Page 25 of Treat

“No problem at all.” The elevator chimed behind her, and she dropped his hand and stepped inside. “I look forward to hearing from you.”

“Thanks, Joan,” Brynn said.

Joan?Jude waited until the elevator doors had slid shut. “I thought her name was Maria.”

“It’s Joan,” Brynn said, blinking owlishly behind her glasses.

“Right,” he muttered, trying not to stare at her. She was wearing another sundress, this one in a soft blue that set off the tan she’d acquired over the last couple of days. It was subtle—just a hint of color, really—but it brought out the freckles on her shoulders and made her skin glow, and it wasn’t helping his can’t-think-about-anything-but-Brynn problem.

“I have to take Tilly for a walk,” she said, and he noticed for the first time that the dog was sniffing along the carpet behind him. “Do you want to come along?”

“Sure.” Maybe some fresh air would clear his head. “I’ll just grab my shoes.”

He keyed open the door, jammed his bare feet into his sneakers, and turned to find her in the elevator, one hand on Tilly’s leash, the other holding the door for him. He thought about being trapped in there for the short ride to the lobby, the air filled with her scent, nowhere to go, and sweat popped out on the back of his neck. “I’ll just…take the stairs,” he said, gesturing feebly toward the door at the end of the hall, and bolted beforeshe could ask any awkward questions like,why are you acting like this is your first day as a person?

He beat the elevator to the lobby, not surprising since he’d all but sprinted down the stairs, and tried to use his time alone in the cool, quiet space to manifest.I can act normally, he told himself, leaning against the wall with his eyes closed.I can act normally. This is not my first day as a person.

“Jude?” Brynn said, and he opened his eyes.

She’d put on sunglasses, dark lenses in oversized frames that dwarfed her face and hid her eyes, and he relaxed a little. It was easier to relax when he couldn’t see her eyes, which was a surprise. He could put the thighs, and the tits, and even the ass, fine as it was, out of his mind, but somehow her eyes were Kryptonite.

“You ready?” she asked, and he pushed off the wall and opened the door.

“After you.”

She walked out ahead of him—and okay, he looked at her ass, but only for a second—then followed her out and fell into step beside her, heading up the block with Tilly in the lead. It had rained briefly earlier, and puddles still dotted the tree-lined sidewalk, gently steaming, the air humid and thick.

“So, what’d he say?”

“Who?” Jude asked absently, squinting into the sun. Tilly was weaving back and forth at the end of the six-foot leash, sniffing at the pavement like she was trying to inhale it.

“Grant.”

“Right. Grant.” He shoved his hands into his pockets. “Well, it turns out it wasn’t a paperwork screw-up.”

A little line formed between her eyebrows. “What was it, then?”

“Embezzlement.”

She stumbled to a halt and yanked her sunglasses off. “I’m sorry?”

He stopped beside her and tried not to look directly into her eyes. “Your contact in accounting, Adam?”

“The one who told me it was standard to not pay assistants in the off-season?”

Jude nodded. “He’s been skimming accounts. Not just yours,” he continued while Brynn gaped like a fish. “But several other clients, too. The whole Toronto office is a mess. When Chloe started digging and asking questions, he panicked. Said he was sick, went straight to the airport, and bought a one-way ticket.”

“To where?”

This was his favorite part. “Saskatchewan.”

Brynn blinked. “He tried to flee from Canada to…Canada?”

Jude grinned. “Uh-huh.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah.”

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