Free Laina Turner - Presley Thurman 07 - Cupids & Crooks by Laina Turner

Chapter 1
    “How did it go today?” Cooper said, setting down his bag and loosening his tie.
    I was lounging on the couch reading my latest US Weekly. “Eh. It went well enough, but same old story. Too qualified for an entry-level job, they don’t think I will be happy if I take an entry-level job, they are concerned I will leave as soon as a better offer comes along. I get it, after years in the human resources field myself, I realize from their perspective it is a legitimate concern, but dammit, I’m really trying to change careers here.”
    I had a business degree , and had been the VP of human resources at a large corporation for years thinking it was my dream career. Turned out I was wrong, and after quitting that job had tried a few different things, with nothing being that dream job I was looking for. I wasn’t even exactly sure I knew what it was that would be my dream job. I loved books and writing, but had been struggling with actually finishing anything, and I was enough of a realist to know that the chances of making a career out of writing were slim, and at best would take years to ramp up enough to support me and my shopping habit. As I had been soul searching to figure out what I wanted to do with my life I had continued to work part-time at Silk, a high end retail boutique I had managed for a while. Today my interview had been with a small publishing company for a position as an editor. It was an entry level job paying far less that I had made during my last stint in corporate America, but more than I made as a part time sales girl at Silk. It was a job I thought I would enjoy, and these days that was much more important to me than money.
    “Well I have something that might cheer you up?”
    “What? Not another offer to work with you, is it?”
    “Would that be so bad? I didn’t think it went too terrible in Dallas,” he said, referring to the bet I had won, and subsequently he had made me part of his team on one of his recent jobs. His company had been hired to figure out who had been harassing, and then killing, contestants at Pageants Unlimited, the premier beauty pageant company in Texas.
    “Not at all, but I thought you said new clients were on hold for now until you decided what to do about the company?”
    “It is,” he said, planting a kiss on my cheek as he sat down next to me on the couch. “I’m meeting with the potential buyer tomorrow morning. It’s the after-meeting part that I think you’ll be interested in.”
    “What?!” I turned to face him. “What do you have up your sleeve?” I looked at his suspiciously.
    “He leaned over to where he had set his bag, rifled around for a couple seconds, and pulled out an envelope which he then sat on my lap.
    I looked down. “What’s this?”
    “Well go ahead and open it and find out,” he said smiling.
    I opened the envelope and pulled out two tickets. After looking them over I turned to Cooper. “We’re going to Cabo San Lucas?”
    He nodded, still smiling.
    “We’re going to Cabo San Lucas,” I shrieked and threw my arms around him, and then sat back grinning from ear to ear. Being mid-February it was cold and snowy here in Chicago, and getting away somewhere warm would be amazing.
    “I kind of thought you would be happy. Can you be ready by tomorrow afternoon?”
    “Uh, yeah! I can be ready right now. What brought this on? Don’t get me wrong, I’m thrilled, but you’re not usually Mr. Spontaneous.”
    “Well for once I’m trying to change that. After all it is Valentines Day Friday, so what better time to be spontaneous?”
    “You’re the best boyfriend ever!” I was beyond elated. I mean I had hoped for dinner and some candy, though that was the last thing my hips needed, not a trip to Mexico. I grabbed my laptop off the coffee table and opened the lid. I looked at the ticket and brochure that accompanied it and typed the name of the resort we were staying at in the search bar. “Wow! Look at this, it’s