Page 48 of A Package Deal

And there was a part of me, buried under the betrayal and general disappointment in life, that was swooning at the blanket he’d laid out under an oak tree. A picnic basket waited for us.

I shrugged. “I do need to eat lunch.”

He grinned and let go of my hips now that I wasn’t a flight risk. “Exactly.”

I took my tool belt off and laid it down on the corner of the blanket. We both sat down, him in his fancy jeans and boots, me in work clothes that were already dirty and sweaty. Warrick pulled out five sub sandwiches and eight bags of chips, all a different variety, from the picnic basket.

“I didn’t know what you’d like, so I got a bunch,” he said sheepishly.

My heart, the one I’d kept carefully behind plexiglass so thick not even my circular saw could get through, squeezed. “Thank you. I’m not picky like Georgia though.”

Warrick bit into one of the sandwiches I didn’t choose, his gaze settled on the tree line out back. I took a bite of the roast beef on rye and had to admit—to myself only—that this gesture was sweet. He’d tied me up and rocked my world last night and now he’d bought out the sandwich shop to make sure I stayed fed while I worked.

My cell phone buzzed and I took it out of my pocket to make sure it wasn’t the preschool. It was Anton. I clicked the side button to send it to voicemail. I looked up and saw Warrick watching me.

“Your brother?”

I nodded and looked away.

“You should answer it,” Warrick said lightly.

The phone buzzed again, but I instantly silenced it. “No, I’ll call him later. He just wants to know about the case and I haven’t gotten any of those lawyers to call me back.” I picked a piece of grass off the blanket and flicked it aside. That was another thing I was failing at. How could I protect my daughter if I couldn’t even get a lawyer to represent me?

Anton, being a stubborn ass, called a third time. Except before I could send him to voicemail, Warrick swiped my phone up and answered it, pressing it to his ear. I lunged for him, but he twisted out of the way, and hopped to his feet. The man was very nimble for his height and age.

“Em’s phone, Warrick Wolfe speaking.”

I could hear my brother’s voice answering after a moment of shocked silence.

“Yeah, she’s eating lunch. I forced her to finally take a break. The woman is a work horse and doesn’t seem to know her limits.”

My brother said something back and Warrick chuckled. I buried my face in my hands. This was not going to go over well. I hadn’t even told Anton about Warrick, or this marriage, or that we were living here.

“She’s doing just fine and her lawyers say she has a slam-dunk case.” There was a pause. “Oh, yeah, I’m her husband. Warrick Wolfe, nice to meet you.”

“Fuck,” I muttered, wishing I could dig a hole and jump in it.

My brother’s voice carried, but I couldn’t tell what he was saying exactly. Warrick let him go on, making funny faces at me, like this whole thing was funny.

“Why don’t you come out here and we can tell you the whole story?” Warrick was finally able to say when Anton wound down.

I shook my head no, but Warrick ignored me.

“Great! I can’t wait to meet you. See ya tomorrow.”

Warrick handed the phone back to me. “Anton’s going to drive in tomorrow and visit.”

I gaped at him. “Yeah, I fucking heard that.” I whacked him on the arm. “What the hell, Dick?”

Warrick’s shoulders slumped. “Back to Dick?”

I stared at him incredulously. “Yeah. When you answer my phone and talk to my brother about my personal business, you most certainly will be called a dick.”

Warrick stuffed my phone in the front pocket of my jeans and backed me up against the tree trunk behind me. “You said I could only intervene with family stuff, remember? Your brother is family, is he not?”

I thumped his chest with my palms, but he didn’t budge. “I meant family stuff like you, me, and Georgia!”

Warrick suddenly grinned, looking quite pleased with himself. “Ah, so you admit we’re a family. I love hearing that, Em.”

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