“I gave my number to Faroz,” Parvati said. “Is there anything I should know before I bring him home?”
“He doesn’t talk about his personal life except to throw out little nuggets like When I was in Guam . . . or Did you know a man can still talk when you cut out his tongue? or Poison is always your best bet for an assassination, or my favorite, I’d tell you but I would have to kill you. I heard a rumor he was in the CIA but I don’t believe it. Why would a CIA agent take a job as a private investigator for a law firm?”
“Maybe he needed a cover,” Parvati said absently. “I don’t really care what he does for a living. He’s hot. He has an amazing body. He oozes sex. And I’ve always wanted to sleep with an older man.”
“How about we don’t talk about him anymore because I’ll have to pick up the pieces when you use him and throw him away.” She braced herself when Parvati blasted out of the parking lot, tires screeching when she rounded the corner.
“In a hurry?” Zara had always been a fast driver until she’d started working at Cruz & Lovitt and had seen firsthand the damage that could be done from reckless driving.
“I feel like I was just in the twilight zone. I need to calm down.” Parvati slowed to the speed limit. “After our shopping trip, I want to order Chinese food and stream an old episode of Autopsy on HBO for a little relaxation.”
“Normal people don’t watch autopsies to relax.”
“I don’t watch it for the autopsy.” Parvati stopped at a red light and checked out the hot guy in the red Porsche beside them. “My favorite part is guessing the cause of death. Was it a heart attack? Did he have a hidden cancer? Was there an amoeba in his brain? It’s so exciting.”
“You need to get out more. You’re spending too long in the hospital. What about a hookup with someone I don’t work with?” The guy in the Porsche was too busy admiring himself in the rearview to notice he had a sure thing right beside him.
“I hook up every day.” Her grin flashed. “I see a good-looking resident or intern. Five minutes later we’re doing it in the storage closet. Ten minutes later I’m back on the floor—seven if they paid attention in gynecology. I don’t even ask for a name.” She hit the accelerator and Zara’s head slammed into the seat.
“Maybe you could introduce me to one the next time I’m in the hospital.”
“Are you kidding me?” Parvati snorted. “You just had dinner with Jay’s mom. A guy doesn’t invite you to have dinner with his mom unless it’s serious. And a woman doesn’t go to dinner with a guy’s mom unless she likes the guy. A lot. I’m not going to help you sabotage your relationship by introducing you to a meaningless hookup when you’ve got a man who is still the talk of the ER.”
Zara’s stomach twisted in a knot. “It’s not a relationship. It was an arrangement that we put on a temporary pause. But this morning Tony told me that the firm is struggling financially. My job is at risk unless I find new clients. I need the arrangement to be on again. Jay has access to clients who, if injured and suffer a significant loss of earnings, could secure my future at the firm.”
“You just want to meet celebrities.” Parvati slammed on the brakes at a red light and grabbed her lipstick from the cupholder.
Zara gave an affronted sniff. “I want to meet people who may or may not work in the entertainment industry and whose lives may get destroyed by a freak accident that renders them unable to realize their earnings potential.”
“Are you reading the small print from one of your ads?” Sarcasm laced Parvati’s tone. “Don’t try to change the topic. It won’t work with me. You have feelings for Jay and now you’re running scared.”
“Definitely not.” Zara folded her arms across her chest. “I promised to find him a match and that’s what I’m going to do.”
Parvati ran the lipstick around her lips, turning them from pink into a bright glossy red. “Does that mean you aren’t going to sleep with him again?”
“It wasn’t a big deal,” Zara protested. “It was casual. We’re casual. We had a fun night together, and that’s all it was. Neither of us has time to get involved. He said so himself in front of his mom, which is why I really need to get busy finding his special someone.”
“Never seen you run this hard, babe.” Parvati rounded a corner with a screech.