“Supposedly? Don’t you believe it?”
“Doesn’t matter. Dad evidently received proof in the way of pictures. All I know is the man I saw with my mother that one time at the boathouse wasn’t Michael Greene.”
“And you don’t know who the man was?”
“We were never officially introduced, Jules,” Dalton said drily.
He sounded agitated, somewhat annoyed. She wondered whether talking about his mother and bringing up her affairs bothered him. “I’m sure that you weren’t introduced, Dalton. But I just wondered if perhaps you remembered anything about the guy.”
“That was a long time ago.”
“Think you’d recognize him if you were to see him again?”
“What are you planning to do? Let me pick him out of a police lineup?”
“That might actually be possible.”
“I was just teasing.”
“I knew you were. No need to be testy.”
“I’m not.”
“Yes, you are. Look, my takeout has arrived,” she lied. “I’ll talk to you later.” And without waiting for him to respond, she hung up the phone.
*
“Did she just hang up on me?” Dalton muttered, clicking off his phone and placing it back on the table. Jules sounded moody, and moody women had always been a total turnoff for him. But then, he had no right to be judgmental, since he wasn’t in the best of moods himself.
Like he’d told her, his day had been crappy. Having people in and out of his house wasn’t something he was used to, and he wasn’t overjoyed about the reason they’d had to meet behind closed doors in the first place. And then, while they were assembled, Jace figured it would be a good time for Marcel and Bruce to meet Striker, Quasar and Stonewall. He felt it was important for everyone to know who was working on the same team. It had been a smart idea, but the day had been tiring and the meetings had seemed to last forever.
He had called to invite Jules to dinner, which he now saw was a mistake. So maybe her moody attitude was a blessing in disguise. Like him, she probably didn’t want anyone in her personal space. They had spent last night together, but there was no need to overdo things by seeing her again today or even again this week. Or next week, for that matter. During his lifetime he’d dated a lot of women, but he’d never been a man who wanted an exclusive relationship with one.
And why had Jules asked about his mother’s lovers? He hadn’t known about Michael Greene until Jace and Caden mentioned the man to him. And he’d been truthful when he’d said that he wasn’t sure he would recognize the man he’d seen his mother with that day in the boathouse if he were to ever see him again.
Moving toward his kitchen, he grabbed a beer out of the refrigerator and figured that he might as well order takeout himself, and Chinese wasn’t a bad idea. Tonight he would give Stonewall a break and stay in for a change. Besides, he needed to come up with a plan to get Bruce into the accounting department of Granger without security knowing anything about it. It would be hard, but not impossible.
What Percy had uncovered with that computer was also a breach of security, and since he was the top dog in charge, all he had to say about that was not on his watch.
He stood in his kitchen and finished off the beer before tossing the can in the recycling bin. Shoving his hands into the pockets of his slacks, he leaned back against the kitchen counter. When had his place begun feeling lonely? He was probably thinking that way because it had been crowded with several people earlier and was totally empty now. And why did his mind wander and focus on a particular woman?