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Whit Dodd smiled, watched the woman scurry away and moved to follow her, but his foot bumped into something. A camera case. It had to be hers. “Hey!” he called after her, but she didn’t turn. He slung the case over his shoulder and started after her. “Hey!” he shouted again.
“Hey you!” Vanessa Walgreen rounded the corner and Whit took an instinctive step back.
She laughed and even from a hall length away, the sound sent a creeping chill down Whit’s neck. Vanessa shook her finger at him. “I heard you were back in town!”
“Where else would I be?” Whit said. “My twin is getting married.”
Vanessa swung toward him. About twenty years too young to be a cougar, she reminded him of a panther. He had known her all his life. When had Nessie morphed from a girl in a cheerleading skirt to a panther in a business suit?
She wore a size too small, dark navy skirt and a silky white blouse with the top three buttons undone, exposing a pink lace bra. Whit knew Vanessa would have had the shirt buttoned in the office. So, why did he find the woman from the elevator with her knee-length black linen skirt and neck-high lacy top from the elevator so much sexier? Same dark hair. Same tall, lanky build.
“With you, I can never tell.” Vanessa slid toward him and pressed her hands against his chest. Her blood-red nails contrasted sharply with his white shirt. “You’re a hard man to pin down.”
Whit looked over Vanessa’s glossy black hair. The woman from the elevator had disappeared. Whit wished Vanessa would disappear as well.
“We’ll be seeing a lot of each other this week,” Vanessa purred as she wrapped an arm around Whit’s waist.
“We will?” Her perfume filled his head. What scent had the woman from the elevator worn? He wished he knew. He typically didn’t like perfume.
“You know Kayla. She has to do everything in high style!” Vanessa winked. “I think she’s trying to compensate for her blue collar beginnings.”
Whit winced. “I didn’t know you knew Kayla.”
“Oh, you’ve been gone too long!” Vanessa bumped Whit with her hip. “I’ve missed you. Your mother has missed you. Even your clients miss you. Where have you been?”
“Marlin fishing in Mexico.”
“It’s pretty hard to run a business on the move.” Vanessa rolled her eyes. “But you’re home now.”
“Huh, not for long.” Not long at all, if he could help it.
“Maybe sometime you can take me on one of your adventures.”
“I don’t think you would like it, Vanessa. Things get pretty rough.”
Vanessa’s laugh trilled. “Oh, I like it rough.”
Whit blinked at her and tried to imagine Vanessa on the slimy deck of a fishing boat. “You don’t even know what that means.”
“You should try me.”
Whit cleared his throat and looked up and down the empty hallway for someone to rescue him. “You know, as much fun as this has been, I have to catch up with my mom and brother.”
“Oh, your mom sent me.”
“My mom sent you?” Whit knew he sounded like a robot, but sometimes when he felt like his mom was conspiring against him, his mechanical side came out.
Vanessa nodded. “We’re meeting at the Five Crowns for lunch.” She tapped a long red fingernail on his chest. “I’ve been instructed to make sure you get there on time, and that you wear a tie.” She smiled. Even her teeth reminded him of a panther.