Priceless (Forbidden Men #8)(37)

I tried to think up some of the things Brandt and I discussed since Brandt was a guy about the same age as Seth, but he and I talked about so much it was hard to narrow it down to one subject.

Ooh, except maybe movies.

Movies were a good, safe topic. Or television shows. Hopefully Seth was a Supernatural fan. We might actually survive the night if we could bond over Dean and Castiel. I was so going to ask him about that.

From the kitchen, I heard the refrigerator open and glasses clink. My nerves settled some. He was pulling out glassware; he must be trying to impress me at least some. That was good.

All this was good.

We could do this.

Next to me, something dinged. I glanced over to find he’d left his cell phone face up on his coffee table. When a certain word caught my attention, I frowned and leaned closer, reading the entire message.

And what I saw made my veins fill with pure ice.





BRANDT




I couldn’t believe Julianna had talked me into a date.

I wasn’t so sure about dating a coworker. I usually—okay, fine! always—had commitment problems and ended up pissing off women who wanted more from me. If I pissed off Juli, it would really suck when we had to work together again.

Plus, it was nearly impossible for me to concentrate. What if Sarah’s date was supposed to be tonight? I’d been able to use deductive reasoning through some craftily asked questions throughout the week to discover tonight was the one night she didn’t have free for a while. And if she wasn’t free, she was probably busy with him.

God, it was so f*cking weird to think of her with some other guy.

When she’d told me she’d been interested in dating since she was at least eighteen, it’d taken everything inside me not to demand why she’d never been interested in dating me.

But she was right. We were just friends. Besides, over the years, I’d gained a taste for certain...things. I would be too horrified to try them with Sarah, even if she were interested in me that way.

“So, where are we headed?” Juli asked, snapping me to the present.

Damn. I’d been ignoring her. Not good.

“You like fried chicken?” I asked, glancing her way.

She glanced back and arched an eyebrow. “I’m a black woman from the South. What do you think?”

“Oh shit,” I gushed, my eyes growing with horror and face heating as I realized how badly she’d misinterpreted my question. “I totally didn’t mean—”

With a laugh, she touched my arm. “I’m teasing you. Sorry, I couldn’t resist. You’re just too cute when you blush.”

And she was freaking cruel when she teased. Jesus. I almost had heart failure, afraid I’d insulted her.

Setting a hand against my chest, I sent her a look promising revenge as I blew out a breath. “Damn, you’re evil,” I said, actually appreciating her demonic charm.

She only laughed harder, so a reluctant chuckle slipped from me.

“It’s my best feature,” she flirted back.

“Interesting,” I murmured.

We’d gotten a block from her apartment, and I was just deciding tonight might not be such a bust after all, when my phone alerted me to an incoming text. I barely glanced its way where it sat in the cubby between our seats when the lit screen showed Sarah’s name and the distinct letters SOS.

Forgetting propriety and how it was rude to talk, text, or google on your phone while on a date, I snagged it up and opened the message as I stopped at a red light.

All Sarah had said after her SOS was an address to what must’ve been an apartment building because it also had a room number: 5A. I had no idea what was going down in 5A, but I was about to find out.

“Quick detour,” I said, tossing the phone back into its cubby and stomping on the gas as soon as the light turned green.

Julianna grabbed onto the door when I whipped around a corner too fast but didn’t scold me. All she said was, “Everything okay?”

“Uh...” I scratched the back of my neck and sent her an apologetic wince. “I’m not sure. My best friend just sent me an SOS, so I’m going to stop by real quick and check it out.” Belatedly, I realized she might not be down for that, so I quickly asked, “If that’s all right with you,” when honestly, it didn’t matter what she thought of my plans. Nothing was going to keep me away from Sarah when she’d sent out an SOS.

But Julianna was surprisingly cool. “Hey, no problem. I’ve had to bail friends out of trouble too many times to count. It’s cool.”

I grinned at her right before I found the street I needed. “Thanks.”

When I pulled to the curb at the address and glanced out the window at the harmless-looking building, I frowned in confusion. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but there weren’t any ambulances, police cars or fire trucks outside. There was no commotion at all. That eased my anxieties some but heightened them in other ways.

What if she really was on her date? What if he ended up being a douche and— Dammit, I couldn’t even bring myself to consider worst-case scenarios. My skin was already prickling with all kinds of dread.

“I’ll be right back,” I barely told Julianna as I slung open my door and surged from the truck.

It was a feat of its very own for me not to sprint to the front door, but I contained myself to a quick march. Once inside, I found the elevator, and when it didn’t open as soon as I pushed the door button, I darted up the nearby stairwell, jogging to the fifth floor. The apartment I wanted was located at the other end of the hall, but I reached it within a couple seconds.