“I’m here,” she answered, sounding perfectly normal. “Just out of curiosity, why would she ask her ex-fiancé? Did you stay in contact after your split or was it recent?”
“It was a few years ago and, no, today is the first time I’ve spoken with her since our relationship ended.” Brant thought she sounded more puzzled than anything now and he couldn’t blame her. When he thought about it in those terms, it seemed strange to him as well. He wouldn’t have sought Alexia out if the circumstances had been reversed. Of course, Emma didn’t know the whole story and that made a bit of difference.
“She is dealing with a family situation and doesn’t have any friends that she can . . . trust.”
“It still seems strange that she would come to you after so long in those circumstances.”
Brant was starting to wish he had just kept his mouth shut. This was becoming harder and harder to explain without telling her what was going on and he couldn’t do that.
“She has some other problems as well. I guess, due to our history together, she felt she could count on me for support. Our relationship was built on a friendship and she had nowhere else to turn.”
Emma’s only comment was “Hmmm.”
“So, I’ll see you tomorrow?” Brant asked.
“Um-hmm,” she replied absently.
“And we’ll make plans for tomorrow night?” Brant asked almost hesitantly.
“What? Oh sure, yeah, that sounds good. ’Night.” With those words, he heard a click. He felt uncomfortable with how the whole conversation had gone. He would have felt better if she had overreacted and accused him of something. As it was, though, she seemed almost distant from the entire subject.
Fuck, now I remember why it was a helluva lot easier to avoid romantic hassles. Right now I don’t know my ass from a hole in the ground, and that happens only when a woman is involved.
Emma looked down at her watch and hoped Suzy was still awake. She didn’t think she would have had time to make it home from dinner and already be asleep. She quickly found Suzy’s name on her phone and texted her: Old bitch moving in on my man.
Her phone almost immediately signaled an incoming text: What???
As she was typing in her reply, the phone rang. She saw Suzy’s name on the caller ID. When she answered, Suzy immediately asked, “What the hell?”
“Er . . . sorry about that. The last time I had man drama, I was a teenager, so I regressed back for a moment.”
“All right,” Suzy laughed. “So what gives?”
“Well, I found out tonight that Alexia is staying with Brant temporarily since she is fighting or something with her fiancé.”
“Pardon?” Suzy asked. “I don’t think I heard that right.”
“Oh, you did. Trust me, I had the same reaction when he told me. He said that they have been broken up for a few years and in that time have not been in touch with each other. Now, out of the blue, she’s back and needs somewhere to stay? Hellooo! Would you call your ex-fiancé if you and Gray were having problems and ask to stay with him?”
“Um, hells-to-the-no,” Suzy muttered. “I’d rather sleep in my car.”
“Thank you!” Emma exclaimed. “That’s pretty much what I thought. The whole thing seems strange to me. Do you . . . do you think she wants him back? Maybe she made up this whole thing about a fiancé and having nowhere to go.”
“Well, men are usually suckers for the whole damsel-in-distress act,” Suzy admitted, “so I wouldn’t rule it out. I think it might be time for a little R and R.”
“Rest and Relaxation?” Emma asked, thinking maybe Suzy had been asleep after all.
“Duh, no—Research and Reconnaissance. Know thy enemy and all that. I think it’s time to see exactly where Alexia came from and if there is another man in her life. I’ll see if I can get some information out of Gray and maybe Ella can talk to Declan discreetly as well. We’ll figure out if this is on the up-and-up or if someone wants your man back.” They talked for a few more minutes before ending the call.
Emma felt better after talking to Suzy, but she had to fight the urge to kick off Operation R & R right then. She felt the need to do something completely juvenile, like drive by Brant’s house and peek in the windows. Didn’t they say that eavesdroppers never heard anything good about themselves? That probably went double for Peeping Toms then. To distract herself from doing something stupid, she flipped open her laptop and started on the research end of the mission. Thanks to Google, there were very few secrets in the world anymore.
After fifteen minutes of reading everything she could find on Alexia Shaw, Emma sorely wished she had remained in her ignorant bubble. Her family was mentioned tons of times in the different society pages. A younger Alexia stood next to her parents in many of the older pictures. Strangely enough, she had fallen off the radar in recent years. Her parents were still pictured at various events, but Alexia was nowhere to be seen. As Emma pondered what that could mean, she ran across a picture that caught her attention. It was a charity event for the Children’s Hospital and not only were Alexia’s parents in one of the photos, Brant stood with his arm around a beaming Alexia and damn it, he looked happy. Well, what did you expect? They were engaged.
Maybe a part of her had hoped that the whole engagement thing was a mistake somehow. But if the hug in his office this morning hadn’t convinced her, then the picture she was staring at did. It wasn’t just a friendly photo-op picture. Brant’s whole stance toward Alexia was possessive. He cradled her against his side protectively. Emma could only imagine how a photo of she and Brant as a couple might look. The photographs would probably alternate between one of them having their hands around the other’s neck to something a little more sweaty and graphic.
Yeah, researching your new enemy at night: not a good idea. Couldn’t Brant’s ex have been a homely, poor wallflower who didn’t have tons of hits on Google? Just for kicks, she entered her own name and while she got some hits, the only halfway interesting one was a college student named Emma Davis who went by the nickname Emmie-Pie and had quite a talent for tying things in knots with her tongue, as evidenced by all the video clips posted on her site.
Right now, even Emmie-Pie seemed to have a better shot at happiness than Emma did.
Brant rubbed the back of his neck, hoping that the drama with Alexia was going to die down soon. When he arrived home, tired and sexually frustrated as all hell after having to cancel his evening with Emma, he had found Alexia on the phone crying. When he asked her what was wrong, she thrust her phone in his hand and asked him to deal with it for her . . . please? What the hell? He put the phone to his ear, fully expecting to hear either her mother or father on the other end. Instead, he ended up in a lovers’ spat. There was a man whom he soon found out was the fiancé, Carter, begging Alexia to listen to reason. “Um, Alexia stepped away for a moment.” Great, that sounded fucking brilliant. Just the type of thing to reassure a man that he can work things out with his woman.
Dead silence followed before an angry voice boomed, “Who the fuck is this and where’s Alexia?” A smarter man would have ended the connection at that point. How screwed up was it that he wanted to help the woman who had dumped him two years ago to save her relationship with the irate man on the other end of the line?
“This is Brant Stone, a friend of Alexia’s. She’s—”
Before he could finish his sentence, there was what could only be called angry laughter from the other end. Brant could sense no real amusement in the sound. “You’re kidding me, right? I’m over here on my knees groveling and begging for forgiveness and she went straight back to you?” Brant didn’t know why he was surprised. Of course, if you were serious enough about someone enough to marry him, you would tell him about your past. He was naive to think that Carter didn’t know who he was. He actually felt a bit like an asshole for doing this to the guy. There was nothing going on with Alexia, but how was Carter supposed to believe that?
“It’s not like that, Carter. Alexia j
ust needed a place to stay. I’m sure she told you that her parents have been less than . . . supportive.”
“What?” Carter asked, clearly having no idea what he was talking about. “I gather you know, but she already told her parents as well?” The concern in Carter’s voice was real and raw. Brant found himself feeling sorry for him.
Alexia was nowhere to be seen and Brant sat on a barstool in his kitchen faced with a decision. If she was going to place him in the middle of whatever was going on with Carter, then he wasn’t going to lie when asked a direct question. “Yeah, she did and it was . . . tough.”
Carter’s voice rose again as he asked, “What do you mean, tough?”
Sighing, Brant said, “Tough as in don’t expect any support from them. I think they pretty much made her feel like an outcast and she left. With things up in the air with you and them cutting her off at the knees, she was desperate. That’s the only reason she would have come to me after all this time.”
“Damn, she really didn’t need that after me being such an asshole about the whole thing.”
“I don’t really know much about Alexia now, but back when we were together, she had always had a man in her life making the decisions. First, it was her father and then me. I think she almost needs the comfort and familiarity now while she tries to get her life together. Especially if things are unsettled between you two. I suspect that’s the biggest reason she turned to me when her parents didn’t offer it.”
“Yeah,” Carter answered absently, “that makes sense. I guess I have been playing that role in our relationship. I just . . . I’m so afraid of her falling back into that old crowd she was running with. I can’t stand to see her relapse after going through so much to get clean. She thinks it means I don’t trust her and that she’s just a burden to me. I know that she’s doubting our whole relationship no matter how much I try to convince her that everything is okay.”
Brant was starting to feel like he was a cross between Alexia’s father and a host on a dating show, but this stuff happened when you got involved in people’s lives—and he was in up to his neck in Alexia’s. “Just give her time, Carter. Let her recover from this fallout with her parents and then try again.”
Carter insisted on leaving his phone number and grudgingly thanked him for his help. Finally, with assurances that he would call if anything happened with Alexia, Brant gratefully ended the conversation. He wasn’t used to dealing with emotional people very often, and it was damned exhausting. Suddenly he remembered the day that Emma had faked a crying spell at work to yank his chain and chuckled. God, he missed her so much in that moment that he felt an actual ache in the area of his heart. He was more determined than ever to get things settled here so he could focus his attention back on the little spitfire who was turning his carefully ordered existence on its ass.
“I’m sorry, Brant.” He turned to find Alexia shifting nervously from one foot to the other behind him. “I shouldn’t have put that off on you. It’s just too . . . hard.” Brant felt a different ache as she started to sob on the last word. This ache he knew was something like heartburn from too much stress. No doubt he had even consumed some type of dairy product without thinking during dinner as well.
“It’s okay, Lex, I managed. Carter seems like a nice guy and he obviously cares about you.”
The tears started falling harder and Brant thought that maybe he should have suggested they talk in the morning and run for the sanctuary of his room. It was probably never smart to mention anything about feelings to an emotional woman.
“He’s . . . great . . . he does . . . love . . . me,” Alexia managed to get out between sobs. Brant pulled a tissue from the box on the bar and then thought better of it and handed her the entire box instead. He patted her back awkwardly and for the second time that day she wrapped her arms around him and cried. He rubbed her back and just let her cry. He had a feeling that the upheaval with Carter was just a small part of the upset. Very little time had passed since she had left rehab, and she was no doubt still trying to come to terms with the daily struggle to stay clean. She was scared to be a burden to Carter, but terrified to be alone. He cursed her parents silently for being so insensitive to what their daughter was going through. She needed them and whether they had intended to or not, they had confirmed in her mind that she was nothing but a burden to those she loved now. Brant felt that if things had gone better with them, she would have been more willing to listen to Carter and have hope that their relationship could work.
“He does love you,” Brant agreed, “and he’s worried about you.”
She took a moment to dry her eyes before asking, “Will you come sit with me for a while? Maybe we could watch a movie. You’re the only one I feel good around right now.” Brant felt warning bells go off inside of him. He could be her friend, regardless of their history, but he couldn’t be her savior. That job needed to go to the man who loved her. He would have to step carefully, because he didn’t want to drive a wedge between her and Carter.
“Ah, I wish I could. I have some meetings tomorrow.” She must think you’re an insensitive prick, but it’s for the greater good, right? “I . . . it’s just that I was away for a few days and now things are really backed up at work.”
Her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. “It’s okay. I grew up with a workaholic father, so I do understand that business usually comes first.” Brant winced, but he didn’t see any other options. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, Carter was the man she needed to be her rock now.
“If you’re all right now, I think I’ll head to bed. Do you have everything you need?”
Alexia nodded and turned toward the guest room. Great, Brant thought as he walked toward the master bedroom at the other end of the house. That was the second time in one day that a woman had looked at him like he was an asshole. First, Emma for having her make dinner reservations and now Alexia. He didn’t seem to be pleasing any of the women in his life and that stung a lot more than it used to.
Chapter Fifteen
Suzy looked up from her computer as Emma threw herself in the chair in front of her friend’s desk. Before she was even seated, she moaned to Suzy, “You aren’t going to believe this.”
“Oh, go ahead and try me,” Suzy said with interest.
“I started on the R and R that we talked about last night and I’m pretty sure I got busted on my first mission.”
Suzy waved her hand impatiently as Emma paused to gather her thoughts. “Come on, I’ve got to hear the rest.”
Covering her eyes in shame, Emma admitted, “I decided to do a drive-by of Brant’s house on the way to work. I mean, I don’t know what I thought I would see at eight o’clock in the morning . . . Maybe Brant and Alexia making out in front of the house for everyone to see?”
Looking curious, Suzy asked, “So what did you see?”
“The bumper of Brant’s car,” Emma mumbled.
“Come again?” Suzy asked.
“Brant was pulling out of his driveway when I drove slowly by and I think he saw me.”
“Nah, that’s pretty early and he wouldn’t have been expecting you in the area, so I doubt it would have occurred to him.”
“But he waved,” Emma said.
Suzy shook her head. “Men wave at everyone; he probably thought you were his neighbor. I don’t think you have anything to worry about. Even if he did recognize you, he might think it’s on your way to work.”
“He knows where I live and he would know that his house isn’t vaguely on my way. There’s another reason I think he saw me.” When Suzy raised her brows in question, Emma said, “He pulled up beside me at the red light right up the street from his house and motioned for me to pull over.”
“Uh-oh,” Suzy muttered. “Well, what excuse did you make when you talked to him?”
“I . . . um . . . didn’t stop. I took the next turnoff and went the long way to work. I came straight to your office, so I haven’t seen him yet. Shit, what am I going to say?”
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“Hmm, well you’ve already used up one of the guaranteed ways to get a man to leave you alone and that’s by crying. Since he probably wouldn’t fall for that a second time, use the whole ‘it’s that time of the month’ thing. Trust me, I don’t care how much he wants to question you, if you start talking about Aunt Flo coming to town, the man is going to turn tail and run.”
“Aunt Flo?” Emma asked.
“It’s slang for your period. Also a word of advice: Usually if you decide to stalk someone at home, you borrow a different car. Next time you get the urge to spy on him, let me know and we’ll change cars for the evening or I’ll just go over and do it for you.”
“Really? Wouldn’t that be hard to explain to Gray?”
Suzy laughed. “Honey, Gray never asks questions about things that he really doesn’t want to hear the answers to. He is still so traumatized by knowing too many details of his brother and Beth’s relationship that he can barely be in the room with both of them. He always knew his brother was a bit of a horn-dog, but he never thought it would involve his wife’s sister.” Suzy shuddered. “Hell, I never thought it would either, come to think of it.”
Emma stood up, coming around the desk to give her friend a hug before leaving. She stopped to talk to Ella at the receptionist desk for another few minutes, making her late by the time she made it to her office. Brant was standing in his doorway obviously waiting for her when she opened the door. He leaned against the doorframe and with no preliminaries asked, “Why’d you take off this morning?”
“I . . . er . . .” Shit, she was already stuttering like someone guilty. She might as well admit to teenage stalking and get the humiliation out of the way.