Page 83 of Treat

Ignoring him, Esme turned back to Brynn. “Jude is not a man who could be talked into abandoning someone he cares about.”

“I know that,” Brynn claimed, then sighed. “But I’m still scared.”

“I thought we talked about this,” Jude said from behind her, and Brynn nearly fell out of her chair.

He grabbed her arm to steady her. “Woah, there.”

“What are you doing here?” she managed.

“I finished with Grant early.” He slid his hand down her arm to take her hand and pull her to her feet. “And I had a delivery to make.”

“Delivery?” she echoed blankly, then noticed the paper bag in his hand.

“One chef salad, ranch on the side,” Jude declared, handing the bag over to Tuck. “And an order of fries.”

“Thanks, buddy.” Tuck passed the bag to Esme. “Here you go.”

“You had Jude bring me a salad?”

“None of the food delivery apps would come to the Renaissance Center,” Tuck complained.

“You mean you would’ve had to meet them outside and you didn’t want to.”

“That’s what I said.”

Esme rolled her eyes. “Thank you, Jude.”

“You’re welcome. Excuse me.” Jude turned to Brynn. “Hi.”

“Hi,” she managed, then he was kissing the breath out of her.

“Aw,” Tuck said. “You guys are so cute.”

“Shut up, Tucker,” Esme said, and there was awhapthat told Brynn she’d hit him with the candy bar again.

Jude lifted his head to smile down at her. “You gonna stop worrying now?”

She swallowed. “I guess that depends on what Grant said.”

“He said everything you thought he would,” Jude said calmly, lifting one hand to brush her bangs out of her eyes.

She forced herself to breathe. “And what did you say?”

“That it was none of his business.”

She waited, but he didn’t say anything else. “That’s it?”

“He wants to put a plan in place for if or when the media starts asking questions. I told him we’d talk to the team’s PR people, and loop Chloe in.”

She nodded. That was reasonable, and smart. “Okay. And?”

“And then nothing. I left, picked up Esme’s salad and fries, and here I am.”

“That can’t have been it.”

“There was some discussion of possible consequences,” he admitted.

“I bet,” she muttered.

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