Page 17 of Heart in Waiting
“Oh?” She lifted a brow. “Did he complain about me?” She glanced around him and glared at Dane. “I told him I wouldn’t do any of that again.”
Fuck. What exactly had she done? Dane’s gaze darkened even further. “As fun as this is,” Dane drawled. “I need to go home—to shower and sleep.”
He didn’t have a chance to leave. As he turned to make his exit he found it blocked by Olivia West. “Going somewhere, handsome?”
What the hell was she doing there? So far, nothing about this visit was going well. Dane was surly, Reese mimicked their mother’s best bitch mode, and now Olivia had dropped in too. The trifecta of shit landed, and he had to wade through it all. What would it take to have something go right? No matter how hard he tried, everything was falling apart around him. At least Claire would be safe out of town. All he had to do was keep Reese safe and locate that bastard Nolan. It shouldn’t be that hard...
Dane smiled at Olivia and she returned a welcoming one. It grated on his nerves that she lit up so easily for his partner and turned into a raving bitch at anything Carter said or did. Why didn’t she bite Dane’s head off instead? Did she have a thing for his friend? “There’s nothing left for me to do here. I was going to head home. That is, if you’ll let me pass.”
“Don’t go anywhere yet. I need to talk to all three of you, and it appears as if it’s my lucky day to find you all here in one place.”
Great. She had good luck. Why the fuck couldn’t he have a little bit? Carter pinched the bridge of his nose. “By all means, come inside, Ms. West. You have our attention.” The sad thing was, she always had his attention. Something about her always caught his eye. She was beautiful, intelligent, and a pain in the ass.
“Good to know.” She breezed past Dane and Carter then went straight to Reese and handed her an envelope. “I brought your tickets to the fundraiser.”
“Shit.” Reese grabbed the envelope and opened it. “I completely forgot about this.”
“I thought you might have.” Olivia had the smuggest smile Carter had ever seen on her face. “And you have to go. You’re the guest speaker, and therefore have to.”
“She can’t,” Carter said. “It’s not safe. The logistics for a large event like that would be impossible. There is no way we’d be able to pull that off.” He hoped Reese wouldn’t insist. There would be a lot of people there, and it would be easy for Nolan to sneak into that event. “Please tell me that you’re not going.” He met Reese’s gaze, but she was already slowly shaking her head.
“I have to.” She shoved the tickets back into the envelope. “This event is to help raise funds for my research project. There’s a lot of kids depending on me, and I can’t let them down.”
“You can’t help any of them if you’re dead.”
“Don’t be so dramatic. It’s unlikely Nolan is going to attend a black tie event.”
She wasn’t going to see reason. What the hell was he going to do? “I don’t suppose there are still tickets available to this shindig?” He would have to go to help protect her. Dane would need a ticket too. They would both have to be there to help watch for any possibility Nolan would show up.
“No, it’s completely sold out.” Olivia grinned. “I can see the wheels turning already. You want to go, and make your boy over there go too.” She waved at Dane, who was leaning against the wall doing his best impression of being a mute thug.
“Yes,” Carter agreed. He gritted his teeth and did his best to be cordial. “Something tells me you have a plan for that.”
“As a matter of a fact, I do.” She strolled past him and sat in a chair. She crossed her legs and placed her hands in her lap. “I know Reese over there has an extra ticket for a date, and I do too. You can both go as our dates.”
There had to be a catch. Why was Olivia being so damn accommodating? He could go as Reese’s date, and Dane could go with Olivia. “What’s in it for you?”
“You’re planning on making Reese take you as her date, aren’t you?” Olivia tapped her fingernails on the arm of her chair. “But that doesn’t work. Let Dane be her date so people don’t pity her. I’m sure you can handle putting up with me for a few hours.”
“I agree,” Reese said. “Dane is capable of making sure I arrive safely. I don’t want people to think I couldn’t get a date of my own and had to take my brother.”
Carter glanced at Dane and asked, “You don’t have anything to say about this.”
He threw up his hands in the air. “I stopped trying to argue with your sister hours ago. I’m too tired for any of this. When is this damn thing anyway? And please tell me I don’t have to wear a tuxedo.”
Carter hadn’t even considered that. He at least had one because his mother insisted on it. Dane, however, didn’t have any reason to have one. He owed his friend and partner a lot. He was going above board to help keep Reese safe.
“It’s this Saturday,” Olivia said. She stood and handed Carter a piece of paper. “That’s my address for you to pick me up, and Dane dear, it’s black tie. At least wear a suit.”
With those words, she strolled out of the office. Reese leaned down, placing her face into the palm of her hands. “My life sucks.”
Carter couldn’t agree more. Her life and his, by extension, currently did suck. He shoved the paper Olivia handed him into his pocket. Dane glared at them and then silently followed Olivia out. What else could possibly go wrong? Perhaps he shouldn’t tempt fate and ask questions like that. He was forced into a date with the one woman who drove him mad, and his little sister was determined to make herself a target. He had to find Nolan and put him where he belonged. Otherwise, he feared the worst might happen...
