{Wattys Shortlist 2022}
A one night stand is turned inside out when two strangers discover their shared past.
After a skydiving excursion that ends in a whirlwind one night stand, Camilla writes off ever seeing her handsome instructor again. That...
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For whatever reason, when I'd heard the name Mr. Dougherty, I expected to find a Newport-bred, middle-aged man who wanted to make a case for skipping the waitlist for membership to the yacht club. I was used to handling that kind of clientele.
But that's not who I found sitting in the lobby.
"Good morning, Mr. Dougherty," I said with all the enthusiasm of a public relations specialist, extending my hand. "I'm Camilla Isley."
"Jack Dougherty," replied an incredibly young and rather good-looking man as he stood from the chair and pocketed his phone.
We shook hands briefly before I led him to the conference room. Jack's sharp brown eyes took in the details of the office. He had smooth, toffee-colored skin and was built like a linebacker, although he looked rather at home in a suit.
"So," I said taking a seat, "how can I help you today, Mr. Dougherty?"
I regarded him with interest as he walked purposefully around the long conference table and took a seat across from me. Reaching inside his wallet, he extracted a business card and offered it to me with a grin.
"You can start by calling me, Jack."
I glanced down at the card, and my breath caught in my chest.
Jack Dougherty, Private Investigator
His office address and contact information were printed below. I stared at the tiny font, trying to collect the shards of my thoughts.
Why would a private investigator want to talk to me?
I set the card down on the table. "Am I in some kind of trouble?"
Jack shook his head. "No. On the contrary, I'm here because I'm hoping you can help me."
"Help you?" I choked out. "I'm just a PR Specialist, not a detective. I'm not sure how much help I can offer."
He studied me with those sharp brown eyes, and I wondered what kind of qualifications someone would need to have to be a private investigator.
"Don't short change yourself, Ms. Isley. I'm sure PR professionals have to do a lot of digging and bending over backward and sucking up." Jack leaned back in his seat. "That's not much different from what I do."
He wasn't wrong. PR was often misunderstood and both companies I'd worked at before the club had expected me to handle everything.
I glanced down at the card. "Can I ask who hired you?"
"You can," Jack replied. His tone playful.
"But you won't say," I guessed.
"See, you know how this goes," Jack said with a grin. "My employer asked me to keep their identity confidential."
