Firefighter's Virgin
Page 619
Delilah: Night.
Oh, I was planning on having as many dreams about Brandon as humanly possible. I hoped I would have so many nasty, naughty dreams that I’d wake up in a state of pure bliss. Our little lunch date was going to fuel my dreams for a long time to come. Pretty much all the time I’d spent with Brandon since meeting him was fueling my naughty thoughts at night.
It had been so long since I’d allowed myself to be a sexual being. I’d spent the last few years as a mother and a responsible employee. Those were the only ways I identified myself. But now, with Brandon, I felt like a sexually attractive woman who was desired and longed for. I really hadn’t realized how much I missed feeling attractive and desired.
Desire was just one of those feelings you didn’t realize how much you missed, until it came back to you after being gone for a very long time.
So far, dating Brandon had been absolute perfection and I couldn’t wait to see how our date went on Friday. I didn’t have expectations and I wasn’t pushing myself into a relationship. I genuinely was happy with exactly how things were going. I was even happier with how full of energy and life I felt because he had come into my life.
PART 3
Chapter Twelve
Brandon
“What are you doing on your trading account?”
“I’m just checking to see what’s going on. They still haven’t cleared that flag, though.”
“I’m starting to think you’ve got a real-life investigation going on here. I think we need to look at the companies you’ve invested in and see if we can figure this out. With your card getting frozen the other day, this isn’t looking good, Brandon.”
Josh was looking out for me and I knew it, but I didn’t like to be scared for the hell of it. I liked real data and so far, we didn’t have any of that. So far, we just had a red flag on my account and nothing more.
“The credit card thing was because of a mess up with Rose, it wasn’t part of this,” I tried to assure him.
As the words left my mouth, I doubted them, though. Was it all totally unrelated? Or had I actually invested in something that triggered an investigation? I really had no idea, and I knew if I was going to be able to get to the bottom of things, I needed to be totally honest with Josh.
My life had been pretty much by the book. I usually followed the rules, and when I didn’t, I was still within the legal limits. I wasn’t the kind of guy who looked the law in the eyes and laughed at it. I followed the law and the idea of going to prison for anything scared the hell out of me.
“Okay, well then, you are probably fine.”
“Josh, I need to show you something,” I reluctantly said as I logged into the purchasing area of my account. “I continued trading for the last few days, and I even did pretty well.”
“What? Brandon!”
“Shit, I know; but if they were investigating me already, then it wouldn’t have mattered. I didn’t invest in anything I shouldn’t have.”
“I’m telling you, Brandon, they will find a way to connect you to the weirdest things. I had a friend who was investigated because he purchased a lot of diapers online and happened to invest in the same diaper company. None of it was illegal and he happened to have twins, so he bought a lot of damn diapers, but it was a disaster,” he said.
“If it’s all right with you, I think we should have my friend check this out. He’s a private investigator and can dig up some details for us. At the very least, he will be able to confirm whether there is or is not an investigation going on. Is that all right?”
“Should I get my attorney involved?” I asked.
I didn’t want to have to call my attorney. Not only was he hundreds of dollars per hour, but I really didn’t want to waste his time if there was nothing actually going on. It was entirely possible that neither my online account nor my banking issue were a big deal, at all.
There was a loud knock at the door, which scared the crap out of me and Josh. We both sat still and looked at each other for a moment before I got up to answer it. I couldn’t explain why, but I was afraid. Maybe it was that I was afraid someone was coming to arrest me, or just afraid because of how loud the knock had been; but I certainly was worried.
“There’s a scary-looking dude in a suit,” I said and shrugged because there was no reason for a dude in a suit to be at my house. “If something happens, call my lawyer; his number is in that top drawer.”
“Hello, I’m looking for Brandon Baker,” the man said as he removed his sunglasses.
He flashed a smile at me that barely hid the dangerous look in his eye. If he hadn’t been wearing a suit, I would have thought he was there to rob the place. His muscles bulged at the seams and his neck was at least as large as my leg.
“Can I help you?”
“Hi, I’m Antonio Pryor with the Securities Exchange Commission. I’d like to ask you a few questions about your old business partner. Do you have a minute?”
A wave of relief rushed through me. My old business partner was the guy who had bought my company from me. I was up for answering questions about anyone else as long as I wasn’t the one in trouble. I breathed a sigh of relief as I let the man into my house.