The Job (Auctioned) by Cara Dee (highly illogical behavior txt) 📕

“How are we on the other houses?” I asked. Because it would look hella weird if, after being parked here for two hours, we were caught by a nosy neighbor watching us climb out to walk a dog.

“You’re good,” Boone said. “Lights are on straight ahead, but they can’t see us.”

“Aight, let’s bounce.”

He sighed heavily and looked back at me. “Are you ever gonna leave the ’90s?”

I shot him a bitchy look in return and summoned my inner Valley girl. “Talk to the hand.” Then I glanced at Ace and made my way to the back. “Come on, baby. Time to commit a crime.”

“Yeah. Cuz our faces aren’t listening, Daddy.” She flipped her hair over her shoulder, and Boone couldn’t fight his amusement anymore.

I stepped out of the van first and set the dog on the ground. The street was dead, which was good. When the rich slept, the cat came out to play.

“Ewww, it licked me again.” Ace wrinkled her nose and reluctantly accepted the leash. “I’m just…really more of a cat person. They don’t get all up in my business.” She waved a hand in front of her face.

I grinned at her.

After closing the door gently, I ushered her up on the sidewalk, and we started our little trek past one architect’s dream after another. The houses all looked different, from older haciendas to modern, box-shaped structures. It was between two of the estates that Boone had kept AJ’s house in sight, and as soon as we rounded a bend, we saw it too.

“There’s a lesson to be learned here,” I told Ace. “A house says a lot about the people who live there. What can you tell me about the man in that house?” I pointed toward AJ’s estate.

Ace chewed on her lip and circled the dog’s leash around her wrist. “He lives alone?”

He did, actually, and her conclusion impressed me. “What makes you think that?”

“Because it’s gray and boring,” she replied. “When you and Daddy were looking at the photos of the house online, it reminded me of Jen’s dad’s house.” That would be a classmate’s divorced parent. “He’s got pebbles in front of the house instead of flowers, too, like this one. Just some cactus—but a bunch of spotlights. And boys love gadgets.”

“You’re fucking brilliant, Ace.” I kissed the top of her head, beyond proud. Not even nine years old, and she was so perceptive and aware of her surroundings. “You’re right—it’s a typical millionaire bachelor’s home.” Very modern. Polished steel and black flagstone met straight lines and the definition of minimalism. Two stories, slanted roof, infinity pool in the back, spotlights all over. As we got closer and passed AJ’s neighbor, we got a quick glimpse at the back of the house. Only the pool was illuminated now. I couldn’t see it clearly; there was a fence in the way, but the light shone through. “The problem with millionaire bachelors who love gadgets is that they probably love high security too. That’s why we gotta be careful entering the premises. It wouldn’t surprise me—since it’s not a gated community—if he had motion sensors and camera surveillance.”

Ace nodded thoughtfully.

“You ready?” I asked.

She quirked a brow. “Ready to look like a young child just walking her dog in the middle of the night to come off as incompicuous?” Oh, close enough.

“You’re not supposed to know that word.”

She rolled her eyes. “Whatever. I’m ready to be a prop.”

Good. “For the record, dogs make sense of things. It’s scientifically proven that you’re less suspicious of someone walking a dog. If anyone saw us now, they’d draw the most innocent conclusions. A dad and worried daughter, walking their sick dog. That’s why Daddy and I told you to wear your PJs.” I side-eyed AJ’s car in the driveway, deciding where to put the tracker. “Besides, we’ll have a few errands around this house, so you wanna switch it up a bit. Tonight, it’s you and me walking a dog. Next time, it might be Boone jogging—” I cracked myself up, and Ace giggled too. “Okay, that wouldn’t happen, but you see what I mean? You don’t wanna establish a pattern. People pick up on those.”

With just a few feet to go, I retrieved the tracker from my pocket and removed the protective film from the sticky underside. Ace took her cue and became a little more invested in the dog, and I discreetly slipped the tracker an inch or so behind the license plate.

“Yeah, you’re such a good doggy, Daddy,” Ace gushed as she patted the dog’s head. “See what I did there?”

Yeah, I saw, freaking brat.

When she turned her head toward the house, I spoke up quickly. “Eyes ahead, baby.”

“Right.” She straightened again and kept walking. “Now what?”

“Now we continue walking our sick dog.” I nodded up ahead. “We’ll turn around at the end of the street and come back down on the other side.”

“And then we return this smelly thing?”

I chuckled. “I’ll return her tomorrow when you’re struggling to stay awake in school.”

“I’ll keep a Red Bull in my locker,” she replied flippantly.

The hell she would. “No, you won’t. What kind of father would I be if I allowed that kind of poison?”

She squinted up at me. “Do you really wanna go there, Dad?”

I frowned. What?

“Love you, sweet pea. Dream of something cool.” I pressed a kiss to her forehead before I made room for Boone to say goodnight.

“Night,” she yawned.

I paused in the doorway to her room and watched Boone sit down on the edge of her bed. He was the best at tucking her in, she always said. I was better at story time.

“You’re sleeping here too, aren’t you?” Ace asked him. “It’s too late for you to leave now.”

Boone chuckled softly and grabbed her hand. “I can drive in the dark, believe it or not.”

She wasn’t satisfied with that response. “I’m just sayin’.” Oh boy. “It would make your daughter very happy if her fathers could kiss and make up so we