Page 13 of Courting Gossip (Courting)
The look she gave him could have sliced diamonds. ‘I don’t bring clients here.’
He frowned. ‘So Gunderson has never been here?’
‘Not inside.’ She tossed her purse onto a chair.
He said nothing. He didn’t even blink. Yet somehow his shoulders relaxed. He looked around again with something close to curiosity. ‘Nice place.’
‘Thank you.’
‘Pack enough for a week.’
‘A week?’ she squawked.
‘You’re right. Make it two.’
‘And just where am I going?’
He stared at her, but for once, he didn’t have a quick answer. Genieve tilted her head. In fact, it didn’t look like he had an answer at all. The guy always had a plan. He was always two steps ahead.
But he didn’t know what to do about her. For some reason, she took pleasure in that.
‘I’m not sure,’ he finally admitted. He planted his hands on his hips, and his fingers tapped. ‘Someplace where you can lie low until this whole thing blows over.’
She didn’t want to help him out of the corner – she really didn’t – but it was late, and he was right. She’d had enough of the press. ‘I have a place on Rehoboth Beach.’
His chin dipped. ‘You have two homes?’
‘It’s a condo.’ She narrowed her eyes at him. The getaway in Delaware was popular for many who wanted to get away from the pressure and rush of DC. ‘I invest in real estate.’
In the silence, she could have heard a pin drop. She saw the gears turning in his head. Was he reevaluating her or just mapping out another course of action? ‘Where in Rehoboth Beach?’
Had she not spoken clearly? ‘On. The. Beach.’
‘No.’
‘Why not?’ It was early spring. It would be a nice time to be there. She could open up the house, air it out and relax before all the tourists started to arrive.
‘And risk the media getting pictures of you in a bikini? Make that “Hell, no.”’ He looked at the watch on his wrist. ‘We need to get moving. Once the press gets wind of this, they’ll be knocking on your door.’
‘They’ll knock this time?’
He gestured to the stairs. ‘Pack. Quickly. What can I do to help?’
Oh, no. She’d let him inside, but he wasn’t getting free rein of her house. He especially wasn’t going to come up to her bedroom and help her pack.
Then again, she’d love to see his reaction when she directed him to her lingerie drawer.
She pressed her tongue against the back of her lips. Something inside her just made her want to pester this man.
‘You stay down here.’ She turned and started up the stairs. ‘And don’t touch anything.’
Genieve listened for movement downstairs as she pulled her suitcase out from under her bed. She’d been running on stress and adrenalin for too long, and she could feel her systems crashing, one right after another. It was getting difficult to think straight, and it felt strange to have Brody Haynes here, in her house. The most time she’d spent around him in the past was brief, fifteen-minute chunks. She’d thought the prickly sensation that ran along her skin whenever they were around one another was due to how abrasive he was. Now, she wasn’t so sure. He wasn’t that brusque.
She packed quickly, throwing things into the suitcase. She didn’t know where she was going, and she didn’t know what she’d be doing. Knowing that Brody would be there for part of it, though, prompted her to pick her best lingerie and some casual clothes that showed a little skin.
That cold exterior of his just tempted her to rock his calm.
When she came back down the staircase, she saw that he’d wandered. He was looking at the picture of her and Salvatore that she kept on the shelf in her living room. ‘You’re touching,’ she warned him.
