Perfect Fit (Serendipity's Finest 1)

“Sure, but yours is closer.”

Mike paused. “But yours is warmer.” And he didn’t mean temperature. He liked the homey feel of her condo, and for the news he assumed he’d be getting, he didn’t want to be in his sterile room over Joe’s Bar.

Back at her condo, Cara made them grilled cheese sandwiches while Mike sat down at the kitchen table, pad and pen in front of him, Judge Baine’s black book open wide.

“It looks like a ledger,” she said, glancing over from where she stood at the stove, frying up lunch.

“It is, but it’s not used like one. Not exclusively anyway. There’s a list of names here. Prominent businessmen with initials underneath their names.”

She slid the spatula beneath the sandwiches, flipped them one more time, placed them on plates, and carried them to the table. “What else is there?”

He flipped through the book, coming to empty pages.

“Flip further,” she said, taking a bite of her sandwich. “And eat before it gets cold. I worked hard on these.”

He grinned and took a bite. His eyes glazed over. “Delicious. This isn’t just grilled cheese.”

Pleasure filled her. “I’m not sharing my secret recipe. Besides, it’s not like you’ll ever cook it. If you want it, you’ll have to come to me and get it.”

“That would be my pleasure.” He started to reach for her, but she slapped his hand.

“Work first,” she said, tapping the book with her finger.

“Can we play later?” His eyes darkened at the suggestion, and her heart skipped a beat.

She’d been disappointed when he’d kissed her and gone home last night, but a part of her understood. They’d both admitted to deeper-than-planned feelings, and sleeping together last night would have been a very bad idea. She’d have ended up feeling way too much. This afternoon, though, they were back on familiar playful ground, where she at least had a shot at keeping her emotions in check.

“Maybe,” she said, teasing him. “Now keep looking.”

He turned the sheets of paper one by one, finally coming to another set of filled pages. “Bingo. Women’s names.”

“I bet you can match those to the initials underneath the men’s names.”

A quick scan back and forth proved her right. “Okay, so the initials are names of women,” he said.

“One question answered. Let’s focus on the men. Any names you recognize?”

“Other than the judge? Only almost every one,” Mike muttered. “Judges, politicians, family men, men with money, working-class guys…” He shook his head in disgust.

“Is Simon in there?” she asked gently.

He skimmed the pages more than once before meeting her gaze. “No.” His eyes shimmered with relief. “No, thank God.”

So whatever Simon knew, he hadn’t been cheating on his wife.

“What about—”

“Yeah. Rex is here,” he said, reading her mind. “And not just as a patron but as a benefactor. Hell, it looks like Rex helped fund the place. There’s cash notations next to names, including Rex and…oh shit.”

“What?” She leaned in close.

“Martin Harrington, Faith’s father, is in here.” He slammed the book closed. “It’s like a bird’s-eye view of the sex lives of the men in Serendipity.”

“Eww.”

He nodded in agreement. “Let’s break this down. What do we know?”

“We’ve confirmed that the Winkler place was a brothel and that the old boys’ network kept it going.” Having finished her sandwich, Cara pushed her plate away and took a long drink of her water.