van, and three bikes for our surveillance. It might have been overkill. But it had taken Breno three months to find this bitch. We weren’t letting Joan get away this time.
“Have Reese meet us with the keys.”
“Already texted her. She’ll be in the parking lot,” Ryan said.
Five minutes later, we pulled into our hotel’s parking lot. Reese was waiting next to a silver Toyota SUV.
“Hey,” Reese greeted us. “She went to the store? Sounds exciting.”
“Very James Bond,” I said.
“The tail was totally James Bond,” Ryan said.
“Yeah. All one mile of it.” I rolled my eyes.
“Neat.” Reese took the keys to the Jetta. I took the keys to the Highlander. “So I’ll see you in a couple hours.”
“Yep.”
“Don’t get caught,” she said.
“Never, buttercup.”
Twenty minutes later, we were parked in front of the beach house, farther down the street this time. Ten minutes after that, we were bored. Ryan was annoying. Another five and Christopher texted us.
“She’s on the move,” Ryan said.
“Where is she going?”
“Christopher is following her.” More waiting. “Yep. She’s coming home.”
“Did he get a look at the kid?” I asked.
Ryan typed and waited. “Yeah. Little girl. Practically a baby.”
“Shit.”
“For real. That’s gonna make this hard.”
I nodded. But I was already forming a plan.
They weren’t going to like my plan very much.
*
“Turkey burger.” Reese handed me a takeout box.
“Fries?”
“Of course there are fries.” I was going to ask about a drink, but then Reese pulled out a bottle. “And Mountain Dew.”
“You rock.”
“I know. How long have you been parked here?” she asked.
“The whole time.”
“We should move or something.”
“It’s almost dark. I doubt anyone can see us.”
“Backseat then?”
“Sure.” I handed my food back to her and climbed through the seats. She gave me the food back and followed me.
“So what’s the bitch doing?”
I shrugged and bit into my burger. It hadn’t occurred to me before that this was going to be a bad idea. But having Reese do surveillance of the chick I’d cheated on her with was definitely a bad call.
We sat there while I ate. Some lights went on in the house. Others went off. At one point, Joan walked past a window. Reese went still. Like a predator about to make a kill still. I didn’t blame her.
“This blows,” I said. We were two hours into our shift. Two hours to go.
“Yep. She’s old.”
“Totally.” I wasn’t dumb enough to disagree.
“And ugly.” Petty didn’t look cute on Reese.
“Yep.”
“You’re an asshole.”
“Yeah.”
Great. As if this stakeout wasn’t dragging enough, add some awkward tension.
With an hour to go, Reese spoke again. “This is boring.”
“You lasted longer than Ryan.”
“No shit.”
“Wanna make out?” I asked. I didn’t think she’d go for it.
“No. Tool.” Ten minutes passed. “Yeah, okay.”
“What?” I asked.
In response, Reese grabbed my shirt, pulled me close, and kissed me. I wasn’t stupid. I kissed her back.
She tasted like strawberry lip gloss and honey. She must have gotten new lip gloss. Weird thought. When she stuck her tongue in my mouth, I stopped thinking. Just pulled until she was on top of me. One of her feet curled around my leg and pulled me closer.
One of us moaned. It might have been me.
“Wait. Wait.” Reese pushed against my chest.
“What?”
“This might be a bad idea.” Duh. “What if something happens and we miss it?”
“Nothing’s gonna happen. She has a kid so she’s probably in for the night,” I said.
“You’re right. She isn’t going any—shit.”
“What?” I tried to sit up, but Reese was still half on top of me.
“Someone is going up the walkway.”
“Shit.”
Reese moved so I could sit up. The figure going up to the door was carrying a bag. It looked like a dude. Slender. And judging by the height of his jeans, probably
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