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.
Chapter Eighteen
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.