Free Shop and Let Die by Kelly McClymer Page B

They’re actually quite
exclusive and they don’t want to take a risk getting an unqualified
woman hooked up with their men.”
    “ Exclusive?”
    Reluctantly, she admitted,
“No one in this service makes less than 10 mil a year.”
    Ten million dollars a
year? Whoa. “What do they need a dating service for? The money must
be better than an overdose of pheromones.”
    She sounded more confident
now. “Exactly—unfortunately it attracts the wrong sort.”
    How did anyone know I
wasn’t the wrong sort? “I don’t know…”
    “ I’ll toss in another
hundred as a bonus.” Sue pleaded.
    Two hundred dollars. She
must really be desperate. I’d have to shop ten little shops to earn
that. Driving to and from. Working around the kids’ schedule.
Avoiding a serial killer.
    I threw out my last big
obstacle. “I have a PTA meeting tonight.”
    She didn’t say anything.
Neither did I. My silence brought out the big guns. “I’ll schedule
you the next massage shop.”
    “ Promise?”
    “ Cross my heart and hope
to have hard drive failure if I don’t.” I heard a rustle from her
end of the line, as if she had literally crossed her heart as she
spoke.
    “ Okay.” I’d tell Seth,
convince him to play along, and then it wouldn’t quite be like
cheating. Maybe it would even revitalize our admittedly tired
romantic life.
    I tried to picture the two
of us pretending to be a new person—a sexy single woman making over
10 mil a year. Maybe it wouldn’t be kinky so much as
necessary—after all it would take every scrap of imagination I had
to be that person.
    Maybe Seth would have some
ideas. He certainly made closer to a mil than I ever would.
Especially if I went to work for the Admissions office.
    I returned to the hapless
heroine of my novel, but it was a lost cause. No longer did I care
whether Natasha came to her senses and headed to the Andes. Now I
wondered what to do with the two hundred dollars I was about to
earn.
    Ryan wanted guitar
lessons, but I didn’t see how he could fit them into his already
busy schedule. Anna had just had her birthday and was all set for
shoes and clothes, including the new purple jacket she’d been
asking for.
    So, really, it would come
down to getting the new front door I’d been wanting for a while, or
the bookshelves. Both were problematic.
    While the money would pay
for the door, or the wood for the bookshelves, it wouldn’t cover
manpower. Neither Seth nor I were handy, but only I admitted it.
Seth had installed our back door so well that it required two hip
thumps and steady knee pressure to lock and unlock it. I did not
want to see what he’d do with the front door.
    I could always save the
money, of course. But I’m not that good at saving. That’s more
Seth’s department.
     
    When Seth came home, he seemed a little surprised
to see that dinner was on the table. Or maybe he was surprised that
I had mascara on. Either one was unusual.
    He slung down his backpack
and gave me a hug. “What’s the celebration?”
    I hugged him back. “Big
job.”
    A flash of hope shone in
his eyes. “A job?”
    I realized my mistake and
pushed him away. “Don’t get your hopes up. Mystery
shop.”
    “ Oh.” The light in his
eyes died. “So are you sneaking around a fast food bathroom, or
trying on glasses that you have no intention of buying?”
    “ Someone has to do it.” It
was always a tactical error to sound defensive, but sometimes with
Seth I can’t help myself. “Besides, it’s none of those—and I’m
getting paid two hundred dollars.”
    He sat down and gave me a
sharp look. “What do you have to do? Walk the Great Wall of
China?”
    “ I have to go online as
Serena Smalley and be a good date.”
    “ Date?” He
laughed.
    Not quite the reaction I’d
expected. “Well, not actually, of course. I am married.” Where was the jealousy?
The momentary mental question about whether I was in the market for
a new husband?
    “ Good.” He relaxed and
grabbed a