Trusting You (Second Chances #2)(34)

Brett grabbed his computer bag and came to my side, gazing warily down at me. “I swear the way he looks at you and says your name puts me on edge. It’s strange the way he is around you. In a way I want to tell him to back the f*ck off, but I can’t considering he’s my client. Are you sure he didn’t come onto you or do something at the restaurant?”

Sighing, I shook my head and swallowed my guilt. “No, he didn’t,” I lied. It was worse … a lot worse. “So what will you be doing in Seattle?” I asked, changing the subject. “Do you think you’ll get to do some sightseeing while you’re there?” He stared at me for a minute, eyebrow raised, but I held my ground and didn’t falter under his scrutiny.

Taking my hand, Brett led me out of his office and down the hall toward the elevators. “Well, once I hear what the people want we’ll go from there. I’ll most likely be back in two days. I don’t see how it could take any longer than that.”

“That’s good,” I breathed. “The sooner the better.”

Brett held me in his arms as the elevator doors closed and we descended the fifty-nine floors to the bottom. Once inside the parking garage, Brett laid his computer bag in his Jeep and then grabbed me around the waist, taking me in his arms one last time.

Breathing me in, his hand caressed my back as he leaned in to brush a soft kiss to my neck on up to my lips. “I’ll call you as soon as I land, okay?” he murmured.

I nodded. “Just be safe.”

“Always, baby.”

His grip loosened and he kissed me one last time before getting into his Jeep and backing out of his spot. When I got in my car, I blew him a kiss and waved at him before starting up the engine and putting it into gear. My phone buzzing with a text made me stop and put the brakes back on.

Daniel – How did your afternoon f*ck go?

Me – Like that’s any of your business, *.

Daniel – He has nothing on me. Why don’t you end all of this and let me have you? I don’t like seeing you with him.

Me – You don’t have a choice.

Daniel – You’ll come around.

Instead of replying, I ignored the rest of his texts and headed home. If he showed up at my house I wouldn’t answer the door, but I feared that since Brett was out of town I’d be getting a whole lot more attention from him.

Whatever scandalous dealings Daniel was into, I was definitely going to find out before he screwed me over. I have to find out what’s going on before it’s too late.





Nineteen


Brett had been gone a total of two days and I was hoping he’d be home by the evening. He didn’t call during my lunch break like he always did, so I was clueless as to what was going on with him or if he was already on his way back. On my way home from work was when my phone finally rang with a call from him.

“Hey,” I answered excitedly. “Where are you?”

“I’m trying to get home to you,” he replied, and I could tell a smile was on his face by the tone in his voice; it made me smile in return. “Actually, I’m in Texas right now. I couldn’t get a direct flight back so I had to come here. I should be boarding soon … hopefully.”

“So you’ll be home tonight?”

He chuckled. “That’s the plan. You better be ready for me.”

“You know it. So how did everything go with your meetings?”

It was kind of hard to hear him with all the people around him talking, but I could definitely tell he was excited. “Oh, Melissa, it went great. They loved my ideas and they said they’ll be in touch as soon as they talk things over. I think it’s in the bag.”

I squealed. “That’s awesome, babe! When will you find out?”

“They said I should have an answer by next Monday morning,” he informed me happily. “So what are you up to this afternoon? We probably need to close up your pool soon, don’t we?”

Sighing, I agreed, “Yeah, I guess so. We can do that this weekend if you want. I might go out there this afternoon and enjoy it one last time before we close it. I can’t believe it’s the end of October and it’s still in the eighties. With you around it’s hard to find time to read, so I’ll probably sit by the pool and finish the novel I started a few weeks ago.”

“Sounds good, firecracker. I can’t wait to see you.”

I smiled. “I can’t wait to see you, too. I love you. Be safe coming home.”

“I love you, too. I’ll see you soon.”

By the time we hung up I was already pulling into my driveway. After I parked in the garage and checked the mail, I made my way inside so I could change clothes and grab my book. Since it was the last day I was going to lay by the pool, I put on my bikini and threw my hair up into a ponytail before washing off my make-up. As soon as I sat down and read all of two pages in my novel, my phone rang.

It was my cousin, Mason. Finally. It’d taken him forever to get back to me.

“Hey, Mase. Please tell me you have something for me?” I asked expectantly.

“Yes I do, and sorry about the wait, Mel. I got called away on a case and time just slipped by. However, it did take me a while to track down Claire. Do you have something to write this number down on?”

“Actually I don’t, I’m outside. Just text it to me and I’ll call her.”