Page 57 of Intrigued
“You better not have.” She put the phone on speaker then took another load of clothes and dropped it into the suitcase. The operator’s voice said the phone was no longer in service.
“Are you trying to call Dale?” I asked.
“I don’t know what happened to his phone. When I get to the airport, I’ll check my email. I have to get the fuck out of this house fast.” She shot past me again.
“Where you going?” I asked.
“LA.”
“Don’t you want me to drive you to the airport?”
She scoffed. “No way. You stay here and keep Jasper off my ass.”
I thumbed over my shoulder. “Do you remember the way you left the room? If Jasper was smart, he’d be on your ass already.”
“No.” She shook her head emphatically. “He’s used to me being that way.”
I sat on the foot of her messy bed as she kept racing around the room, throwing items into her disheveled suitcase.
“Bryn, do you believe Dale may be hurt? Because if so—”
“No. We have a plan.” She closed her suitcase.
“What sort of plan?”
She snatched her luggage by the handle. “I’m not telling you.” Her tone had an edge to it. “I have to go. By the way, what did you get me?”
I was confused. “Get you?”
“The present.”
“Oh.” I was relieved she’d asked. “Chocolates by Dauphine Chocolatier.”
Bryn smiled slightly. “Thank you. I don’t eat chocolate, but if things hadn’t gone this way, I would’ve ordered up a couple of bottles of wine and let you eat them while I drank.”
I was still absorbing what she had just said when she rushed into the bathroom.
“Wait,” I called.
I heard what sounded like a door swing open and then close. Suddenly, I felt that familiar feeling of being alone. However, I couldn’t help but realize that her reaction to my gift was not the one I’d expected. My mother would’ve eaten all the chocolates without even offering me one.
Chapter Twenty
Ididn’t know what to do next. Bryn had actually escaped through a passageway in her bathroom. One thing was for sure—my furtive friend from college now made a lot more sense to me. Her life was nothing but secrets on top of secrets with a thousand more piled on top of those. That was why it could never work between Jasper and me. My job was to bring what was hidden to the light.
I stood at the window, looking out over the darkened grounds, which were illuminated by tiny white lights in the trees and lanterns throughout the lawns. I wondered if I should wait until the next morning to get the hell out of Dodge. I was fine with leaving Jasper, sort of. We’d had a good romp in the sack, but that was over.
“You’re still here?”
I recognized the voice that came from behind me. It was Jasper’s, and he sounded relieved.
With my arms still folded, I turned to face him. “I am. At least for now.” I wanted to tell him about how Bryn had left, but I no longer knew with whom my loyalties should lie.
Jasper and I stared silently into each other’s eyes. The time was now or never.
I pointed my hand down at the chair. “Can we sit and talk?”
He hesitated, then we both sat at the same time. Goodness, he was so handsome. However, for the first time ever, I noticed every single line of stress he wore on his face. Even though he was a youthful-looking man, the threat of appearing aged before his time nipped at his heels.
