Emma rubbed her temples, trying to soothe the headache pulsing there. To say it had been a hectic day would be a grave understatement. Both Jason and Gray had been called away on some emergency, which meant that many of their meetings and obligations for that day had been shifted to Brant, Declan and Nick. She had spent the morning running back and forth to Gray’s and Jason’s offices gathering files that Brant needed. They had worked steadily throughout the day with little time for any personal interaction. He had spent the night with her last night and left before dawn to go home for a change of clothes before work. She had given him a huge grin when he left her bed in the early-morning light, thinking of him making the walk of shame that was usually reserved for a woman leaving a man’s apartment in the same clothes she had arrived in.
She studied him as she dropped another file on his desk. His eyebrows were furrowed and his jaw was flexed in concentration. He jotted notes in the notebook
in front of him as he asked what seemed like a hundred questions. He looked like a perfect picture of every uptight name she had ever called him. The problem now was that she knew there was more to him than that. He could completely immerse himself in work to the exclusion of all else, but he could also burn hotter than any man she had ever known. He looked up to give her an absent-minded smile, catching her in the middle of staring at him. He was so sexy to her in that moment that she wanted nothing more than to grab him by his paisley tie and drag him on the floor with her. Just one sharp pinch to the nipple like he had given her last night and she would orgasm right here on the beige carpet in front of his desk.
As he continued to study her expression, seeming to know what she was thinking, she was gratified to see his hand shake even though he never stumbled during his telephone conversation. She understood then how it was that he set her body on fire. Brant excelled at everything he touched . . . including her. Just as she was considering doing something drastic to rattle him such as taking off her panties and putting them on his desk, the door opened in the outer room and she turned to see Alexia Shaw standing there smiling shyly.
Emma smiled through clenched teeth even though she wanted to roll her eyes and do something completely juvenile like stick her tongue out at the other woman. Alexia was dressed in understated but obviously expensive clothing, and her hair was perfectly styled without a single hair out of place. In
comparison, Emma felt like an underdressed slob in her simple black slacks and baby-doll top. Of all days, she had even worn flats, so Alexia seemed to tower over her.
Brant saw Alexia standing in the doorway and gave her a polite smile that didn’t contain any of the heat that it had just moments ago. Thank God, maybe she wouldn’t be forced to stab her with a pencil after all. Then Brant finished his call and motioned Alexia into one of the seats in front of his desk. Emma escaped to her office, leaving the door open behind her. She was surprised a few moments later when the door closed quietly. Maybe it was time to start sharpening those pencils after all.
Brant was surprised to see Alexia once again in his office. He had a feeling from the strained look on Emma’s face that she was less than thrilled with her reappearance. He had been pondering dragging Emma out of here at five o’clock and into the nearest hotel before Alexia’s impromptu visit. “What’s up, Alexia?”
Alexia smiled in return, seeming to be more comfortable around him again. He would guess that it would be hard to remain on formal ground when someone knew most of your secrets. “I was hoping I could take you to dinner. I wanted to thank you for the last few days. I wasn’t sure if you were . . . planning to come home tonight.”
He settled back in his chair, noticing that Alexia seemed calmer today, more relaxed. He hated that he felt guilty about not calling to let her know where he
was last night, but truthfully he hadn’t wanted to imply an intimacy that wasn’t there. She needed to get back to her life with Carter. “That’s not necessary, Lex. I am happy to help. Are you feeling okay today? You look great.”
She smiled, seeming happy over the compliment. “Thanks, Brant, not just for that, but for everything. I know that I had no right at all to come to you and expect you to solve my problems after what I put you through.”
When he started to protest, she held up her hand. “No, just let me finish, please.” She took a deep breath and continued. “I was horrible to you. It doesn’t matter that I was strung out on drugs. I still knew what I was doing, at least in the beginning. I lied to you, I took money from your wallet on more than one occasion and I . . . God, I cheated on you, too.”
Brant shut his eyes briefly, finding that he could still feel a twinge of pain over her confession even though he didn’t love her anymore. He had suspected at the end that she was cheating, but hearing her confirm it was still a sucker punch to the gut. No man liked knowing that someone he loved had slept with another man during their time together, regardless of the circumstances. He rubbed the back of his neck, working on the knot of tension that had formed there.
“Lex, that was a long time ago. We’ve both moved on. Does it bother me? Sure, of course it does. But it’s in the past. If you’re looking for absolution, then I forgive you.”
“I’m not looking for forgiveness, Brant. I guess I just needed to come clean with you. Even though you probably knew what was going on for the most part, I still just walked away from you in a restaurant parking lot.”
Brant was afraid that the tears in her eyes would soon turn into full-blown sobbing if he didn’t stop the conversation that had left them both so uncomfortable. This wasn’t the time or place for this discussion. He leaned forward, getting her attention, and said, “Lex, stop doing this to yourself. It’s over now. I don’t hate you. You have far too much on your plate right now to rehash the past. If you want to do something for me, then take care of yourself. If you love Carter, then don’t waste time second-guessing yourself. Build a life for you and for him.”
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.
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.