Page 76 of Courting Gossip (Courting)
Brody found Maggie’s press release and approved it. Then he started digging in, checking in with his sources and reanalysing the information that had come to light last night. Sleep had helped, and his thoughts were coming fast and furious. Unfortunately, so were Genieve’s. She tried working on Luxxor’s database, but her worries kept spiralling as she went through the names on the list. Brody soon saw that the exercise wasn’t helping, and he put it aside for both of them.
They hit the gym instead. By that time, the press release was hot news. Photographs of Gunderson’s bruised arm were on every television station Brody turned to. Reporters were now tying the break-in at the hotel to the break-in at Genieve’s. Anyone would understand why she was running away from that relationship as far and as fast as she could, yet the situation left sympathy for the senator, too. Not only had he been injured, he’d lost the love of his life.
It was a bit much for Brody to stomach, so he pulled out his ear buds and watched Jenny do Zumba. She was all in, and he soon had to switch from the treadmill to weights. Running with a hard-on was dangerous for everyone.
The workouts helped relieve some strain, but eventually it worked its way up again.
He watched her pace back and forth in front of the sliding glass door. With her bright hair and the intense look in her green eyes, she looked like a tigress measuring the limits of her cage.
‘All right.’ He put aside his tablet and pushed himself off the sofa. ‘Let’s go shoot some darts.’
The idea didn’t perk her up. She just kept on pacing.
‘Come on. One game.’
She raked a hand through her hair. ‘OK,’ she finally agreed.
He led her up the spiral staircase and found her favourite set with the lightning bolts. For once, she didn’t play coy. Instead, she started firing bullets at the board.
Brody’s eyebrows lifted. He needed to up his game.
‘So what was it?’ she asked as she swiftly closed out the twenties. ‘Bartender or band?’
He toed the line and went after twenties so she wouldn’t start racking up the points against him. ‘I bartended to put myself through college. How did you get so good?’
She winked at him, at last showing signs of spirit. ‘Barmaid. I made good tips, but hustling the college boys at darts paid better.’
He’d bet it did. College boys didn’t tip well, but that didn’t mean they were good at managing their money. They’d been easy marks, but she’d only been using her smarts to line her pockets.
The game turned competitive. Genieve was throwing darts like laser beams, but she couldn’t keep her focus on what she needed.
‘Nineteens, babe,’ Brody said. ‘You’re throwing at sixteens again.’
Her green eyes turned stormy as she marched over to the board. ‘Damn it.’
She plucked her darts out of the board, but then used one to stab the nineteen repeatedly.
‘OK,’ Brody said, hurrying over. He collected the darts and decided they were done here. The game wasn’t helping either. ‘Remind me not to give you something sharp and pointy next time you’re upset.’
She dragged her hands through her hair. ‘I’m sorry. I just can’t deal right now.’
He caught her by the waist. ‘It’s OK.’
‘No, it’s not.’
‘Want to take another whack at the breadmaker?’
She pushed at his chest. ‘You just want to get me naked again.’
‘Can’t say the thought didn’t occur to me.’ He ducked his head and looked into her eyes. The sudden display of anger hadn’t been like her. She had fire, but that had been something deeper. ‘You all right?’
She laid her hands against his chest. ‘I can’t take this. I feel violated. How long until we know if all those CSI-types found something?’
‘Morgan will let us know. He promised.’ Between the two of them, they texted Nina and the detective way too many times. Nina wanted answers as much as they did, and Morgan was actively working the case. Unfortunately, he had nothing to tell them yet.
Genieve dropped her head against his chest, and Brody rubbed the back of her neck. ‘Something will break.’
‘I can’t wait any more.’
