One Night Stand by Parker Kincade Page A

needed.
    “Caleb?”
    “Yeah, Bran. I’m here, sorry. Listen, I need you guys to come up with a list of Samantha’s clients for the past couple of years.” He waited for them to start yelling at him about confidentiality and the repercussions of breaking into her client list, but all he heard was silence. “Guys?”
    “Wanna explain that?” Alec asked. “I mean, if I’m gonna break the law, I want a good reason.”
    “She just told me that she knew who broke into her office and her apartment.” He heard the sharp intake of breath from the other end of the line as he kept talking. “And she knows what they were looking for. When I questioned her about it, all she’d say was that it was the husband of a client she’d helped. A very powerful husband,” he emphasized. “Since we handle all of her IT security, it’s not technically illegal if you stumble across client names while you’re backing things up, right?” He was reaching.
    “Hold up, just what’s she gotten herself into?” Brandon asked.
    Caleb could hear fingers flying across a keyboard. “I have no idea. That’s what I need you for. I’d do it myself, but I’m better with the tactical stuff. Plus, I can’t leave Samantha unprotected until we figure this out.”
    “Right, like following her around is such a hardship, huh, Cay?”
    “Bite me, Alec,” Caleb said drily as he pulled up to the adult store and watched her flounce inside. Would she really buy a vibrator in there? What else would she come out with? He cleared his throat. “Once we have a name, Amanda can run a background check. That should give us a starting point.”
    “Wouldn’t it just be easier to talk to Sam?” Brandon was always the most logical one.
    “You’d think, wouldn’t you?” The sarcasm dripped from Caleb’s voice. “Sam’s not talking.”
    “Maybe not to you,” Alec interjected, “but she might talk to one of us. Maybe Amanda?”
    “Doubtful," Caleb said. “She’s determined to prove she can take care of herself. She made it clear she doesn’t want us involved.”
    “So, of course, we’re getting involved.” Brandon laughed.
    “Of course,” Caleb grunted as he watched Samantha walk back out of the store with a brown paper sack in her hand. She smiled and waved the bag at him right before getting into her car, indicating she knew he was following her. His mind was racing with the possibilities of what was in that sack.
    Holy shit, why do I even care?
    “Call me when you have it narrowed down,” Caleb said. “Get me that name. Then I’ll call Amanda and get the ball rolling. Maybe by then Samantha will be more cooperative.” He highly doubted it, though. They said quick good-byes and Caleb disconnected the call.
    As he followed her back to the hotel, he couldn’t stop thinking about her and that damn sack. Or more importantly, what was in the sack. Maybe Samantha was right. Maybe it was time he got laid.

Chapter 8
    Four days. Amanda stared aimlessly out the window. Four blissful days.
    I’m in serious trouble.
    The time she’d spent with Joe made her yearn for something more. He seemed genuinely interested in her, listening attentively as she spoke and, at night, never leaving her unsatisfied. He was sexy and laid-back, content to just hang with her around the ranch.
    He’d held her hand as they walked her property, curious about her life here. She’d delighted in the feel of his warm hand engulfing hers while she’d explained that her father had planted the orchard because her mother loved to bake with fresh fruit. What she didn’t use, she gave away. Her mother had reasoned that the fruit was cultivated for her own pleasure and not for resale value. “The only thing sadder than waste,” she remembered her mother saying, “is someone trying to profit from it.”
    “What happens to the fruit now that no one lives here?” Joe had thoughtfully asked her.
    Amanda didn’t know. Caleb had taken responsibility for this and other