No Denying You (Danvers #5)(45)
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 *. 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?”
“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.
“I wasn’t sure it was you until I was next to you at the light. What were you doing out that way?” he asked.
“I was looking for a drugstore,” she blurted out.
“Oh . . . isn’t there a Walgreens right down the street from your place?” Damn, she should have known he had his brain wired like Google Maps. At least he looked puzzled and not suspicious.
Trying to maintain eye contact, she said, “They weren’t open yet.”
“But there’s also a Walgreens near my house, so wouldn’t both stores have the same hours?” he asked.
“My God, Judge Judy, can we end the questions! I have PMS! Do you need to know what I bought and if I favor pads or tampons?” Emma watched in fascination as a red flush ran up Brant’s neck and settled on his cheeks.