Unwrapping the Playboy / The Playboy's Gift: Unwrapping the Playboy

“How come, all those years we lived at home together, you never told me you thought you were a psychic?” His voice grew more serious. He hadn’t told her that he’d had any sort of relationship with Lilli. There was no reason for her to believe that it was anything but fleeting, the way all his relationships had been these last seven years. “Who told you she was an old flame?”

He heard her chuckle and suddenly knew he’d walked into a setup. “You just did, big brother. Although I have to admit that Selma started the ball rolling this afternoon by saying that you looked a little off your game with the new client.”

He knew how she operated. “And being the insatiably curious person that you are, you had to know why and you started digging.”

“Like a little ferret,” she informed him. “Especially when I wheedled your client’s name out of Selma. You do remember that Mom sent this woman over, right? It’s her way of playing matchmaker with you.”

Yes, he knew, but it didn’t matter how Lilli got here as long as she did. Closing the refrigerator door again, he straddled the kitchen chair he’d pulled over. “Don’t you have anything better to do with your time? Isn’t your caseload big enough?”

“Fortunately for you, I’m very fast as well as very thorough.” She got down to business. “I’m calling you to offer my services.” When there was only silence on the line, she prodded a little. “You know, do some research, find the right references. Off the books, of course,” she was quick to add. “This way, Rothchild won’t get his shorts in a twist. After all, he won’t be pleased when he hears you’re going up against Elizabeth Dalton, she of the Dalton Pharmaceuticals fortune.”

Kullen sighed. “Is there anything you don’t know?” he asked.

“You mean about how much your old flame meant to you and how cut up you were when she disappeared?”

“Who—?”

“Gil told me. And before you go blaming him after all these years, he told me because at the time he was worried about you. I just didn’t make the connection when you mentioned a new client earlier.”

“And telling my little sister about this so-called flame was going to help?” he asked, annoyed with Gil, a friend he had since lost touch with through no fault of his own.

“Eventually,” she said loftily. “See, I’m offering to help you now. Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, Kullen,” she advised playfully.

He laughed shortly. “I’d hardly call you a gift, but there is something you can do for me.”

“Charming as always,” she quipped. “Okay, what is this thing I can do for you?”

His answer surprised her. “Get me Jewel’s phone number.”

Jewel and Nikki were both her best friends and they went way back. They were also, all three of them, victims of their mothers’ matchmaking endeavors. “She’s spoken for, remember?” she deadpanned.

“I remember, wise guy. And that’s not why I want to talk to her. I want Jewel to do a little investigating for me. Off the record,” he added.

“Of course. Jewel’ll be thrilled.”

“I don’t need her to be thrilled, I just need her to be thorough,” he told Kate.

“Then you’re in luck. Thorough just happens to be Jewel’s middle name. Hold on a sec.” He heard Kate putting the phone down and then shuffling in the background. His sister was back on the line a couple of minutes later. “Got a piece of paper and a pencil?” Without waiting for him to answer, she rattled off the number for the cell phone that Jewel used on the job.

Kullen thanked her and just as she was about to hang up, he stopped her. He had to ask. It wasn’t that he and Kate had the kind of relationship where they were at odds all the time. For the most part, they got along fairly well. But this was definitely tendered out of the blue and he considered it over and above the call of duty on her part.

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