Page 62 of Courting Gossip (Courting)
‘Yeah?’ he barked.
‘I—’ The woman’s brown eyes widened, and her gaze travelled over his bare chest. ‘Wow.’
Brody realised he was still only in his jeans. His shoulders tightened. He was used to fighting his battles in a suit and tie, but, when you came onto a man’s home turf, you needed to expect anything. And he wasn’t leaving to go put on something more appropriate. There were two people at his door, a pretty woman with long brown hair and a guy who looked as if he was made from granite.
Brody honed in on the mean-looking dude. He didn’t see a camera, a tape recorder or even a pad and pencil, but that only made his antenna go up higher. Who were these two?
‘This is private property,’ he said coldly. ‘You need to go.’
The pretty woman snapped out of her reverie. She jumped when he closed the door in her face, but the mean guy behind her stopped it with a bar arm.
Brody locked eyes with him.
‘No, no,’ the woman squeaked. She pressed her back against her companion’s chest and smiled brightly. ‘I’m Rielle. From Luxxor? Nina sent me over with this.’
She held up a manila folder, and Brody stopped edging towards the ball bat. That didn’t mean he took his eyes off the man. He was still a threat.
Brody held out his hand. ‘Thanks. Tell Nina I’ll bring your copy back tomorrow.’
The woman snatched the folder back and held it to her chest. ‘Oh, no. I’m here to see Genieve, too.’
The smile on her face might look friendly to most people, but Brody felt the back of his neck prickle. Did the delivery girl have some game, too?
‘Rielle!’
He stiffened when he heard Genieve’s feet pattering against the hardwood flooring. He reached out to stop her, but she ducked under his arm. Before he could control the scene, the two women were bound together in a tight hug.
‘Genieve, we’ve been so worried about you.’
Brody wavered between a rock and a hard place. Finally he relented and opened the door to let their visitors in. ‘Come in. Quick, before anyone sees you.’
Apparently where the brunette went, so did the scary dude. Brody let him in too, but poked his head out the door. Dusk was on the horizon. Most of his neighbours were home for the night. Some were out walking their dogs and one little boy was squeezing out the last few minutes of bike-riding time. He didn’t see any reporters. He also didn’t see a car.
‘Where did you park?’ he asked.
‘At the park one block over,’ the man said. He sounded as dangerous as he looked – especially when he smirked. ‘This isn’t our first rodeo.’
‘I’m sorry,’ the woman with him said. ‘I’m Rielle. I work with Genieve, and this is…’
‘The Enforcer.’
She rolled her eyes. ‘Darien,’ she hissed.
Genieve just laughed. Brody’s heart nearly jumped out of his chest when she walked over and hugged the guy. All she was wearing was a T-shirt.
‘Jenny,’ he said softly. He knew he couldn’t take him, but he’d try if he had to.
She looked over her shoulder in surprise, but then a devilish look came over her. ‘Don’t worry, Brody. Darien’s already taken.’
Going up on tiptoe, she planted a kiss on the man’s cheek. He let out a grunt of pain, and she pulled her hand away quickly. ‘I’m sorry. Did I get your stitches?’
He put his hand over the tender spot at his side. ‘Never let it be said I can’t handle a kiss from a beautiful woman.’
Genieve smiled.
‘This is Brody,’ she said as she came over and took his hand.
‘It’s nice to meet you,’ Rielle said.
