She was so beautiful. And now she was running away from him or at least trying to.
What the hell happened between his confession and him getting her clothes? He was helping. She needed the day off—damn it, she deserved it.
She beat him to the spa lobby. “Annie, call my clients back. I’m feeling fine.”
Annie eyed Brant and then Nikki. “I, um, he’s my boss. I’m sorry, Nikki.”
“Please.” Nikki’s voice was pleading. “I need the distraction. Please.”
“Nikki.” Brant gave Annie a confused look. “Your hand’s injured—your job is to massage people, how the hell are you going to manage that with a burn?”
She stared down at the ground, hands on hips. Damn, she was pretty. “You can’t just come in here and order me around.”
“Actually, he can. Boss.” Annie gave me a weary look. “But if it makes you feel better, the two clients you had were more than happy to reschedule.”
“Fine.” Nikki nodded and then made her way down the hall. “I’ll be in the staff room.”
“Nikki, wait.” What the hell was up her ass, and why did he suddenly feel so guilty for trying to make things easier on her?
“What?” She turned around, her expression blank. “Did you need anything else from me, or am I free to go relax in silence?”
“What the hell’s your problem?” That came out wrong.
“My problem?” Nikki let out a breath and hung her head. “Nothing. I’m fine, Brant. Everything’s fine.” She marched off, leaving him completely clueless as to what he had done that was so wrong.
A slow clap sounded behind his back. He turned to see Cole grinning like an idiot. “Well done.” He frowned at Annie. “Is Brant the emergency you called me about?”
“I can’t deal with you right now,” Brant muttered.
“You sort of have to,” Annie piped up. “Employee handbook? I’m not trying to be a pain, but I’ve seriously never seen one before. Ever.”
Brant glared at Cole. “How the hell have you been training them?”
Cole rolled his eyes. “Annie, the employee handbook, that blue thing that’s under your desk with the words Employee Handbook on the spine? The one that your nephew used his crayons on when he visited last year?”
She grinned innocently. “Oh, that employee handbook.”
“The very one,” Cole said with pretend shock in his voice. “Annie, what’s going on?”
Annie leaned back in her chair. “What? Sue me for wanting to win the pool. I had to find some way to get you two together.”
“Pool?” they said in unison.
“Yeah, the employees are taking bets to see which one of you guys is going to get a black eye first…bonus points if you both take off your shirts.” She sighed. “Can’t blame a girl for trying.”
Another employee, Carol, walked across the salon and into the lobby, took one look at them, and her smile deflated. “Nothing?”
“Eh, I should have come up with a better plan.” Annie sighed. “Plus Nikki was already storming out of here by the time Cole showed up.”
“Oh?” Carol leaned against the desk. All eyes fell on Brant. “Stormed out, huh?”
“This isn’t sharing time,” Brant muttered, running his hands through his hair. “And I was doing her a favor.”
Cole pulled out a chair and sat, his expression amused.
Brant pinched the bridge of his nose. “I canceled her afternoon clients.”
“Idiot,” said Cole.
“Why would you do that?” asked Carol.
“You know she needs to stay busy,” added Annie.
“She’s injured,” Brant pointed out. “I’m not sorry for being concerned for her!”
“Concerned?” Cole stood.
Carol sucked in a breath while Annie pulled out her phone and held it high.
“You have to angle it!” Carol barked at her.
“Concerned,” Cole repeated. “You abandon her for four years, suddenly come waltzing back into her life, and you think you have the right to be concerned?”
“I was her husband.”
“Yeah, well, I’m her best friend!” Cole yelled.
Carol elbowed Annie, whose eyes were wide with excitement. “Don’t stop recording.”
“You think you know everything?” Brant shook his head in disgust. “You know nothing.”
“Oh, yeah?” Cole crossed his arms. “Try me. You may have been there for her when you were married, but I was the one who picked up the pieces when she started working here. And when you leave, again, I’m going to have to do the same damn thing!”