Page 32 of Courting Gossip (Courting)
The reaction she got tickled Genieve. It was subtle. So subtle it ventured on nonexistent, but she saw the muscle in Brody’s jaw twitch. His fingers went white around the neck of his beer bottle, but then the index one began to tap.
At about the rate of a hummingbird’s wings.
She took a bite of her pie. It tasted sweet.
‘I do what?’ His voice came out so tight, she could have bounced a quarter off it.
‘You sleep talk.’ As she watched him, she realised he wasn’t stoic at all. There was a lot brewing beneath the surface; she just needed to know what to look for. She fought back a grin, but couldn’t stop it. The cauldron was bubbling right now. ‘I was walking down the hallway, and I heard you call my name.’
Was that colour on his cheeks?
‘I thought you needed something, so I opened the door and poked my head in.’
He pushed out of the chair so fast, it made her jump. He rubbed his head as he paced back and forth behind his chair. ‘That wasn’t – I shouldn’t have—’
Holy moly. She hadn’t meant to put him in a panic. ‘It’s all right. You just told me your favourite colour is purple.’
His head snapped around so fast, she worried about whiplash.
‘You made it seem as if it was important I know that.’
His hands wrapped around the back of the chair. ‘So, Italked. In my sleep.’
‘You told me I shouldn’t use that hammer. That it didn’t make sense.’ She laughed. ‘What does that even mean?’
He shook his head and sat back down heavily. Some of his tension left, but he was still sitting forward in his chair. ‘Did I say anything…bad?’
‘It was a bunch of nonsense, but it was funny.’
‘What did I say, exactly?’
She hadn’t meant to intrude, but when she’d heard him calling for her she’d thought he’d wanted her to do something. Instead, she’d found him lying flat on his back with the sheet down around his hips. She licked her lips. The scenery had made her stay. ‘There wasn’t much else. You said something about not expecting it to rain today and why was everything so wet?’
His head dropped.
‘Oh, come on, Brody. Don’t be embarrassed. It was cute. I told you that you should use an umbrella next time. You agreed it was a good idea and rolled over.’ Giving her a mouthwatering view of a toned backside that had made her palms itch…She fanned herself. It was getting warm in here again. ‘That was it. Nothing more.’
His gaze lifted to pin her. ‘You don’t know what that meant?’
‘No. Do you?’
He shook his head abruptly, and his expression went smooth as glass. ‘No idea.’
She spooned up a bite of pie and watched him carefully. Something was going on there, but she recognised the look on his face. He was lying again. ‘Do you talk in your sleep often?’ she asked.
He ran his thumb around the lip of his beer bottle. ‘I used to do it as a kid, but only when I was really tired.’
‘It took me a minute to realise you were out cold.’ She cocked her head. ‘What did you think you’d said?’
He gave her that stoic look, but then, for the briefest of seconds, a gleam entered his eyes that could only be described as wicked. It came and went so quickly, Genieve couldn’t be sure she saw it, but even the possibility took her breath away.
‘I plead the fifth,’ he said softly. He stood abruptly and began clearing the table. ‘I’ll get this. You’ve done enough for the day. I’m sorry if I came off as unappreciative.’
She’d just been trying to keep herself busy. She knew what was going on outside those doors, and she was nervous about it. There was a lot at risk for her, for Luxxor and for Samuel. She didn’t know why people were so interested in what went on in others’ beds, but they were.
And they liked to talk about it.
She traced the pattern on the plate with her fork. ‘I know you’re just trying to do your job.’ And doing his job would keep her out of jail. ‘How long is this going to last? How long until we’ll know if it’s just going to blow over?’
