Sometimes It Is Rocket Science

by Thorpe, Kara

  “That’s fantastic!” Relieved, Georgiana rested her hand on Robert’s forearm and shifted so she was facing him. Heat flooded her when her bare knees brushed against his thigh. “That is an excellent reason to celebrate.”

  “Yes, yes,” Prask said, releasing the tablecloth. He smoothed the wrinkles but continued to scowl at Robert. “It is good news.”

  “Now, we have a wonderful rosé prestige cuvée, perfect for toasting.” Robert waited until the sommelier had gone through the ceremony of opening the bottle and pouring it into three flutes. He held his glass up. “Though the cause of my father’s recent illness is under investigation, he has made a full recovery. Thank God for that.”

  Georgiana’s hand fell to the table. “They don’t know the cause? I thought it was a heart attack.”

  Prask clinked his glass against Robert’s hard enough Georgiana feared for the crystal. His thin lips curled back in half-sneer. “I hear congratulations are in order for you, Robert. Never thought I’d see the day someone managed to drag you to the altar.”

  Robert’s sly smile and subtle wink were the only warning Georgiana had before his hand covered hers. “Yes, Georgiana and I are very happy.”

  She swallowed her champagne before she could choke on it. She tried to tug her hand out from under Robert’s. What game was he playing? He was engaged to Tammy, not her! It was all well and good for him to play games when he could scamper back to New York, but she had to live with the fallout of whatever it was he had planned.

  “Bobby…”

  His lips were warm and light across her cheek. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I know you wanted to keep it a secret, but I just can’t keep it to myself.”

  Had her parents not raised her better, she would have tossed her champagne in his face or demanded to know what he was talking about. She was going to have a hell of a time doing damage control as it was. Veronica Danvers and Missy Galvan were seated right behind Prask; the two sets of loosest lips in Houston had undoubtedly heard Robert’s announcement.

  “Georgiana,” Prask touched the rim of glass to Georgiana’s. “I must say this is a surprise.”

  She forced her lips to stretch up into a weak smile. “Yes, it is.” She let out a small squeak when Robert’s large hand rested on her knee. She dropped a hand to her lap and squeezed his warningly. Being in a public place wouldn’t stop her from slapping that smirk off his face if he pushed her too far.

  Robert continued to grin like he hadn’t a worry in the world. He refilled Georgiana’s glass and topped off Prask’s. Neither noticed that he hadn’t taken more than a sip from his glass.

  “I know it’s sudden, but I took one look at her and knew I couldn’t let her go again.” Robert’s heated, devoted stare sent Georgiana’s heart into overdrive. He kissed her cheek again. “I couldn’t risk anyone else snapping her out from under me.”

  She eyed the fork speculatively. It was heavy and the tines were wide. If she jabbed him the fleshy part of the hand between the thumb and forefinger, it was possible she could incapacitate him without getting blood on her dress or doing any irreparable damage to the restaurant. She tilted her head towards him and lowered her voice so Prask couldn’t hear.

  “You make me sound like a piece of art, Bobby.”

  He chuckled in her ear. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. Blame it on the dress.”

  Prask cleared his throat loudly. His face had lost the red tinge of outrage, but his glare was still firmly in place. “This must make your board very happy.” He raised bushy, white eyebrows. “Both boards, I suppose.”

  Robert waved his free hand dismissively. “They could strenuously object and it wouldn’t change a thing. Business can’t stand in the way of love.” He winked at Georgiana, knowing she would remember how Prask had lost an entire division of his company in an early divorce settlement. “You know how that goes, don’t you Prask?”

  Before the older man could splutter out an objection, Robert rose from his chair and, with a hand under her elbow, helped Georgiana to her feet. “I apologize for cutting this dinner short, but Georgiana forgot about our meeting with the cardiologist and it was left to me to retrieve her. Do not worry about the bill; I’ve instructed my driver to take care of it.” He inclined his head towards the burly, blond man standing near the doors.

  Georgiana managed to grab her clutch before she was dragged out of the restaurant like an unruly child. She hoped Dan would forgive her for killing his only child, because as soon as they were away from prying eyes she was going to absolutely murder Robert. The hand around her elbow tightened when she tried to squirm out of his grasp.

  “Smile, doll,” he murmured, lips against her hair. “Don’t want them to think you’re going to jilt me.”

  “Oh no,” she said through clenched teeth and a plastic smile, “I think I’d much rather be labeled a black widow.”

  Robert didn’t release her until the valet returned with her car. “We need to talk about Dad. Would you feel more comfortable at his house or yours?”

  “His, definitely. I don’t want Tab to have to testify against me.” She tipped the handsome, young valet and flung herself into the leather seat. At Robert’s wolf whistle, she tugged the hem of her skirt over her knees. Once he was buckled in his seat, she peeled out of the parking lot.

  “Did you eat anything? Drink anything besides the champagne?”

  Georgiana frowned, flicked on her turn signal. “Just a half a glass of the Malbec, I suppose. We had just placed our orders.” Her stomach rumbled at the thought of the meal of baked salmon, rice pilaf, and grilled asparagus she’d abandoned. Even worse, she’d missed out on a slice of the restaurant’s divine chocolate cheesecake.

  “Did you take anything from Prask? A mint or a piece of gum? Were there flowers? Did you leave the table at all?” Robert gripped the edge of the center console so hard his knuckles turned white. His rich imagination kept coming up with ways Prask could have gotten to Georgiana. If the doctor’s tests had been delayed, Prask could have killed her before they knew to be wary.

  “No. To any of them. He ordered the wine, we ordered our food, and you barged in.” She pressed her toes against the accelerator and, with the steel nerves that came from a lifetime of Houston traffic, entered the freeway only to immediately cross five lanes to make her upcoming left exit. “What was that little show in there about? You know it’s going to be all over town by the morning.”

  “Afraid of a little gossip, Georgiana?”

  “No.” She tapped the brake when the F-150 in front of her slowed unexpectedly. “I just don’t want to wake up to find Blondie boiling bunnies in my kitchen.”

  “Tammy and I are not engaged.” It felt good to say what he’d been trying to tell Georgiana for days. Every time he’d tried to bring up Tammy, she’d either changed the subject or manufactured a reason to be elsewhere.

  “Neither are you and I. You seem to be not engaged to quite a few people.”

  Robert stabbed the button for the overhead map light. Ignoring Georgiana’s grumbled protest, he moved as close as the center console allowed to examine his faux-fiancée. Her eyes were red, but no more bloodshot than they’d been since he returned to town. She wasn’t shaking or jittery and anger had tinged her cheeks pink. He wasn’t ready to give her a clean bill of health, though. As soon as they got to the house, he was going to have NORA perform a cursory urinalysis.

  “How do you feel, Georgiana? Is your heartbeat regular? Any trouble breathing? Dry mouth? Sweating? Tingling? Numbness? Blurred vision?”

  “I’m fine.” She tore her eyes off the road long enough to shoot him an exasperated glare. “Madder than hell at you and confused, but I’m fine.”

  “You wouldn’t lie, would you?” Voice hard and eyes serious, he rested a hand on her thigh. “This is of the utmost importance, doll. I need to know if you feel the slightest bit ill or off.”

  “Okay,” she drawled, flipping on her turn signal and zipping onto the exit ramp. “I’m officially a lit
tle concerned now. What’s going on, Bobby? Does this have to do with what’s wrong with your father?”

  “Yes. We will talk about it at the house.” Robert slid back in his seat, tapped his fingers against the window. “I don’t want you alone with Prask for any reason. Don’t take anything he gives you, either.”

  “Ha!” She parked the car in front of Dan’s gate and rolled down her window so she could reach the biometric scanners. “Despite what half of Houston now believes, we are not engaged. You don’t get to play caveman.”

  Robert was silent on the drive to the garage. He led the way into the kitchen. While Georgiana greeted NORA, he retrieved a bottle of water from the refrigerator. He shoved the bottle into Georgiana’s hands. “Drink that. All of it. I need NORA to test your urine.”

  Georgiana almost dropped the bottle. Her jaw went slack. Had Robert lost his mind? “No! I am not doing a blessed thing until you tell me what on earth is going on.”

  Robert slipped his hands in his trouser pockets and leaned back against the kitchen island. Though his stance was casual, he regarded her with a somber, steady gaze. “My father was drugged with a nearly lethal combination of nicotine, caffeine, nitroglycerine, and GHB.”

  Her heart lodged in her throat. “Doctor Flores’ tests came in?” At his nod, she sucked in a deep, fortifying breath. Doctor Flores had been her father’s physician as well; she trusted him implicitly. “What does this have to do with Prask?”

  “Dad didn’t die. He had time to get home, which is what ultimately saved his life. The window of opportunity is narrow. He had to have been drugged shortly before he returned to the house.” Robert paused to make sure he had Georgiana’s full attention. “Dad had lunch and a cigar with Walt Prask right before the ‘attack.’”

  Georgiana silently unscrewed the top off the water bottle and noisily gulped the bottle’s entire contents. With the back of a trembling hand, she wiped a droplet of water off her lip. “I will be right back.”

  Chapter Eleven:

  Georgiana opened the powder room door to find Robert lounging against the wall beside the door. Cheeks pink, she rolled her eyes and folded her arms across her chest. “I thought you were going to alter NORA’s testing spectrum.”

  “Didn’t take all that long. I have also temporarily limited the database so that we may have the results sooner. NORA will alert us when the tests are complete.”

  She started up the stairs to the guest room she’d claimed as hers years earlier. Though her dress was relatively comfortable, she wanted to put a few additional layers between her skin and Robert. To her dismay, he was right on her heels. When he moved to follow her in the room she closed the door so swiftly it grazed the tip of his nose.

  “I am merely concerned for your well-being, Georgiana.”

  After extracting a pair of worn jeans and an equally worn t-shirt from a dresser drawer, she reached for the zipper of her dress. Her fingertips brushed the cool metal, but she couldn’t get a good enough grip on it. Claire had joked about intentionally designing the dress so that a woman didn’t go home alone. At that moment, Georgiana could have cheerfully strangled her friend.

  She jerked open the door and spun around so that her back was to Robert. She gestured at the zipper. “Don’t say a word,” she snapped before his husky laughter could permeate the air.

  No matter how hard she braced herself, the first touch of Robert’s warm, rough fingers on her back was a shock. It reminded her of the time she’d made a mistake in one of her high school labs and electrocuted herself. As soon as his knuckles scraped across the band of her strapless bra, she stepped back in to the bedroom.

  “Thanks,” she muttered before closing the door.

  “You’re welcome.” His voice was rich with amusement. “I’m here for you any time you need assistance undressing.”

  Georgiana quickly changed out of her dress and, when a glance through the room didn’t reveal her canvas slip-on sneakers, stepped out into the hallway barefooted. Her empty stomach burbled. She pivoted on her heel and returned to the kitchen.

  “It doesn’t make sense,” she said, pausing on the fourth step from the bottom and curling her toes around the carpeted edge. She sucked her lower lip into her mouth, missed the way Robert’s eyes darkened. “Prask has no reason to want Dan dead. There’s no gain in it for him.”

  “He’s always been jealous of Dad’s success.”

  “That’s not motive for murder. Why would he risk everything just because he’s a little green with envy? The potential cost far outweighs whatever pleasure he might have derived from the action.”

  Robert smiled indulgently, wrapped an arm around Georgiana’s thin shoulders. “You’ve never been a gambler have you, doll? Life is not always about cost analyses and Venn diagrams. Sometimes you have to make the big bets.”

  “There’s no gain,” she insisted, resuming her trek to the kitchen. “You’ll inherit nearly every bit of Dan’s estate. He’s taken a backseat in the company. His death wouldn’t impact stock prices severely enough to make a difference for Prask. I just don’t understand why he would do it.”

  “He did it.”

  Georgiana blinked at his vehemence. “I do not doubt that, Bobby. I’m just trying to figure out the logic behind the attack. If it’s because Prask wants something, then he’s likely to make a second attempt. He doesn’t give up easily.”

  Robert’s grip on her shoulders tightened momentarily. “And he’ll continue going after you.”

  She groaned, thumped her head against his shoulder. “It was dinner. The only thing I was in danger of was Prask flirting one too many times; nothing a decontamination shower couldn’t fix.”

  “Is Tab your heir?”

  “Of course. Custody of him goes to Dan, assuming Tab’s still underage. If Dan can’t do it, we have a great aunt in Thibodaux.”

  “I spoke with a Detective Sanchez on my way to the restaurant. Due to Prask’s standing in the community and the margin of error with the tests, there isn’t much they can do at this point. Prask has not made any threats against you or my father, but the officer advised vigilance. I don’t want anyone to be alone with Prask. ”

  As soon as they reached the kitchen, she ducked out from under his arm and glanced around the gleaming kitchen. The coffeemaker, which slid in and out of a hidden compartment on the counter, was missing. Exhaustion weighed down her limbs and fogged her brain. If she was going to make it through a night of Clue with Detective Robert, she needed caffeine. “C’mon, NORA, what’d you do with the coffee?”

  “Records indicate that you have had fifty hours of sleep over the past fourteen days. Consuming caffeinated beverages in the evening is counterproductive to maintaining a regular sleep schedule.”

  Georgiana splayed her palms on the cool countertop and counted to fifteen. It wasn’t NORA’s fault. She’d programmed NORA and ERIC to monitor occupant health and tasked them with helping keep the human residents in optimal health. She’d been so focused on making sure Tab and Dan were cared for that she’d forgotten she would also be included in the monitoring. As soon as she had a moment to spare, she was going to work out an exception algorithm.

  The pantry door creaked open. A robotic arm slowly extended from its hidden compartment with a loaf of wheat bread and plastic container of chocolate-hazelnut spread clasped in its pincer. “Preliminary analysis of the most recent urine sample indicates that your blood sugar is well below normal parameters, Georgie dear.”

  She crossed the room to take the bread and spread from the arm. At least NORA remembered that the decadent, sweet spread was her favorite. A sandwich was a poor substitute for the gourmet meal she’d abandoned, but it would stop her stomach from rumbling.

  “Can I at least have a glass of milk?” she asked as she retrieved a butter knife from the utensil drawer. The light over the refrigerator flickered and a cabinet door opened. Installing drink dispensers in Dan’s massive house had been on her to-do list for weeks.

  Rob
ert filled two glasses with milk. When he set two small, white plates on the counter, she took the hint and made a second sandwich. The silence between them was thick but not uncomfortable. She wondered how much the tabloids would pay for a picture of their favorite heartthrob eating a dinner of Nutella sandwiches and cold milk. A broad grin stretched across her face when he tilted his head to look up at her.

  “What’s so funny?”

  Georgiana took a large bite of her sandwich in lieu of answering. It wasn’t fair that he could make a milk mustache so sexy. She wanted to crawl across the counter and…

  “Have I something on my face?” Robert used a paper napkin to wipe the milk off his upper lip. “Is that better?”

  Georgiana nodded, washed down the lump in her throat with milk. She needed to get her mind off utterly delectable he looked with traces of Nutella on his fingers and chin. “How is it that you’re suddenly not engaged to Tammy?”

  Robert’s jaw tensed. “I was never engaged to Tammy. That was a lie she told the security guards at the hospital so she could get access to my father’s room. Had Allan been with me, she never would have gotten through the front door.”

  “And that impressive rock on her finger?”

  “She exchanged several of the gifts I had given her for the ring. I believe she was also trying to get photographed with the ring to pressure me into proposing.” He grinned wolfishly. “I must admit that the tactic does have its appeal.”

  “We are not engaged.”

  “That’s not what everyone at O’Brien’s now believes. It’s not going to hurt anyone if we play at being engaged for a while, so why not let the gossips have their fun?”

  “Because we’re not.”

  Robert’s eyebrows lifted. His voice turned soft and dangerous; his eyes were unreadable. “There isn’t a boyfriend or fiancé you’re hiding, is there?”

  She shook her head, dropped her gaze to the crumbs on her plate. “There’s no one. There hasn’t been since…” She cut herself off before she could say the name she’d avoided for years. Sucking in a fortifying breath, she met Robert’s curious stare. “What did Prask mean about your board being happy about our engagement?”