“Hey! Where are you?”
“Er . . . Still in South Carolina. Greenville, actually. Mark needed to make a stop here before heading on to Boston. We’re staying at the Hyatt on Main Street.” He was quiet for a moment, then asked, “Where are you?”
“Oh, I’m with your brother. Did you want to talk to him?” Emma had just started to pass the phone to a surprised Declan when Brant said hurriedly, “No, but what are you doing with him? Is Ella with you?”
“Ella? No, she’s at home. It’s just Declan and me.”
Brant almost sounded angry as he demanded, “What are you doing with him? It’s midnight.”
Surprised, Emma said, “Really? Wow, that is late. It’s okay, though, because we’re going to my place now.”
“What the fuck!” Brant exploded.
Declan, obviously hearing his brother’s loud curse, held his hand out for her phone.
Relieved, she handed it over. “Good luck, the stick’s back up his ass tonight.”
The corners of Declan’s mouth twitched and it looked like he was trying hard not to laugh. He put the phone up to his ear. “Hello, brother.” He listened for a moment before he said, “Will you chill out? She was with Ellie and Beth tonight at my house. I wasn’t even home. She had a few drinks, so I didn’t think she should be driving. I’m just dropping her off at home on the way to the store for Ellie.” Declan finally ended the call and handed her the phone back. “You’re supposed to call Daddy back when you get home.”
For some reason, that struck Emma as funny and she laughed until tears ran down her cheeks. “God,” she gasped out, “why couldn’t I have slept with the funny brother? Whoops, maybe that came out wrong. I’m not saying you specifically, just that I could use a man with a sense of humor, you know?”
“Er . . . yeah, I think so.” Instead of looking offended, he looked vastly amused. “I’ve been accused of having a stick up my ass a time or two, though. Most men lose their sense of humor when another man is driving their woman home in the middle of the night.”
“That might be true if the same man didn’t have his old girlfriend living with him. Isn’t that all brick houses and stones?”
Declan looked puzzled for a moment before saying, “Ah, I think you mean glass houses and stones. I’ll admit that’s a little fu . . . messed up, but there is one thing I can say with absolute certainty. If Brant’s with you, then he isn’t with her. I’m not just saying that because he’s my brother either. He just isn’t built that way. After Alexia took off, he stayed closed off for a long time. Brant is a stand-up guy. As messed up as it may be, if Alexia is having problems, then Brant will help her out, regardless of how she screwed him over in the past.”
“I had a few stalker lapses but, strangely enough, I do trust him. I even love him most days, stick up his ass and all.”
Declan chuckled. “Well, there you go. If you can love someone at his worst, then loving them at his best is a breeze.”
Emma turned her head and without any of the jealousy she had felt earlier, she said, “Ella is a very lucky woman to have you.”
Brant stalked around his hotel room scowling at his silent cell phone. How long did it take for Emma to get home from his brother’s house? In the back of his mind, he knew he was being unreasonable. Declan was crazy about Ella, and so there was no one that Emma was safer with than his besotted brother. It still rankled him, though, that Declan was with her while he was miles away in a hotel room alone. Shit, like he had a right to be pissed. Hadn’t he just gotten off the phone with Alexia? She had pretty much listed every good time they had ever had together. The one thing she hadn’t touched on was how horribly things had ended between them. A part of him would always be tied to her, but since getting some distance between them, he was starting to feel more and more certain Alexia belonged in his past. Emma was his future. And damn it, he needed to hear her voice.
He looked down at his watch only to see that she had had more than enough time to make it home. He punched in her number and waited while the phone rang numerous times before an obviously sleepy Emma murmured, “Hmm?”
“Emma?”
“Hmm?”
“Why didn’t you call me when you got home? You are home, aren’t you?”
On a big yawn, she said, “Yep. All safe and sound.”
He sighed in exasperation. “I was worried about you.”
Her voice still sleepy, she cooed, “Ah, that’s so sweet. I miss you. I wish you were here.”
Brant dropped back on his bed, feeling the stress of the evening drain away. “I miss you, too, baby. Trust me, I’d much rather be with you than with Mark.”
He smiled as Emma giggled. “You guys aren’t spooning, are you?”
“God, no.” Brant shuddered. “He’s up in the penthouse suite probably doing unspeakable things to some woman he picked up in the bar while I’m down here where the poor people stay.”