“Well, I’ve known her a while. Through you.”
“So it is then?” I say. “Serious, I mean?”
I hold my breath, waiting for his answer.
“Brooke,” he says. “I’ve only been with her a month. How serious could it be?”
I let out the breath, not wanting to admit how relieved I am by his answer. Then again, they’re pretty hot and heavy for a month. At this rate, she’ll be nearly moved in by three months and they’ll be married by six.
“Anyway,” Jamie says, “what about you and Hunter? How’s that going?”
“Great!” I say.
Great. Wonderful. I’m having him investigated by the police, but other than that, it’s the ideal relationship.
I lean back on the couch, remember that night I got scared of the boogeyman in my closet and Jamie rushed over at two in the morning to “save” me. The time when he would do such a thing is clearly long gone.
“Do you give foot massages to Gabby?” I ask him.
He laughs. “You know what? It’s never come up.”
“Don’t tell her how good you are,” I warn him. “You’re going to end up doing twenty-four/seven foot massages.”
He raises his eyebrows at me. “I was that good, huh?”
I take a long swig of beer and avoid looking at him. “Pretty good.”
“Just pretty good now?”
“If I say you were really good, would you give me a foot massage right now?”
I was just joking around, but maybe I wasn’t entirely. In any case, Jamie’s cheeks redden and he looks away from me. “Better not,” he mumbles. “Don’t want to get in trouble with Gabby.”
“I was joking.”
“I know.”
I get this feeling like I’m almost going to start crying. I put down my beer and grab the remote. “Dibs,” I say as I turn on the television, even though I already knew he’d let me watch whatever I want.
Any tension between us melts as we devour two episodes of How I Met Your Mother. We both love the show, although Jamie finds Bob Saget’s narration to be annoying. I’ve watched every episode of the show at some point, but it’s okay to watch it again. I like watching shows I’ve already seen before—it’s like hanging out with a friend you know really well.
Like Jamie.
As the second episode is wrapping up, I hear the doorbell ring. Jamie yells, “It’s open! Come in!” And even though I knew Gabby was on her way over, it’s clear she didn’t know I’d be sitting on the couch, sharing beers with her boyfriend, when she arrived.
“Oh,” she says. “Um, hey, Brooke.”
She doesn’t say it, but her meaning is clear: What the hell are you doing here?
“Hey, Gabby,” I say, as I get to my feet. Jamie is doing the same, although it takes him a little more effort. He needs to hold onto something and push himself into a standing position. “We were just watching some television.”
“Hey, there,” Jamie says as he holds onto the couch, making his way over to her. “Glad you could make it.”
When he gets over to her, Gabby grabs him by the collar and pulls him in for a kiss so steamy that I have to look away. Somehow I get the feeling the kiss was at least partially for my benefit.
When their lips separate, Gabby runs her hand over his chest and he smiles at her. “You look really hot today,” she says. I hate the fact that I agree.
He grins back at her. “So do you.”
God, I have to get out of here.
“I should probably get going,” I mumble.
“Oh, do you?” Gabby frowns at me, but I’ve known her seven years and I can tell fake sadness when I see it. “That’s too bad.”
“Yeah, why don’t you join us for dinner?” Jamie says, because he’s not taking the hint.
“Uh, that’s okay.” I reach for my purse. “I’ve got to get going. I’ve got plans.”
I don’t have plans.
“We’re getting lunch tomorrow though, right?” she asks me.
“Of course,” I say. Gabby and I have lunch together once a week, but I’m worried she’s going to be huffy with me for hanging around with her boyfriend when she wasn’t around. Still, she knows Jamie and I are friends. This was completely innocent.
“Maybe I can convince you to let us meet Hunter,” she adds.
“Maybe,” I say, knowing it’s unlikely. Hunter is never going to agree to meet Gabby and Jamie. I feel absolutely certain of it.
Chapter 25: Brooke
Hunter looks so handsome tonight in the dim lighting of the Italian restaurant that it’s easy to forget all about the mystery hair in the little baggie I handed over to Detective Bateman. We placed our orders and Hunter reached out to take my hand across the table. Now we’re staring into each other’s eyes and all I want to do is go old school on the table—push the bread and the candle and the water glasses to the floor and climb across it to make out with him.
“Tell me something about you that I don’t know,” I say.
He smiles at me. He has the sexiest smile I’ve ever seen. “I think you’re beautiful. And I could stare into your eyes all night.”
“Oh, stop it.” But he’s looking at me like he means it, which makes my mouth feel suddenly very dry. I glance up, looking for a waitress. “Where are our drinks? We ordered them, like, forever ago.”
He’s still gazing into my eyes. “It hasn’t been that long.”
“Yes, it has.” I crane my neck, trying to find the woman who took our drink orders at least ten minutes ago. “The service in this place isn’t very good.”
“It’s fine.”
“But I’m thirsty.”
“Brooke.” He shakes his head. “We’ll get our drinks any minute now. Don’t pitch a dying duck.”
I stare at him. Don’t pitch a dying duck.
Sydney’s favorite expression.
“What… what did you say?” I stammer, pulling my hand away from his.
He shrugs. “I said we’ll get our drinks any minute now. So calm down.”
“No.” I squeeze my fists together under the table. “You said ‘don’t pitch a dying duck.’”
“Yeah, so?”
I swallow a lump in my throat. Where is my goddamn Diet Coke? “Where did you hear that expression?”
He shrugs again. “I don’t know. I picked it up somewhere.”
I’m finding it hard to breathe. Just because Hunter said “pitch a dying duck,” it doesn’t mean he knew Sydney. Just because he had bobby pins in his apartment, it doesn’t mean Sydney was in his apartment. All of this is circumstantial evidence. I mean, I met the guy randomly on the street. What are the odds that he’s the same guy who was dating Sydney? It’s got to be at least… one in three million.
Detective Bateman’s voice rings in my ears: So you’re dating a guy who you think could be a murderer and you’re just… okay with that?
But Hunter’s not a murderer. I know he’s not.
Although if I really knew, I wouldn’t have given the detective that hair.
“Hey.” Hunter reaches out to take my hand again across the table. I let him, even though I know my palm is clammy as hell. “I was just thinking, Brooke. How about if after dinner we go for a little walk around that park we passed a few blocks from here?”
My blouse feels too tight around my chest. “A walk around the park?”
“Sure.” He grins at me with those perfect, white teeth. “It’s fun to go for a walk after dinner. Romantic.”
I grab a fistful of my skirt with my free hand. “It just seems a little… deserted around the park at this hour.”
“Don’t worry.” He winks at me and his face glows eerily in the light of the candle. “I’ll protect you.”
Why am I hesitating to do this? Hunter is not a murderer. This whole thing is ridiculous. He’s a great guy and he’s right—it would be romantic to take a walk around the park. And Hunter is… God, he’s so handsome. And the way he’s staring at me with those dark eyes
makes me feel tingly everywhere.
He rubs his thumb against the palm of my hand and the tingly feeling intensifies. Hunter is just so goddamn sexy. There’s no possible way he could be responsible for hurting anyone. I want him so badly. I want to go to the park with him if that’s what he wants. I will go to the park with him. I’ll do anything.
I will surrender to him. I will be his. I will give myself to him.
Before I can tell Hunter the park sounds like an excellent idea, I see the door to the restaurant opening across the room. The sight of a familiar face surprises me enough that I yank my hand away from Hunter’s. Actually, it’s two familiar faces. Gabby and Jamie.
My eyes meet Gabby’s and she waves enthusiastically. That’s when I realize this is not a coincidence. The bitch must have planned it. I bet she looked at my phone when I got up to go to the bathroom yesterday when we were having lunch.
Jamie, on his part, looks like he had no part of the intel. He seems shocked to spot me across the room and even more shocked when Hunter turns around to see what I’m looking at.
“Brooke!” Gabby calls across the room, waving maniacally.
Hunter looks at them, then raises his eyebrows at me. “Your friends?”
I nod guiltily. “It’s Gabby. I swear I didn’t put her up to this.”
I expected him to be pissed off, but instead, he chuckles. “Well, I suppose you should ask them to join us at this point, since they’re already here.”
I let out a sigh of relief. “You’re not angry?”
He chuckles again. “Of course not. It wasn’t your fault, was it?”
I can see Gabby and Jamie talking across the room. They look like they’re arguing. Gabby is pointing to our table and Jamie is pointing to the front door. It seems like Jamie isn’t too eager to join us.
Gabby wins out though. While a waitress helpfully moves an adjacent table over to form a foursome, Gabby and Jamie make their way across the room. The restaurant is cramped though, with lots of tables and chairs, which means Jamie is struggling a little with his cane. Gabby has to help him move a couple of chairs so he doesn’t snag it. But when he’s about one table away from us, his cane gets caught on a chair and he’s down.
“Shit,” I hear him say as he falls ungracefully, partially catching himself on another table to soften the blow but still ending up on the floor. Gabby lets out a yelp that makes everyone in the restaurant who wasn’t already staring turn their heads.
Hunter rises to his feet and quickly moves to help Jamie. He holds out his hand to Jamie, who takes it rather reluctantly and allows Hunter to help haul him back to his feet.
“You okay, buddy?” Hunter asks Jamie.
“Fine,” Jamie mumbles.
I stand too for what is now certain to be awkward introductions. “Hunter,” I say, “these are my friends Jamie and Gabby.”
“Hello, Gabby,” Hunter says to her. He turns to Jamie and instead of shaking his hand, he pats him on the shoulder. “Hello, Jamie.”
I move to the other side of the table so I’m next to Hunter and Jamie is next to Gabby. The two men are across from each other, and I can immediately see how they’re sizing each other up.
“So,” Hunter says, “are you two brother and sister?”
Jamie frowns, and Gabby shoots Hunter a look. “No, we’re a couple,” she corrects him in a sharp voice.
“Oh!” Hunter’s eyes widen, but then he quickly smiles. “Well, that’s just… wonderful!” He smiles at Jamie. “Good for you, buddy.” He looks at Gabby next. “And good for you too. You’re a good person.”
Jamie’s blue eyes darken, and for a brief second, he looks like he wants to take a swing at Hunter. But that doesn’t happen, thank God.
Jamie and Gabby place their orders with the waitress and we make casual conversation. Gabby is chatting with Hunter, but Jamie is staring sulkily at his water glass. I catch his eye for a moment and he shakes his head at me.
Gabby is describing her advertising job to Hunter, who is listening dutifully. He’s a good listener. If I do ever bring him home to meet my parents, I think they’re going to be impressed with him. Of course, at this rate, he won’t want to meet them for several years.
“And how about you, Jamie?” Hunter says. “You don’t work, I assume. How do you fill your days?”
“I work,” Jamie says tightly.
“Really?” Hunter says in amazement. “Do you? Well, that’s just fantastic!” He smiles patronizingly at Jamie. “A girlfriend and a job too. Good for you. Part-time then or…?”
“Full time,” Jamie says. I see his right hand has balled into a fist. I’m getting seriously worried he might hit Hunter and I don’t know if I’d entirely blame him. Hunter’s acting like he’s never seen a guy walk with a cane before. Honestly, I’ve never seen Hunter act like this before. Sometimes he can be a little over the top, but it’s usually in a charming way. It almost seems like he’s goading Jamie on, trying to make him angry.
But that’s crazy. Why would he do that?
“A desk job then?” Hunter asks.
Jamie narrows his eyes. “Computer programming.”
“Ah!” Hunter nods like he gets it. “Well, that sounds just perfect. I bet you can even do that from home.”
Before Jamie can answer, I make an attempt to divert the conversation. “I wish I could work from home,” I comment.
Hunter smiles. “Brooke here has such an interesting job. She’s a phlebotomist.”
“I know,” Jamie says irritably.
“Yes, I suppose you do,” Hunter says vaguely. “But… I can’t say I’ve ever met a woman who did that before. It’s fascinating.”
“You couldn’t get me to do that for a million dollars,” Gabby says with a shudder. “Sorry, Brooke, but blood is gross.”
Hunter looks at Gabby as if she said something blasphemous. “Blood is what keeps us all alive. Red blood cells carry oxygen to all the cells of our bodies to give them energy. White blood cells fight infection. And platelets… they help with clotting. Without any platelets, you’d bleed out all over this table.”
Gabby looks positively green at this comment. What he said doesn’t bother me, but it does bother me that he said it. Why would he say something like that?
“Listen, Hunter,” Jamie says, “maybe we could change the subject. Talking about blood is bothering Gabby, and honestly, I don’t like it either.”
“Well, that surprises me,” Hunter says. “Brooke is your friend. You’re honestly telling me that you don’t have any interest whatsoever in what she does?”
Jamie glares at him. “I’m just saying that maybe blood isn’t appropriate dinner conversation. Okay?”
Jamie’s hand is still balled into a fist, and now Hunter bares his teeth at him—it’s almost a smile but not quite. The whole exchange is starting to freak me out.
“Hunter said he’s going to get us tickets for Book of Mormon,” I blurt out, hoping that will change the subject.
Gabby immediately picks up on the cue. “Oh my gosh, are you serious, Hunter? I’ve been wanting to get tickets forever, but they cost a fortune.”
“Well, Brooke said she wanted to see it.” Hunter smiles and shrugs. “So what’s a few hundred dollars?”
“Wow, that’s awesome,” Gabby says. “I’m totally jealous.”
Jamie’s cheeks redden. “I didn’t know you wanted to see that show, Gabby. I can take you.”
“Oh…” Gabby smiles awkwardly. “That would be great, but… it’s so expensive, Jamie. You don’t have to…”
“How about this,” Hunter says, “when I’m going to get tickets for me and Brooke, I’ll buy an extra two tickets. I’m sure you’re living on a fixed budget, Jamie, and I’d be happy to treat.”
Jamie narrows his eyes at Hunter. “I can afford two tickets to Book of Mormon.”
Hunter smiles. “But it’s no problem for me. It would be my treat.”
Gabby looks between the two men, as if unsure what to say.
“Um…”
“Really, it’s fine,” Jamie says through his teeth. “I can afford it.” He looks at Gabby. “I’ll get the tickets. Really.”
Gabby looks at him like he’s crazy, but I understand why Jamie is upset. What man wants another man to treat him and his girlfriend to a show? And the strange thing is, even though Hunter is being nice, I still can’t shake the feeling he’s doing it to intentionally provoke Jamie.
Chapter 26: Brooke
As soon as the check comes, Jamie tosses some bills on the table and stands up so quickly that his chair nearly falls over. Hunter picks up the bills from the table and tries to return them to Jamie. “I’d be happy to treat for dinner tonight,” he says.
“No,” Jamie says tightly. “Not necessary.”
I can tell Jamie wants to get the hell out of the restaurant, but it’s only gotten more crowded while we’ve been sitting here. It’s a struggle for him to get past the rows of tables and chairs. I can see at one point his cane gets snagged on a chair and he’s taking deep breaths as he works it free. Gabby puts her hand on his shoulder and he shrugs her off.
After they’re gone, Hunter turns back to me with that sexy smile he’d been giving me earlier. “So how about that walk in the park?”
I narrow my eyes at him. “Why were you treating my friend that way?”
He frowns. “What do you mean? I was very nice to Gabby, considering she intentionally ambushed us.”
“I don’t mean Gabby,” I say. “I’m talking about Jamie.”
He blinks his eyes a few times. “He’s your friend?”
“Well, yeah,” I say. “He’s lived downstairs from me for like three years. And… well, yes, he’s my friend. One of my closest friends, actually.”
He used to be, at least.
“Really?” Hunter snorts, although I’m not sure what that means. “Okay, well, I didn’t think I was unpleasant to the guy. I offered to treat him to a show, for God’s sake.”
“Yes, but…” I shake my head. “You were treating him like he was some kind of… I don’t know, invalid.”
“But he is.”
“Are you kidding me?” I cry. “He just uses a cane. It’s not that big a deal.”
Love Bites Page 19
