Free Fast Women by Jennifer Crusie Page B

out of his office a few minutes later, she was staring hopelessly into space.
    He started to say something and then stopped to stare at her. "What happened to your cheek?"
    Nell touched the cut. My old life happened to it. "Flying glass."
    "Oh, hell, stay there," Gabe said, his voice exasperated as usual. He went into the bathroom and came out with a damp paper towel and the first aid kit.
    "Really, it's okay." Nell rolled away from the desk a little. "I'm fine."
    "You're bleeding all over the office." He hooked his foot around the bottom of her chair and pulled her back. "Sit still. This is the closest we've got to medical benefits, so take advantage of it."
    He dabbed the cut clean and then smoothed antibiotic cream on her cheekbone, his fingers surprisingly gentle even while he scowled at her, so she sat quietly while he cut a tiny butterfly bandage to hold the cut closed, and tried not to enjoy being taken care of since it was sure to be a fleeting moment. She watched his eyes while he worked, intent on her, and when he was finished, he glanced at her and the glance caught. She stopped breathing for a minute because he was so close, and he froze, too, and then he said, "You're done," and sat back. "Now, where the hell did you find flying glass?"
    "You don't want to know." Nell touched the butterfly. "Yeah, I do. Am I missing another window?"
    "No," Nell said and flushed. He sat watching her, waiting for something, and she finally spoke just to fill the silence. "Thank you for the first aid. I owe you."
    "Good." He stood up. "We're collecting. We need you to work tonight."
    "Tonight?" Nell shrugged as he took the first aid kit back into the bathroom. "Okay. Tell me what it is and I'll do it now."
    "Not secretarial," he said as he came out again. "Riley will pick you up at nine. Lose the bandage by then."
    "Nine tonight?" Nell said. "What is this?"
    "Decoy work. You sit down in a bar next to a guy to see if he picks you up." He turned back toward his office.
    "Wait a minute. Some guy is going to proposition me?" She thought of herself in the mirror that day, looking like she'd been dead for months. "I think you've got the wrong kind of woman here."
    Gabe shook his head. "Men in hotel bars are not that picky-"
    "Ouch," Nell said.
    "Sorry. Didn't mean it that way. You're a very attractive woman."
    He seemed marginally sincere, but she'd seen herself in that mirror. On the other hand, she didn't have anything better to do with her evening, except discuss her day with Suze.
    "I'll do it," Nell said.
    When Nell returned Gabe's datebook an hour later, she still looked flushed and stormy and even more unstable than usual with that cut on her cheek, all of which was oddly attractive. Of course, he'd always had a weakness for the odd and unstable. Look at Chloe.
    He stood up. "Let me show you our freezer."
    "Your freezer?" she said, but she followed him through the outer office and into Chloe's storeroom where he unlocked the door to the big walk-in freezer.
    "This is where we keep our back files," he said, holding the door open for her.
    "Why?" she said, peering in.
    "Because it locks," Gabe said. "And because Chloe only uses the front part."
    "Why does she have a freezer at all?" Nell said.
    "The place used to be a restaurant. We use what we have." He flipped on the light and stepped inside and she followed him in. "Somewhere in here is at least one file box marked '1978,' possibly two. Find them and go through them and pull out everything that has Trevor Ogilvie's or Jack Dysart's name on it."
    "All right," Nell said, looking around. "I can't get locked in here by accident, can I?"
    "No. It's not an automatic latch."
    "And how many years of files do you have in here?"
    "Twenty or thirty. The rest are in the basement."
    "You have a basement, too." She sounded depressed by that. "Okay, 1978. I'll find it." He turned to go and she said, "Are you ever going to tell me what's going on?"
    "Sure," Gabe said as he stepped out of the