“Ouch!”
“Better.” She exhaled. “All right, let’s do this. I so deserve a promotion.”
“Yes, that’s exactly what I was thinking when you just twisted my cheeks and bruised my face. ‘Gee, give that girl a raise!’”
Annie slapped her on the butt and laughed. “Tell your boyfriend all about it.”
“Cole’s not my boyfriend.”
They turned a corner. Annie stopped walking and let out a little sigh before pointing Nikki in the right direction.
“Yeah, I wasn’t talking about him—I was talking about the sexy-as-sin guy who’s staring you down like you’re the last woman on earth—like you’re his sunshine after years of living in a thundercloud. Cole does not look at you the way Brant Wellington does, and I’m not sure anyone ever will.”
“Oh.” She didn’t know what else to say and really didn’t trust her voice not to crack with emotion. Well, that was depressing.
“Well, my work here is done.” Annie dropped her hand. “Nice to see you, Brant. How’s that fast coming along?”
“Probably about as good as that novel you’re writing during work hours. Tell me, does the prick ever redeem himself?”
“I never spoil an ending.” She laughed and walked off.
“So it’s true. All employees hate you, even the female ones,” said a man’s voice from somewhere to Nikki’s left. It was close in tone to Brant’s but without the trademark huskiness Brant’s voice had developed over the last four years. “And what about you, Nik? How do you feel about my evil twin?”
Bentley.
Nice setup.
Palpable tension swirled around the room as someone sucked in a sharp breath.
“Nikki!” Nadine yelled, saving the day. Within minutes, Nikki was surrounded by a stifling amount of Ralph Lauren perfume and getting hugged within an inch of her life. “Brave,” Nadine whispered in her ear. “Shoulders back. Told you things would work out for the best.”
The best? All they’d done was have sex and fight!
“Shhh,” Nadine whispered. “He’s headed over here, and by the looks of him he hasn’t given up the fight. Why else would I force you to go to that damn auction?”
Nikki shrugged. “So he’d see what he’s missing and come crawling back?”
“No,” Nadine whispered. “So you’d realize that with or without him, you’re strong enough on your own. You’re fine alone but better together—and both of you needed that push in order to see it.”
Nikki flashed her a watery smile. “We fight more than anything.”
Nadine patted her back. “Good.”
A masculine hand grabbed hers, their fingers sliding past each other, sending a shiver of desire racing through her body. “Are you hungry?”
She wanted to pull away from the man who was putting on a show for his family, the one who hid his anger and asked if she was hungry, offering to feed her before yelling at her or firing her.
“No.” She forced a smile. “But I bet you’re starving. How’s day one going?”
“After lunch, or the lack of it, I’m killing Cole, just thought you should know.”
“He has good intentions.”
“Bullshit,” Brant snapped. Apparently angry Brant wasn’t just simmering below the surface anymore. “He wants me to suffer, and he’s probably right. I deserve all of it—but he’s trying to kill me so he can have you all to himself.”
“He’s had me all to himself for four years,” she said honestly, irritated that she couldn’t see Brant’s expression, but if the complete silence that suddenly fell was any indicator, she’d just said the wrong thing. Again.
She was lashing out. Just like he’d lashed out earlier.
Ugh, she wasn’t that person. She didn’t want to be that person, miserable like Brant because she was still living in the past, unable to move beyond the bitterness, the pain.
“So…” Bentley cleared his throat. How had she not originally recognized his voice? After all, it was the voice of the man who’d hit on her relentlessly, always trying to convince her that she’d chosen the wrong twin—at least before she lost contact with the family.
But from the moment she’d met Brant, seen his perfectly sculpted lips, the strong lines of his jaw, the twinkling green bedroom eyes that always seemed to be at half mast, as if he was thinking of her naked, she’d been his. All his.
She shivered.
“Are you cold?” Amusement danced through Bentley’s silky tones.
“No. Sorry. Brant.” She turned toward him, and slipped her hand away. “You needed me?”