Nerds on Fire (9 page)

He was calm as he pulled into
Chrissy’s driveway. How he had been taken in by her remained a
mystery.

Shoving the car door open, he hurried
up her front walk. She stood in the open doorway, still dressed in
the suit required for her sales job, in her ridiculously high
heels, while her makeup was perfect. She was gorgeous. Despite what
he knew, his heart expanded at the sight of her.

“
I’m surprised you wanted
to see me this early.” A note in her tone suggested he was a little
off his rocker.

“
I’ve been thinking, and I
wanted this out in the open.”

She stepped aside so he could enter
the house. The sound of the shutting door made him stiffen. At
least after the next few unpleasant minutes he would be
free.

The scent of an expensive men’s
cologne filtered subtly through the air. If he was a betting man
and went looking through the house, Rylan would bet the man was
still here.

So Chrissy was dangling at least one
man on the side. This knowledge wasn’t the surprise it should have
been. Another wave of utter relief washed over him.

Her face softened as her eyes met his.
Through the soft look, he now clearly saw the hardness, the
constant calculating beneath it. That he had ever fallen for this
woman in the first place appalled him. It was evident he had been
taken in by a professional, but now that he saw her for what she
was, he couldn’t not see those traits. To add credence to this, the
other man’s cologne continued to swirl around them, further
reminding him of his idiocy.

“
I have discovered I don’t
love you, Chrissy.”

She stiffened.
“
What?
”

“
I don’t love you so there
is no reason why we should marry.” It was easier to just blurt his
thoughts out.

“
You came here to end our
engagement?” The tears started next. As per Chrissy, they were a
delicate, feminine assault. They didn’t smudge her makeup and there
weren’t many but she was even lovelier with those unshed tears
brimming her eyes.

“
I came here to end
our
relationship
.”

“
I can’t believe you would
do this to me.” She did look stunned, like this had never happened
before.

“
It’s not right for two
people to marry who don’t love each other.” His eyes swept her
face. “
We
don’t
love each other.”

Rage flashed through her eyes so he
wasn’t surprised when she yanked off his ring and flung it at him
in a fit of temper. More of her attractive facade peeled away to
reveal her true self. He snatched the diamond out of the air before
it hit him. As he dropped the heavy ring into his pocket, Rylan was
again reassured he had made the right decision.

There was nothing she could say or do,
and they both knew it. Especially in light of the other man she was
entertaining. It explained why she hadn’t wanted Rylan to come to
her house at this time of day. Perhaps Chrissy entertained men all
day long, he didn’t actually know.

“
Goodbye Chrissy. I’m sorry
it had to end this way.”

Her nod was stiff, but she had
recovered herself. Although she continued to look shocked as he
turned away.

Another surge of absolute relief
nearly sent him to his knees.

With restraint he didn’t feel, he let
himself out of the house, freer than he had been in months. Not
since becoming ensnared in her net. The good thing was now he knew
firsthand how women like Chrissy worked and he was thankful to
leave unscathed.

It would have been much harder if he
had to go through a divorce lawyer to retain his company. He would
have never married Chrissy without a tight prenuptial agreement,
but it still would have been a nightmare.

With what felt like a new lease on
life, he hurried to his car and then backed out of her driveway. He
pointed the car toward home and arrived a moment before
Trixi.

She cocked a brow at him and he spread
his hands as they entered the house together. “It’s over. I’m no
longer in a relationship with Chrissy.”

“
Congratulations.” She
hugged him tight. “I’m so happy for you.”

“
Unbelievably, so am
I
.”

She laughed as they hung their jackets
then turned to the kitchen. “Gran called. She wants us to come
Friday evening for supper.”

“
Miriam and Johnny are
still there?”

“
Yes. Although it sounded
like they found a house and are just waiting to close on
it.”

He nodded. “Good. I’m glad they’re
here to stay.”

“
Me too. We have to let
Gran know if we can come or not.”

“
I’ll call her
now.”

“
Thanks, Daddy.”

He affectionately kissed her forehead
as he dug out his phone to call his mother.

When she answered, one of her first
questions was to inquire about Chrissy.

“
We’re no longer
together.”

“
Really? When did this
happen?” There was a wealth of curiosity in her voice, so he
indulged her.

“
I realized what she was,
especially after my daughters informed me she’s not right for me,”
his mother made an agreeing sound, “and I saw some things I didn’t
like. So I ended the relationship just a few minutes
ago.”

“
Congratulations on your
good sense.”

He smiled. “That’s almost verbatim
what Trixi told me.”

“
Have you told Katy
yet?”

“
No, but I will
soon.”

“
Make certain my other girl
comes along Friday. I expect Friday supper is why you’re calling.
To say you’re coming?”

“
It is. Trixi and I plan to
be there. I’ll call Katy now and see what her schedule is
like.”

“
Thank you, love. And I’m
so happy you’re not with that woman any longer.”

When he rang off he found Trixi in the
kitchen. “Your Gran is as relieved as you that I ended things with
Chrissy.”

Her silvery-blue eyes contemplated
him, as though she was taking his measure. “How do you feel about
it?”

“
Me? I am so relieved I
could hang from the chandelier.”

She nodded. “You had a lucky
escape.”

“
I’ll say.” He glanced at
his phone again. “I need to call Katy.”

“
Ask her if she wants to
come to supper again.”

He nodded as he tucked the ringing
phone to his ear.

“
Hello, Dad.”

“
Hi, baby. Gran called and
she wants all of us to come to supper Friday night.”

“
Friday night, okay. I’ll
have to ask Leo if we have anything planned.”

“
Leo knows if you’re doing
something Friday night but you don’t?” He kept his tone
light.

“
He might have made plans,
so I’ll need to ask him. I think it should be fine.”

“
Are you planning to bring
him along?”

There was silence on the other end of
the line. “I don’t think so,” she finally ventured. “Is he
invited?”

“
Definitely. I’m guessing
Gran, Miriam, and Johnny will all want to meet him.”

“
Uncle Johnny probably
knows him. Or at least knows of him.”

When she didn’t elaborate, he said,
“Trixi said you’re invited to supper.”

“
Did she already start
it?”

Trixi slid something into the range.
“Yes, it’s in the oven.”

“
I think we’re just getting
pizza.”

“
We?”

“
Leo is coming and I think
he’s bringing Mark but I’m not certain.” He heard her cleaning up
the place. “Hey, did you break it off with the gold digger
yet?”

“
Yes, before I came home
from work.”

“
Yay!
Congratulations on your narrow escape.”

He sighed. “Thank you.
Trixi, your Gran, and you have all stated the same thing. I’m not
calling my sister tonight since my mother and daughters have
finally
clued me in on
how they feel.”

“
We wanted to make certain
you were happy or not before we chimed in.”

“
I’m feeling relieved at
the moment.”

“
Good.” He heard the
doorbell ring, and then a man’s voice, so he assumed her company
had arrived. “I’ll let you go, sweetheart.”

“
Okay, Dad. Love
you.”

“
Love you, too.” He hung
up.

“
I take it she’s not
coming?” Trixi padded to the sink.

“
No, Leo and maybe Mark,
whoever that is, arrived. We were invited over for pizza
though.”

“
Mark is Leo’s brother and
the neurosurgeon she’s working with.” She frowned. “I already put
dinner in.”

“
That’s what I told
her.”

Trixi turned on the water, then the
garbage disposal. “It would have been fun to go over
there.”

“
Maybe we can host a pizza
party at some point.”

She perked up. “We’ll plan on
it.”

He wandered into his office. There was
a pile of paperwork waiting there he wanted to finish before
tomorrow. He probably had half an hour to make inroads on it, so he
set to work.

In a relatively short amount of time,
he had a stack of finished work when Trixi called him to eat. He
sat down at the table, very content he wasn’t leaving here any time
soon. He didn’t like the idea of leaving Trixi alone in this house.
It just didn’t rest well with him.

Yet he wondered if his presence
prevented Trixi from finding a mate.

Chapter 10

“
Hello, this is de
Vosse.”

“
Yes, Dr. de Vosse, this is
Louise from Derry Realty.”

“
Hi Louise, and please call
me Mark.” The woman spanned somewhere between his mother and
grandmothers in age, so she certainly had earned the right to call
him by his given name.

“
Thank you, Mark.” Papers
rustled on her end. “I’m calling about 145 Colebrook
Lane.”

The place he hoped to settle on in a
few days. “Yes?”

“
I’m afraid the current
owners have pulled it from the market.”

His heart stuttered. “What?
Why?”

“
This is highly unusual,
but the man’s current employer countered his new offer, exceeded
it, in fact, so the couple decided to remain here. They’re not
moving now, so there was no need to sell.” She ended on a rush of
words.

“
This is . . .” Words
failed him.

“
It’s unusual, but does
happen in this business. He and his wife were certain his employer
wouldn’t counter, so they intended to leave. However, his employer
more than compensated. As expected, they accepted the new
offer.”

Mark stared at the blank wall across
from his desk. There wasn’t anything else to say. Except, “Where do
we go from here?”

“
I hope to set up a few
more showings for you. There are new homes being listed every day.
We’ll just have to think outside the box for you.” Louise chirped
with enthusiasm.

He hated that cliche. And this left
him living with Leo, the current owner of one barely working
toilet, sink, and decaying shower.

“
I’m in a hurry, Louise. I
really need to find something.”

If things got bad, he could go live
with his parents, but as a grown man, every cell of his being
resisted the notion. Ditto on living with his grandparents, who
were retired. That meant extra time to devote to running his life.
He shuddered.

“
I’m aware of your living
situation. I’ll look through every single listing and then arrange
for us to visit the most suitable.” A slight edge of desperation
colored Louise’s tone now.

“
Thank you.” He rubbed a
hand over his face. His future housing situation loomed with a big
fat question mark and it wasn’t nice.

For some reason the image of concerned
silvery-blue eyes mollified him. They snuck into his thoughts on a
regular basis. Trixi Duvall crept into his brain and ruined his
concentration more often than he was comfortable with.

He was a neurosurgeon. They needed the
ability to focus.

Still, he smiled a little as he
thanked Louise and disconnected the call.

It was a little disconcerting to be
homeless though.

Absently, Rylan answered the phone
late in the afternoon a couple of days later. “You can pick me up
at six o’clock darling,” Chrissy twittered.

Rylan looked at the receiver in his
hand in disbelief. “Chrissy, I think you have the wrong number.
This is Rylan.”

“
I know. You’re who I’m
dating.”

“
No, I’m not. We broke up
on Tuesday. Remember? We were standing in the foyer of your house.”
A decision he didn’t regret as he had discreetly poked into the
identity of her male guest.