She gave him a trembling smile. “That was the other thing I wanted to tell you. Carter called again last night and we talked everything out. I . . . still feel like he deserves better, but he promised me that he would let me know if it all became too much for him.”
Brant had a feeling that was a conversation that Alexia would never have to have with Carter. He seemed like a good man who was very much in love with the woman sitting in front of him. She took a deep breath and wiped the last moisture from her eyes. “So, back to my original question, would you like to have dinner tonight? Please don’t say no. We were friends before we were anything else, Brant, and I’d love one evening to catch up before I leave.”
He found himself agreeing for old times’ sake, even though he wasn’t completely comfortable with the idea. “Sure, that sounds great.” He jotted down the time and place she suggested and walked her to the door as Emma buzzed him for his last conference call of the day.
When he finished his call, Emma was waiting with her handbag to walk out with him. He wanted to take her hand but knew it wasn’t advisable to openly advertise their relationship at the office. He settled instead for a quick kiss in the elevator on the way to the lobby. No doubt the guys in security were having a laugh about it. As they exited the building, he saw Mac pulling up to the curb in his black Tahoe. He put his hand in the small of Emma’s back, leading her toward the other man.
Mac was one of the few men Brant found himself looking up to. He was also one of the few people who made him want to run that extra mile on the beach in the mornings. Mac was all hard muscle, and leaving the military hadn’t changed his dedication to physical fitness. In his line of work, he had to be observant, and Brant saw him take note of the possessive hand that he had on Emma’s waist. Even though he didn’t want to advertise their relationship to everyone at Danvers, he knew Mac could be trusted. The other man grinned at him before extending a hand. “Hey, man, we’ve run into each other a lot this week.”
“Yes, we have.” After Mac said hello to Emma, Brant asked, “Are you covering another shift today?” He was surprised and curious when Mac shifted uncomfortably.
“No . . . just picking someone up.” When Brant heard footsteps behind them, he turned, fully expecting to see his sister. Instead of Ava, a stranger with long red hair walked to Mac’s side. He was now closer to shocked when Mac slid his arm around the woman’s shoulders and gave her a quick kiss. Mac’s easygoing smile was back on his face, but Brant knew him well enough to see the strain behind it. “Brant, Emma, have you met Gwen Day? She works in marketing.”
“Er . . . no, I haven’t. Em?” Emma shook her head. After the introductions were made, a moment of awkward silence ensued. Brant was grateful when Emma stepped forward saying that she had to get home. Mac and Gwen walked toward his Tahoe while Emma took his hand and pulled him toward the parking garage.
“Yikes, was it my imagination or was that awkward as hell? I don’t know Mac that well other than the few times he has been by to visit you, but I always kind of assumed that he was involved with Ava in some way.”
Brant sighed as they reached Emma’s car. “It’s . . . complicated. Mac has been in love with her since we were kids, but Ava, well, she has issues. I always thought they would work it out in the end, though. I know she does love him in her own way. She just seems to have the Stone family curse of not being able to express herself.” When Emma started chuckling, Brant nudged her, saying, “Hey, no comment necessary.”
Emma smiled in return. “It looks like Mac is moving on. He wasn’t groping her or anything, but that wasn’t just a friendly embrace. Does your sister know?”
“I don’t know,” Brant admitted. “She has been acting funny lately, though. She and Mac are close in a distant way, if that makes sense, and I doubt that Mac could be dating and Ava not know about it. I should probably check in on her later.”
Emma trailed her hand across his ass, murmuring, “Speaking of later . . .”
Here it was, Brant thought, the moment of truth. Did he lie to make this easier or man up and tell the truth? Oh, how he wanted to take the easy way out and lie. “Babe, I kind of promised Alexia that I would have dinner with her tonight. She wanted to thank me for letting her stay at my place.”
When Emma just looked at him without saying anything, he stumbled on. “She’s working things out with her fiancé, Carter. She’s planning to move back in with him, so this is really more of a good-bye dinner.” When he moved in to kiss her, she gave him a brief peck on the lips that was the equivalent of being stiff-armed. “I’ll call you later?” Shit, his statement had come out more like a question. Nothing like having some confidence. She took her time getting in her car, almost as if she were waiting for him to add something more. When he didn’t, she waved once as she backed out. He might not be that experienced in relationships, especially successful ones, but even he knew he was in trouble.
Chapter Eighteen
Emma slammed her apartment door behind her just to have the satisfaction of listening to it bang. She threw her handbag across the living room and gave in to the urge to stomp her feet. “Ugh!” she shouted to the empty apartment. When her cell phone rang, she actually thought for a moment that Brant had gotten the silent message she had been sending him. Seeing her mother’s name on the caller ID, she knew there was no such luck.
“Hello, Mom.”
“Well, aren’t you just a ray of sunshine today, Emmie. What’s wrong?”
Emma wedged the phone between her shoulder and neck while pulling an old bottle of wine from the refrigerator. If she was going to be dumped for another woman and have to talk to her mother tonight, she might as well have some alcohol in her system. She popped the cork and sniffed the bottle as her mother continued to badger her. Shrugging her shoulders, she poured a glassful and downed half of it in one sip. When the line went silent, she knew she had missed answering a question. “What was that, Mom?”
“I asked how Brant was doing? Is he there now?”
“No,” Emma muttered. “He has a date.”
“Pardon?”
Rolling her eyes, Emma said, “I said he is working late.”
“Oh,” her mother laughed, “I thought you said something else. Honey, like I said, we just love him. He seems to adore everything about you. But my offer of a breast job is still on the table if you need it. It’s the best thing I ever did for myself.” Emma wondered idly if that included her marriage and motherhood, but she wasn’t brave enough to ask.
Deciding to change the subject, she asked, “How’s Boston doing? Is he on the chain gang yet?”
“Very funny; he is doing fine. Your uncle is confident that he can finish up some community service as long as he keeps out of trouble.”
“If that’s the case, maybe you should suggest he change his major? Something like computer science might be less encouraging to him than botany.”
Her mother gave a disgusted snort before saying, “Honey, I think you need some sleep. You seem grumpy. Do you have PMS?”
Emma rolled her eyes. Boston was the baby of the family and if he got busted for growing a pot farm in their parents’ bathroom, her mother would still defend him. Emma was starting to wonder if Boston was actually the slacker he pretended to be. Maybe it had served him well all of these years. Poor Boston, it’s just who he is. She was fast coming to the conclusion that poor Boston might be the smartest one in the family.
She had to laugh when her mother said that her friend Doris had asked about buying a dime bag from Boston strictly for medicinal purposes . . . yeah, right.
When she finally managed to end the call, she checked her messages to make sure she hadn’t missed one from either Brant or Suzy. She had left a few messages for Suzy during the day and had heard nothing back. That was really strange, considering that Jason and Gray also seemed to have been missing from work. Claire usually dropped in at some point during the day, but since Jason hadn’t been at the office, she hadn’t seen Claire
either. She really missed Suzy’s encouragement and would have loved to share this latest development with her. She needed someone to tell her if she was wrong to be hurt that she had been excluded once again by Brant. First the business dinner when the others had been taking their wives, and now he was having some thank-you dinner with Alexia? He had made no mention of inviting Emma along. Was it silly that being excluded once again hurt her feelings?
Last night had been so amazing. It was the first time they had been free to really explore each other. Their first time together in the hotel in Miami had been fast and furious, and their other encounters at her parents’ house had been explosive but rushed. She had also held back to some degree for fear of being heard. Last night, though, had been something else entirely. The first time had been fast, but the second time had been a slow and gradual build of passion. They had made love, not just had sex, and for the first time, Emma knew the difference between the two. She had felt cherished afterward as she had lain in Brant’s arms listening to the steady beat of his heart. He had stroked her hair with one hand while the other hand had drawn lazy circles against her side. She had slept curled into his side, with his arm anchoring her.
The uptight man that she had sniped with for so long had turned out to be so much more than that. He still had his moments when glimpses of the old Brant showed through, but she knew the fires that raged beneath the calm surface. He took her breath away when he touched her. She didn’t want to drive him away by acting like a jealous girlfriend. He had been honest enough to tell her about Alexia staying with him and also about him having dinner with her tonight. She didn’t think he was hiding anything. The only thing that bothered her was not knowing if Alexia was hiding something. Emma was in love with Brant and last night had just confirmed it. If she needed to be patient to win him, then she would, but if she needed to fight, then Alexia Shaw had better watch out. You didn’t grow up as the daughter of Kat Davis without learning a thing or two.
Chapter Nineteen
Brant stumbled to the kitchen looking for the Tylenol bottle. Last night he had drunk entirely too much, which was unusual for him, especially during the week. Dinner with Alexia had started off so awkwardly that he had turned to alcohol to relax. Alexia had stuck to water, which was part of her postrehab treatment plan. By the end of the evening, he vaguely recalled that they had been joking around about old times. He suspected the Jack and Coke had something to do with that. Luckily, Alexia had driven them home afterward and other than a good-night kiss that made things uncomfortable for a brief moment, the evening had been fine. He had fallen into bed around midnight and he wasn’t sure, but he thought he might have had phone sex with Emma before he went to sleep. A quick look at his cell phone confirmed that he had called her. Well, at least she wasn’t likely to believe that he had been sleeping with Alexia while talking dirty to her. He shook his head in amazement—phone sex? What had happened to his perfectly ordered life? He couldn’t find it in himself to regret the change. Life was better than it had been in a long time.
He grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator and downed it in one long guzzle. He tossed it in the trash can and grimaced as it popped back out and onto the floor. Shit. He’d never been one to have overflowing trash cans, but since Alexia had been staying with him, the condition of his house had gone downhill. She was a messy guest who didn’t do much cleaning up after herself. The trash bag had slipped into the can and he mumbled a string of profanities as he slid his hand down the side, trying to pull the plastic back up.
He was shocked when he felt arms sliding around his waist and someone purred, “Good morning,” against his back.
Jerking around, he gaped at Alexia standing closely behind him. “Lex . . . What are you doing?”
She smiled, reaching out to touch his arm. “Just saying good morning, silly. How did you sleep?”
“Er . . . fine, thanks. And you?” Something about the way she was looking at him made him uncomfortable. He turned to finish wrestling the bag from the trash can, figuring it was probably just his imagination. She was leaving today, right?
“I slept great after our dinner.” Again, she reached out to touch him and this time, he knew something was definitely up. “Thank you for listening to me last night. I know it seems crazy after all this time and everything that happened, but we need to know before the moment is lost, right?”
What in the hell was she talking about? Apparently, he had been privy to this conversation last night, but damned if he could remember much about it. Why had he let himself have that last Jack and Coke? He remembered bits and pieces about her wanting to go back to school. That had to be it. “Um . . . yeah, of course.” That’s it. Try to keep your answers general so she won’t know that you’re winging it. When she beamed her approval at his reply, he figured he was convincing enough. Time to get out of here before she put him in the hot seat again. “I’m . . . I’ve got to get ready for work.”
“Oh, of course.” He was just turning away when she threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. “I’m so happy we’ve decided to see if there is still something between us. I’ll call Carter today and tell him that I need more time.” She shyly gave him a light kiss on the mouth. He had never been more grateful that she was a timid person because otherwise he had a feeling that kiss would have involved tongue.
“Lex . . . I . . .” Shit, he was scrambling, trying to figure out what to say without hurting her feelings. “Damn, I’m just going to be honest here. I don’t remember agreeing to anything last night. I had too much to drink and a lot of the evening is just a blur for me. I mean, you’re engaged to Carter and I’m . . . seeing someone.”
She took his hand, leading him to the small table in the breakfast nook. “I guess I did do a lot of the talking last night,” she admitted. “You did mention that you were seeing someone. The whole evening just felt so easy with you, so natural, and I know you felt it too.
“Being with you again has made me realize how much I gave up and that scares me. I love Carter, but you were my first love, Brant, and a part of me has never let that go. Don’t you think we both owe it to ourselves to make sure we’re with the right people? What if everything that’s happened to throw us back together is for a reason? Maybe in the end, we were always meant to find each other again.”
My God, how did he answer that? Sitting here beside her as he had done so many times in the past was making him think of things that he hadn’t in years. After everything that had happened between them, hadn’t he at times missed having her in his life? But if that was a thought he was even entertaining, where did that leave things with Emma?
Standing abruptly, he said, “Alexia . . . I need some time to think about this.” Without waiting for a reply, he took off to his bedroom. Frankly, he couldn’t take anything else this morning. He didn’t handle emotional upheaval well and this far surpassed that.
Brant made his way to his bedroom and slumped on the bed. He had thought that chapter of his life was over for good, yet here she was. He hadn’t allowed himself to really think about her in those terms knowing she was engaged to another man, but now . . . he was confused as fuck. He needed some space away from here to think. His perfectly sane, rational life had been blown all to hell. Two women? Stuff like that just didn’t happen to him.
When Jason called asking if he could take over Gray’s travel obligations, he jumped at the chance. He would be traveling with Mark DeSanto and as luck would have it, Mark needed to leave today. Yeah, he knew running wouldn’t solve his problems, but it would damn sure give him space to breathe.
Emma was surprised to find that she had arrived at the office ahead of Brant. She had even stopped at Starbucks to pick up coffee for them both on the way. She smiled when she put his cup on his desk. Love, it appeared, was turning her into a better person. Sure, they still found ways to nag each other during the day but mainly because it was a form of foreplay for them. She didn’t want nice Brant; she wanted the smart-ass
that turned her on with just one sarcastic curl of his full lips.
She had just settled in at her desk when she noticed the message light blinking on her phone. She was surprised to hear Brant’s voice telling her that he was running late but would be there for his ten o’clock appointment. Why hadn’t he just called her cell phone? She pulled it from her handbag to make sure she hadn’t missed his call. When her phone showed no missed calls, she shrugged. He had probably called the office first, thinking she was there. It would have been silly to place another call, right?
Emma had been working steadily for an hour when she looked up to see Ella open the door. She dropped the pen she had been holding and grinned at her friend. “Hey, Els, what brings you to my side of the building?”
Ella’s pregnancy was more noticeable now and she looked so freaking adorable with her small baby bump. Even though she had never really thought about having kids, Emma had to admit to feeling a pang of longing at how her friend glowed. She had tamed the wild Stone brother and she had never looked happier. Emma was thrilled for Ella and envious all at the same time. She wondered idly if that made her a horrible person. When Ella settled into a chair in front of her desk, Emma realized that she had been so occupied thinking of all that was going right for Ella that she had missed the signs that there was also something wrong. It was there in the worry lines around her mouth, her eyes and in the smile that didn’t fully reach her eyes. “Is . . . something wrong?”
Ella sighed and rubbed her eyes. Emma sat up straighter in her chair. Were those tears in her friend’s eyes? “I just talked to Beth. I know you had been trying to reach Suzy yesterday. I think we all had at some point. It’s not like her to just not show up, right? I was worried when I found out that Gray, Jason and Claire all seemed to have disappeared as well. Beth tried to call them several times during the day. We were both concerned. When Beth arrived this morning, she pulled me aside to let me know what had happened.”