“You’re probably right. Good thing we had finished lunch before he got her call. You should have seen the way he rushed out the door.”
“Yes, our dad is truly smitten,” Shana said with a pleased smirk on her lips. “So tell me. Why were you parked outside Dalton’s place last night waiting for him to come home?”
Jules inhaled deeply. She knew how her sister’s mind worked and could see the wheels turning in her head. “It wasn’t for that, Shana. No matter what that guy Bobby thought, I was not making a booty call. The only reason I was parked outside Dalton’s house that time of night was because of you.”
Shana’s mouth dropped open in surprise. “Me?”
“Yes, you. While talking to you yesterday, I could tell how disappointed you were by Dalton’s refusal to attend your dinner party this Saturday night because of me. I figured that he and I could talk things out like two sensible and mature adults and learn how to tolerate each other. Needless to say, we never had that conversation.”
“But the two of you did kiss?”
Jules frowned. She knew Shana wasn’t really asking the question, since Bobby had made a big announcement about the incident the previous night. “He took advantage of the situation. When I noticed he was being followed, I realized that I would have to be creative to find out who it was. I rang his bell and when he answered I told him to pretend that we were kissing, and then he took full advantage.”
Shana laughed. “Yes, that sounds like Dalton. He’s a ‘take advantage’ kind of guy, definitely an opportunist. Now you see what you’re dealing with.”
Jules shook her head as she stood. “I’m not dealing with anything. I can see that discussing anything with him would not have worked. The man is impossible.”
“But is he a good kisser?”
Jules shrugged before heading toward the door. “What does that have to do with anything?”
Shana smiled. “For you, a lot. I’ve known you to drop guys after the first date if they didn’t kiss worth a damn. So how did he do?”
Jules paused before she reached Shana’s front door. “Truthfully?”
“Yes, truthfully.”
She didn’t say anything for a moment, knowing Shana was the only person she would admit this to. “On a scale of one to ten, with ten being at the top, I would give him high twenties or above.”
Shana’s eyes widened. “He was that good?”
“Better than good,” Jules said with an expression that indicated the very thought infuriated her. “Although Dalton Granger has many faults, being a lousy kisser is decidedly not one of them.”
Nine
“Thanks for coming, Ben.”
Ben nodded as he dropped into the chair across the table from Sheppard Granger. Ben had been a cop long enough to see how unusual Sheppard’s accommodations were. First of all, most inmates don’t get to use a private conference room to meet with anyone, and they definitely aren’t offered one as spacious as this one. Ben recalled this room from his previous visit with Sheppard.
He’d noted that the room was adjacent to the prison library. It was a huge, windowless room that Ben figured was some sort of conference room used by the warden and the parole board to determine the fate of inmates.
And the guard, the same one who had been there the last time, and who was the only other person in the room, was only there for show. He hadn’t called Sheppard out on any violations, like when they had shaken hands. Under normal circumstances, there would be a no-touching policy.