said to find out everything about Eric that I can, even if he didn’t specify that I should date him. It’s kinda out of my hands. Eric didn’t ask me on a date; he’d commanded it. I’m just taking advantage of the opportunity.

I could have just left work as I was when Eric’s driver came to pick me up, but I can’t. I need to look better to go out with Eric...not wear today’s sweaty work clothes.

Besides, the store only had two customers today and one of them was Eric.

This time I don’t get another taxi to go home. I take the bus, far cheaper.

When I’m home, I throw a bunch of clothes on my bed, confused about what to wear tonight.

I rarely go out for fun, even the dress that I put on today was something that I wouldn’t have worn if I wasn’t in such a hurry.

This is so damn hard, I’m not going on a date with a guy from Burger King. I’m going out with a billionaire doctor. Eric’s watch probably cost more than I’ve ever made in my life, especially with my small paychecks. I need to wear something nice. Then again, maybe I’m thinking about this too much. Ryan told me to find out more about Eric, and that’s all I’m doing. Nothing else. So what if I don’t look nice. Maybe I’m letting my attraction to Eric distract me.

Closing the bookstore early only loses us money if someone comes in last minute with some insane need to buy every book in some long fantasy series or something. I’m helping the bookstore more long-term by sleuthing everything out with Eric, right?

My phone vibrates and it makes me jump, distracting me from my moral quandary.

It’s Dana, probably trying to find out why I’m not in the bookstore.

Crap!

“Hey, Elia,” she says on the line.

I decide to confess before she even has a chance to tell me off again today. “I had to close up early. Ryan said that I should find out more about that doctor looking to buy the store, Eric, and like no one else really came in. Just one woman who wanted an atlas for her son. The only other person that bought something was Eric. The place has been dead all day and Eric says that he wants to take me out to dinner. So, I had to come home and change.” I suck in my lower lip. Shit, if Dana decides that after my recent pattern of tardiness and my closing the store early...well then I’m totally fucked because I bet even Ryan, who knows I do everything that I can for the store, will agree with her choice to fire me.

She laughs.

I breathe an enormous sigh of relief because my job and my ass are safe, for now. Tonight’s got to go well, and I’m guessing some form of girl code has superseded my total fuck-up today.

“I wasn’t calling to check up on you.” Her voice is muffled when she speaks. “I just felt bad about the way that I handled things this morning. I was a bit short with you, and I know this whole tardiness thing is just not like you.” Dana sounds concerned, more like the friend that I’m used to and not like the boss who had me on my toes this morning. Rightfully so this morning, but it is pretty out of the ordinary for me to be on such a bad roll.

“No,” I say as a big wave of relief washes over me. “I should have called to make sure that you got to your appointment and that you’ve sorted out your tooth. The one that’s been bothering you. So, did you get it taken care of?”

A true friend would have made sure that she’s okay and apologized for not waking up on time. I let my foggy mo

rning brain forget that Dana is usually my friend, not just my supervisor. We’re a small store. I should be handling this all better and I have to find a way to make my mistake up to her.