Catching Sam: Book 2 of 5: The MacDonald Brothers by Emily Matthews (best mystery novels of all time TXT) 📗

was trying to reassure him, which he appreciated, but still. He’d have to be careful with her.

He thought about taking her to bed on the plane and got the feeling she would have been game, but talked her into a nap instead.

They landed in Bellevue on Sunday afternoon. He dropped her back at her place and went home.

He thought the quick trip would just be a fun getaway. A way to get to know each other better and spend some time in the sun, but he felt like it had been much more. Like in the last thirty-six hours their relationship had taken a giant step forward.

The feeling of ease and familiarity he had with Annie was new. It wasn’t natural—or maybe it was, and he’d just never experienced it. He simultaneously felt as if he’d known her forever and that he hardly knew her. And by having unprotected sex, he reasoned, he must trust her. At least more than he had any other woman. That was progress for him.

He worked out, cleaned up, and called his mom. She knew better than to ask flat out if he had a girlfriend, but when she hinted about his “social life,” which was her way of fishing for information on his love life, he mentioned that he had met someone that he might think about asking out. You’d think he announced he was producing a grandbaby by the way she reacted. He held the phone away from his ear for most of the excited screaming.

“This is why I don’t tell you things, Mother,” he said. “You get overly excited and start planning a wedding before I even know the woman’s middle name.”

“Sorry, honey. I’ll be cool,” his mom said. “We can talk more next time you come out here.”

“Can’t wait. Love you, Mom.”

He went to bed early and fell asleep, wishing Annie was next to him and wondering when he could see her again.

***

“How was your weekend?” Phil asked from his usual spot on the couch. He was tying his tie and cussing under his breath because it was giving him trouble.

“Good. Got some stuff done around the house. Those are much easier to tie standing up, you know?”

“I know.” Phil stood hastily, finished the job, and then plopped back down. “How many years have we known each other?” he asked out of the blue.

“I’m going to assume that’s a rhetorical question since you know damn good and well when we met. What’s up?” Sam walked over from his desk and slid into the chair opposite Phil.

“We met over ten years ago and have been best friends for most of that. You think I can’t tell when you’re hiding something?”

Oh, crap. Here we go. “What makes you think I’m hiding something?”

“Do you know how many Mondays we’ve sat here and BSed about the weekend, and you haven’t given me a play-by-play of what you did or mentioned some awesome place you went, or some woman you met?” Phil asked. When Sam didn’t answer, Phil supplied one for him. “Exactly zero.”

“Maybe I’m maturing,” Sam suggested. “Ever thought of that?”

The look on Phil’s face answered the question and also indicated he was not amused with Sam’s response.

“I figure this probably has something to do with Annabelle.” He held up a hand for silence when Sam started to interrupt. “I get that you don’t want to talk about it. That’s fine. It’s your business. I need to come clean on something, though.”

“What’s that?”

“I asked Joseph to look into her past.”

“You what?” Joseph was the private investigator the company hired on occasion.

“You’re not thinking straight about this. I want to make sure all the bases are covered and that you go into this with all the information you might need.”

Sam glared.

“Don’t be pissed, bro. I’m just looking out for you. It seemed like you were thinking about going for it, and I thought it would be a good safety precaution, seeing as you were intent on disregarding all the rules.”

Sam wasn’t really surprised. They’d had Joseph look into a number of women over the years. He was pissed, but not so much so that he couldn’t see the logic.

He had to admit that when it came to Annie, he hadn’t been thinking rationally. Three weeks ago, he would have been the one calling Joseph. What if his intentions to be more trusting came back to bite him in the ass? What if he was making a huge mistake trusting her so freely?

Phil was looking out for him, like he’d been doing for years. Good thing he didn’t know about the unprotected sex. He’d go ballistic if he ever found out about that.

“Fine,” Sam said curtly. “It probably is a good idea, but I’m still pissed you went behind my back on it.”

“Sorry, dude. I don’t want to see you get hurt again.”

Sam harrumphed. “Have you heard anything from him?”

“No, but I’ll follow up today.”

Just then, Tracey gave a light tap on the door before entering. Phil sat again, his puppy-dog eyes fixed on Sam’s assistant.

“An intern just dropped this off for you, Mr. MacDonald.” It was a plain white envelope with only his first name on it. “She said it was important and personal, but I could take it to the mailroom for scanning if you want.”

“No, I’m sure it’s fine. Thanks, Tracey.” Sam ripped open the envelope and scanned the brief note. He folded it and put it in his pocket without saying a word.

Tracey returned to her desk, shutting the door behind her. Phil stared after her.

“While we’re on the topic of dating coworkers, when are you gonna grow some balls and ask Tracey out?” Sam asked Phil.

“What?”

“Don’t ‘what’ me. You’ve had a crush on her for years. Don’t you think it’s about time to take a shot?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Phil stammered. “Dating coworkers is a bad idea, and you won’t catch me doing it. What was in the envelope?”

“Noneya—as in, none of ya business. Don’t try to change the