Page 4 of Brazilian Surrender
She blushed. “Because we had no spark,” she said. Jeffrey was a good person to know. Very smart and proper, but as a lover he never wowed her. Having sex with him had been safe and somewhat pleasant, like a rerun of a sitcom—entertaining when it happened, but she didn’t have to have it. And she needed to be with someone she couldn’t live without, even if she hadn’t met that person yet.
“Do you still see him?” he asked, his eyes on hers.
She shrugged. “I have to. He’s one of the interns, so I see him every day.”
“Anyone one else?”
“Juan Gonzalez. We went out on a date a month ago. He told me his tourist visa was expiring and that he wanted to get married,” she said, trying hard to keep a straight face. She should have known the signs when she’d met the guy near the Rockefeller Center and he insisted on having dinner that same day. She’d thought he was a handsome tourist who could maybe be the one to sweep her off her feet and take her to the moon, like Frank Sinatra’s song. Instead, he wanted to take her to the nearest courthouse for a shiny green card.
“And you passed up on the offer?”
“In the nicest way possible,” she said. To Juan’s regret, she wasn’t an American citizen so she wouldn’t have been able to help anyway.
“I don’t doubt.” His lips didn’t curve, but if his eyes could come close to grinning, this had to be it.
Hello? Earth to Camila? Oi? I have a stalker to worry about.“What if someone just wants to scare me?” she asked.
“Someone wants you to leave the country, and we need to know why. Amateurs are sloppy and they leave a good trail of evidence behind them, which will make my job easier. But they’re also unpredictable, and this guy seems impatient,” he said. “I need to take a better look at your place. I did a quick sweep now and didn’t find any cameras or recording devices in the living room, but I want to see the rest.”
God. The fact someone could record her most intimate moments tightened her stomach. “Sure.”
Thankfully, she’d somewhat organized her room, cleaned the bathrooms, and hid her collection of self-help books on how to meet Mr. Right. Meu Deus. No wonder she had no luck in the happy-ever-after department. She wanted it too much and, as result, kept meeting all the wrong guys. At least that’s what Lee and Zoe told her a few times during their Sunday brunches.
Jaeger strode across the hardwood floor and did a sweep of the shared office, the half bathroom, and asked her to join him when he entered Zoe’s bedroom. “Does your roommate have a steady boyfriend, or does she bring a lot of friends or guys over?”
“What? No. I mean, she has an on-and-off boyfriend, Brian. He’s a sweetheart. They are broken up right now. I think.”
“Did he ever hit on you?”
“No.” She rolled her eyes. Oh, she may as well tell him the truth. “Once at a party, he had a little bit too much to drink, but that was months ago, and I made it clear I wasn’t interested.”
“Have you ever told Zoe?”
“No, I thought it’d be awkward.” And possibly end their friendship. Zoe was volatile and a tad insecure. What if she started to see Camila as competition or felt betrayed? All because of a single time Brian had too much to drink and went after the wrong girl during one of their “off” moments at a party.
“Has he ever told her?”
“I doubt it. She never mentioned anything. Zoe wears her heart on a sleeve,” she said. “I’d know if something bothered her.”
“Okay. I have enough to get started. My team will come tomorrow morning and install some cameras throughout your apartment so if there’s ever a break-in, I’ll know.”
She crossed her arms over her chest, desperate for a sense of security. “Wait. I can’t install cameras without talking to Zoe first. It’s an invasion of our privacy. Are you sure it’s necessary?”
“It’s prevention.”
“I understand, but you need to wait until I talk to her. She’s my roommate.” Sure, Zoe often overposted on Snapchat, but that didn’t mean she’d want a stranger to see her every minute of the day. Maybe this whole mess would be fixed by the time she returned to NYC. That’d make things a lot easier.
“Ask her and let me know when we can move forward. Installing won’t take long, and the cameras will be hidden and are extremely small.”
She bit the inside of her cheek. What if the recordings ended up in the wrong hands? “The whole point of my hiring you is to maintain my privacy, not expose it,” she said, wishing she hid the vulnerability in her voice.
“Only to me. It goes straight to my account, and it’s protected.”
Only to him. The words evoked a throb between her legs, and she contracted her stomach in response, willing that silly reaction away. Why did his presence bring out a part so uncharacteristic to her? “Either way, you’re assuming someone will intrude into my home. So far, I’ve only received letters. I just want to find out who sent them.”
“Ask her and let me know.” He petted Torto quickly, then headed toward the entrance. “Cute dog,” he said before closing the door behind him, and for the first time she envied her dog.
…
