Irene was late again. I couldn't fire her ass because I couldn't afford anyone who would be on time. I decided she could wake me up when she came in. Sliding a little further down in the chair, I adjusted my feet on the desk, and eased my hat down a bit. As I was about to nod out, I heard the bell on the office door.
"Hello?" a voice too sexy to be Irene's called out. A woman of about 33 stepped all the way into the front-office the moment she saw me.
She looked as if she'd stepped off the cover of a magazine a guy with my income had no business reading. The top of her tan suit had padded shoulders and an unreasonable number of buttons centering the front--all fastened. The three-quarters sleeves revealed an inordinate amount of jewelry. The suit skirt wasn't like a second skin but tight enough to require kick pleats next to her knees.
"Hello," I answered. "My secretary's a little late." I nodded toward Irene's empty desk.
"Steel City Investigations?" That voice! The accent was mid-west, Chicago maybe.
"That's me. Bobby Wadword." A smile teased her lips and I added, "I guess my dad had something going other than his name."
She didn't answer and I realized she was still standing. "Come in," I said and motioned toward my empty office. Though there was still no sign of Irene, I closed the door. As I turned back, I saw she hadn't bothered to sit in the red leather guest chair and her eyes were cruising to my shoes and back up, taking a little longer than my six feet required.
"I need you to solve a murder for me," she stated flatly.
"Well, I prefer missing diamonds, but I seem to get more than my share of homicides lately. "Who's dead?"
"Nobody yet. I want you to tell me what you would look for if a certain person was murdered." Her heels looked much too high to be comfortable, but she didn't bother with the chair just to her left. I didn't bother with moving behind the desk; a heavenly scent not found on Irene and secretary crowd floated across the three feet between us.
"How do you mean?" I asked.
"I want you to take a look at a situation and tell me what might give the killer away."
"No one's dead yet--right?" As I spoke she was already replying: correct.
"I may be willing to do this thing. You saw my rates in the front room?" She looked as if she could more than afford them, and what did it matter if she were crazy as long as her lettuce was green.
"Oh, I can't pay you," she responded, much to my consternation. "He has all the money." Okay, so the woman had one serious flaw.
"I can't work for free; maybe I'm not the right one for you." The words came out painfully.
"You're the one I'm looking for, alright," she answered cheerfully.
She closed the distance between us. Her red lipstick looked wet from inches way. I could feel her breath on my throat. Her hand closed on my crotch and sent twitches through my body. Junior, already awake inside my boxers, obviously loved her touch.
"Maybe I can give you a sort of retainer," she purred. She lowered the zipper on my suit pants and her hand ducked inside. Finding what she was looking for was no problem, but she had to tug a little to pull it through my fly.
Her lips were much too close and I couldn't resist kissing them. She tasted good, not like candy or mouthwash but like honeysuckle on the wind.