Ria never got back to me.
Frustrated at my poor choice of ever sleeping with Ria, I poured myself a glass of pinot noir and thought about Gavin’s comments. I never wanted to admit it to him, but I really was concerned about all of that missing money. Since I was a billionaire, at first, I had just considered it chump change and shrugged it off. But if Ria were embezzling thousands of dollars—or more—it would only be a matter of time before she grew bigger balls and tried to take millions. And besides, embezzlement was a crime, and I didn’t want a criminal for a business partner.
After a turkey sandwich and baked potato, I decided to discuss it with Ginger.
“Hey,” her sweet voice said into the phone. “I just finished dinner. How was your day?”
“Pretty busy as usual. I just finished dinner too.”
“Anything exciting?”
I stared at the crumbs on my designer dinner plate. “Turkey, Swiss cheese, lettuce, bacon, and pesto on whole wheat. Oh, and a baked potato with butter and sour cream.”
“Someone’s getting all fancy.”
I chuckled while allowing her warm, velvety voice to calm my nerves. “Well, it would have tasted better if you were here.”
“Yeah, right. So, did anything big happen at work?”
I suddenly wondered if telling her about the whole Ria ordeal was a good idea.
She’s your friend, dammit, and friends help each other out.
“Funny you should mention that because I was asked to handle a situation at the diamond mines in Africa. But only because my business associate, who normally takes care of that stuff, was MIA.”
“You mean Ria?” Her voice tensed up when she said Ria’s name.
“Yeah, the same one I’ve, well, you know. I mean, not anymore. Anyway, I think Ria is avoiding me because I called it off with her. And to make matters worse, I also think she’s embezzling funds from our business.”
“Jorge, you can’t be serious! Embezzlement is a serious crime! Have you had anyone audit the books for you?”
Just ask her, dammit. The worst thing she can say is “no.”
“Actually, and I completely understand if you can’t or don’t want to, but—”
“I’ll gladly look over your books and do a quick audit,” she interjected.
I grinned from ear to ear. “Are you sure? I know it’s asking a lot of you, but it’s hard to find someone I can trust.”
“Don’t even worry about it. This is what I love to do.”
I eyed my laptop, wondering how long it’d take me to give her all of the documents. “Any chance you could come over tonight?”
“Since we’re literally neighbors, I can manage that. What time?”
“Now?”
“See you in five minutes.”
After quickly changing into a pair of khakis and a blue polo shirt, I grabbed another wine glass just as Ginger rang my doorbell. She was wearing a form-fitting, red halter dress, which showed off her curves while teasing me just enough about what was underneath. And the diamond tennis bracelet I had given her was sparkling on her wrist.
“Ginger, you look—I mean, come on in. I really appreciate your helping me out.”
“No problem.”
Her matter-of-fact attitude was the polar opposite of Ria’s, who never shied away from flirting with me. I was a man who appreciated the chase, and the more Ginger resisted me, the more I wanted her.
She’s just a friend.
