Page 49 of Hang the Moon
“No,” Darcy blurted. “You’re here, which by default makes your timing excellent.” She glanced between him and Annie. “Say, Brendon?”
He stole a sip of the test coffee he’d brewed. Not bad. “Hmm?”
Darcy’s eyes narrowed, her head cocking. Oh, he knew that look, was quite familiar with it, if he was being honest. He’d given Darcy the same look a time or two. It was a look that said he, or in this instance Darcy, hadn’t come to play. “What’s your schedule look like this week?”
A seemingly innocuous question for an altogether not innocuous look. He frowned. Or was itnocuous? A nocuous look? Was that a word? If something could be innocuous, shouldn’tnocuousbe an option? Or was it like flammable versus inflammable? Wow,tangent. Thanks, brain. Brendon shook his head. “Not bad. Why?”
He had Jian and Katie’s wedding, but that wasn’t until Friday. With their all-team meeting out of the way, his days would mostly consist of fielding emails and racking his brain trying to figure out a solution to the problem Jian had rightfully posed this morning. Thursday, he had a big meeting with investors regarding their potential expansion out of North America, but the rest of his week was relatively malleable.
“I was thinking—”
“A danger to us all,” he teased.
Darcy reached out, pinching the thin skin of his inner elbow, left bare from rolling up his shirtsleeves. Motherfucker, that hurt. “Ow.”
“As I was saying,” she gritted out, her eyes wide like she was trying to silently communicate with him. “If you aren’t too terribly busy, maybe you could show Annie around?” Darcy suggested, eyes twinkling in a way that had absolutely nothing to do with her fancy recessed lighting.
Another look he was familiar with. As the baby in the family, he’d perfected that look. All wide-eyed innocence, cunning lurking beneath the surface.
Brendon grinned and swallowed the urge to wipe away an imaginary tear. Clap, maybe. Darcy had played him, she’d played himgood, and he couldn’t even bring himself to be upset about it because—while he might not have been completely clear as to her motivations—it had worked out in his favor.
Annie, apparently none the wiser about his sister’s machinations, shook her head. “Oh, no. That’s—”
“Fine,” he said, cutting Annie off. “I’d love to show you around.”
Spending time with Annie was the opposite of an imposition.
Color rose in Annie’s cheeks as their eyes met and their gazes held, his breath burning in his lungs until she dropped her eyes to the floor, breaking their magnetic eye contact.
It took a moment for his mouth to make words. “How’s tomorrow afternoon sound? My last meeting’s at three. Barring traffic, I could be here by a quarter after four.”
Annie gnawed on her bottom lip before nodding slowly. “That... sounds like a plan.”
“Perfect.” Darcy beamed.
Still staring at the floor, Annie absently lifted a hand to her mouth, fingers tracing her lips in a way that made him immediately wonder whether she was thinking about their kiss.
“I’ll text you when I’m on the way.”
Annie startled slightly, lifting her head, the color in her cheeks deepening. She gave a sharp, decisive nod before smiling tightly. “Looking forward to it.” She turned to Darcy. “I’m going to run through a shower. I ordered takeout since I wasn’t sure when you’d be back.”
“I’ll answer the door.” Darcy nodded.
With a fleeting smile aimed in his general direction, Annie scurried past, disappearing down the hall.
“Sorry to have you come all this way for nothing,” Darcy said, walking him to the front door.
“Not a big deal. It was on my way.”
And it gave him an opportunity to see Annie again. A win-win in his book.
“I’ll walk you to the elevator,” she offered, pulling the door shut behind her. As soon as they were halfway down the hall,she grabbed his arm, tugging him to a stop. Her lips pursed, dropping whatever act she’d done a surprisingly good job of putting on inside her kitchen. “Did she tell you?”
“Tell me what?”
She huffed. “Don’t play dumb with me.London.”
Right.That.He shoved his hands in his pockets and winced. “She made me promise not to tell you. She wanted to tell you herself.”
