Now we were talking.

"Saving a life, you say? Come right in." A screeching sound emanated on full blast from behind my office door and I hesitated. "On second thought. Never mind."

The mystery guy's glance ricocheted between me and Broadrick. I couldn't let the noise and conditions scare him away. The man needed me to save his life.

"Here is good," I said and stood firm to make my declaration stick.

Broadrick raised an eyebrow halfway to his hairline and then crossed his arms. I ignored him. No one needed his negativity.

The man in need of lifesaving ran his hands through his hair and then tugged on his earlobe. "Here?"

Clearly, my plan wasn't working. I had to do more to put him at ease. "Yeah," I said and then wrapped my arm around his shoulders like we were now new best friends as we walked to the end of the hallway away from the noise disruptions.

He kept pace with me, but his steps were unsure.

"B, you be lookout," I said to Broadrick when he tried to follow. It was probably his big bulky chest causing the guy anxiety.

We reached the end, and I turned us so our backs were to Broadrick to help the guy forget the lumbering presence of my SEAL.

"Now, Mr..." Shit, I never got his name.

Dang it, that's a basic PI rule. I dropped my arm from around his shoulder since I didn't even know the man's name.

"Conner Engleman." He stuck his hand out and I shook it before he used it to adjust his baseball cap lower on his head.

"Mr. Engleman, tell me how I can save your life." Did he need me to find a kidney donor? Negotiate the release of his favorite brother? Keep him safe from the mob?

He wrung his hands together, readjusted the cap for a second time, and then met my gaze. "It's about my girlfriend."

My smile fell. "She's cheating?" Ugh, I hated taking naughty pictures of people in the act. Yes, it was my bread and butter and paid the bills, but were there no honest people left in this world?

His hands shot out in panic. "No! No. It's not that."

"Oh, good." Sweet relief filled me. No more boob or dick photos. I didn't care what Mick said about them being the money shots. I'd seen enough.

With my shoulders back in their non-hunched position, I did my best to coax this lifesaving need involving a girlfriend out of him. "The faster you spit out the problem, the faster I can solve it for you."

Sometimes the simple truth worked.

"She wants a ring," he said and then checked Broadrick's position and leaned in closer to whisper. "She expects an engagement ring, but I don't know what kind and I can't handle figuring it out on my own. What if I pick incorrectly?"

That's all? I leaned against the hallway wall. "Is she in the mafia?"

"What?" His head shot up from where he'd been inspecting the ratty carpet. "No. I have no idea what she wants, but a phenomenal boyfriend would know. Right?"

I almost gave him the truth, but with so much emotion in his eyes, I felt bad for the poor guy. "It's not always that easy. Especially if you want it to be a surprise."

He nodded. "Yes, and Lizzy really wants a surprise. I'm sure of that. She even gave me a list of places and ways I'm allowed to surprise her."

I bit my bottom lip.

A bead of sweat rolled down from his hairline. I felt mine. It wasn't hot in this hallway. This engagement thing really had the poor dude worked up.

"So how can I help?" Buying an engagement ring would be a new thing for me and I wasn't sure how it was lifesaving, but money was money. And I needed money. To pay rent and buy groceries.

His attention fell to the floor again. Never a good sign. "I want you to take her shopping and find out what she likes. Without her knowing what you're doing, of course."

"Of course." I shook my shoulders, neck, and head at him. The man had lost his mind. I double blinked when he didn't laugh. "And how do you suppose I do those things?"

Even in this small town, I'd never met his girlfriend. Did he think we women just had one big social circle? I had a lot of friends-a lot of friends-but none of them were a Lizzy.

Conner shrugged. "It's your job to come up with the how. That's why I came to a PI, and they say you're the best."

My smile returned. "Flattery will get you everywhere, Conner." The how was still up in the air, but I couldn't leave my new best friend out to dry. "Okay, I need two-fifty now and then the other half upon delivery of the info."

He didn't hesitate a second before reaching into his back pocket and pulling out a wallet, where he promptly handed over the bills. With how easily he forked over the cash, I should have asked for more. I mean, who just walked around with over two hundred dollars in their wallets?

Rich people.

I hoped to one day understand their ways by having lots of money myself.

"You'll need to email me the information about Lizzy and where she hangs out. All that good stuff," I said, still unsure of what "all that good stuff" really encompassed. Hopefully, he'd send me something to use in my quest to make more cash.

"No!" His hand shot out again, and I stepped backward. We'd made such progress for it to be lost now. "We share an email. Lizzy and I have no secrets between us."

Weird. Secrets were what made relationships manageable. Why else was I hiding the pint of Ben & Jerry's behind a box of fish sticks in my freezer? It's not my fault if Broadrick never moved the fish stick box because he said they were unhealthy. Some things were better left secrets.

"You share everything?" I clarified and waited for his nod. "Except her ring preference, and you're hiring a private eye."

He cleared his throat. "I've already put together everything you need to know about Lizzy. The most important thing is that she never finds out."

From his other pocket, he procured a long white envelope that wasn't overstuffed with information. I took it from him and turned it over between my hands. This didn't feel like everything I needed to know about his Lizzy. What things did Conner think were important?

"Great," I mostly lied. "I'll have the info to you in no time." Somehow.

**

The envelope Conner gave me full of "everything I needed to know about Lizzy"? Yeah, that was shit and consisted of a copy of her driver's license, their home address, and a hastily written list of places she sometimes visited including some college classes.

Thankfully, I'd worked with less. In under an hour the next morning, I'd stalked her social media profiles and branched out to friends and extended family. If I had to guess, Lizzy wanted a square cut solitaire ring, but I took each case seriously, and I'd get an exact answer for Conner.

I repositioned my feet on the couch before they had the chance to fall asleep and disturbed NB. He rested his head on my ankle when I found my new spot. Now that I had her socials figured out, I'd move to seeing what other information the glorious world wide web held for Ms. Ragland. Soon to be Mrs. Engleman if I did my job correctly.

Broadrick came in the front door without knocking. We were going to have to discuss that at some point. We did not live together. He couldn't just go trapsing in whenever wanted. He backed in slowly, and when he turned, he had a medium-size box under one arm and an iced coffee in the other hand.

He sat the iced coffee on the end table closest to me. "Breakfast."

"You lifesaver." Guess I'd let the coming in without knocking thing go. This time.

He deposited the box on the couch beside me and waited as I took a sip of the delicious brew. "What did you find on your new client?"