They pulled up to the house and Joel parked in the driveway behind her garage space where her car sat unused for the past several weeks. “She made some comment about me being mousy and plain. It bothered Harrison more than it did me.” Sage pushed back the hurt the remembered comment still caused—how could she take offense when Rosemary’s words were true? Sage knew she wasn’t a beauty, but as she had matured she felt better about herself. Now she even felt pretty sometimes.
“And what did he say back?” Joel turned off the car and looked at her.
“Rosemary used to be a little curvier. All over, not just in all the right places like now. Harrison taunted her about it.” Remembering the hurt she’d seen on Rosemary’s face still made Sage feel bad.
“Ouch. That’s rough on a teenage girl.” He looked around them, ensuring that the coast was clear for her to exit the car—as he always did.
“It’s rough on a grown woman,” Sage said. “So at that age, yeah. It was unnecessarily cruel.”
“And you could never understand someone being cruel.” Joel touched his finger to her jaw, turning her head to face him. “You’re tender hearted and don’t like to see anyone in pain.”
His brown eyes seemed to see right into her psyche. “We all know the saying about sticks and stones,” she said, shivering a little at his touch. “But the truth is, words can hurt. Worse than a stone, sometimes.” Her breath caught in her chest when the moment stretched between them and he turned his fingers to run his knuckles across her cheek. Want curled in her chest, an ache, a wish for him to lean over and kiss her.
“Yeah.” His voice was low and a little husky, and his gaze dropped to her lips.
For one thrilling moment she thought he might kiss her. She could almost feel his lips on hers, was lifting her face closer when he dropped his hand and backed away, reaching for the door handle.
“Well, it’s good to know what’s behind their feud, anyway.” He pushed the door open and got out of the car.
Disappointment rose in her chest and she had to swallow it down. Why did she keep letting herself hope when he made it perfectly clear he didn’t see her like that? She locked the car door and shut it behind her. “What was your comment about chemistry?” She stopped to pick up Mr. Sunshine, who had come running when they pulled into the driveway. “Are you hungry, sweetie?” she crooned, rubbing her cheek against his soft fur. He meowed loudly in response. She glanced at Joel, who was watching her.
A light smile teased the corners of his mouth—the most she usually saw of his smile. “Someday things between Harrison and Rosemary are going to blow. For now, though, do you think your sisters are ready for that self-defense lesson we discussed?”
Knowing he was right about the couple, and understanding his reticence to discuss it in detail, Sage let it drop, agreeing to his suggestion. Self-defense lessons would come in handy. She glanced over her shoulder and shuddered a little at the thought of needing the lessons. She clasped the cat tighter, trying to replace her uneasiness with the comfort of his deep purr.
Only a few cannellini were left when Delphi came in and dumped her carry-on at the top of the basement stairs. Everyone sat around the great room, filling chairs, sofas, and patches of floor, discussing a movie most of them had seen.
“How was the wedding?” Cami asked.
“Fine. She was beautiful; it went off without a hitch… or close enough. The flight was fine, the drive back up here was fine. My bike is already on the truck and should arrive this week.” She yanked open a cupboard and pulled out a plate and glass. “Do you want to know what wasn’t fine?” She looked across the open space to the sunken space where the rest lounged.
Jonquil’s blue eyes narrowed as she studied Delphi. “The guy back home?”
“Exactly. The guy. The guy was so not fine, it’s not even funny.” She slammed the cup and plate onto the counter and started dishing out the last of the cannellini. “The guy acted as if everything was good all weekend—or what little of it I had to spend with him—then decided he couldn’t possibly do this long-distance thing. Not even for a year.” She looked Vince right in the eye. “Why are all guys jerks? They flash a little chrome, impress you with superior handling and a purring engine and the next thing you know, they’re gone.”
Vince sat in silence for a moment, as if unsure how to respond. “You were talking about motorcycles there, right? It wasn’t some freaky girl slang for things I’d rather not discuss when surrounded by a room full of women, most of whom are tougher than me?”
Delphi rolled her eyes. “Of course, I’m talking bikes. How long have you and Jeremy-the-jerk been friends, anyway that you haven’t learned about motorcycles? You’d think you’d know what I’m talking about.” She poured herself some Dr. Pepper and headed for a free spot on the floor. She stopped to glance around the room at the dozen occupants and came back to Vince. “Speaking of, I think he’s your only friend who isn’t in this room.” She sat with a considerable lack of grace. “No one warned me we were having a party tonight.”
“Gage isn’t here either. And was that a rhetorical question?” Vince asked. He looked scared to discuss his friendship with Jeremy. Delphi and Jeremy had gotten off to a bad start from the first, though they worked together fine when he took pictures at the resort’s events, the tension between them still clung. Sage thought when he and Delphi did let go enough to get to know each other, things would get really interesting.
“Forget it. Anyway, the man I was dating sent me a text to tell me it was over as I was headed up the mountain. He couldn’t even do it in person. I just got it, so I’m still irritated. Jerk.” She sliced into her dinner with her fork. “Besides, I’m always cranky when I’m hungry.”
“Is that Rosemary’s problem too? She does look a little malnourished,” Harrison said.
Sage tossed a throw pillow at him. “Be nice.”
“Next time you show up for dinner here, I’m going to sprinkle your plate with rat poison,” Rosemary said, her eyes glittering angrily.
“Enough,” Lana said. “We’ve got our hands full with a resort to run and trying to pull off this wedding. Perhaps we should turn the discussion to that topic instead, since, despite the usual emotions that run high with wedding topics, it seems to be less incendiary than other options.”
“Talking of weddings—” Blake said, but grunted when Lana’s elbow hit his gut.
“No one wants your opinion.” She shot him an angry look. “You guys might as well all take off. Except Vince, if he wants in on the discussion.”
“That’s my cue to leave,” Joel said, standing.
“Mine too.” Vince kissed Cami goodbye.
“Give me a ride back to the hotel? I left my car there,” Blake asked Vince. All of the guys vacated within a minute, leaving the six sisters behind.
“You sure do know how to clear men out of the room,” Rosemary said to Lana.
“It’s a gift. Now, before we discuss weddings, give us the 411 on you and your biker back home,” Lana said to Delphi.
“He’s just a suit who likes to play biker on the weekends—he doesn’t even know that much about bikes, but we had fun together. He’s not that important, I’m just irritated that he was too much of a wuss to break it off to my face instead of via text message. Jerk. Why are almost all guys jerks, anyway?” She stabbed at the last bite of food on her plate.
“Almost all?” Rosemary asked. “I could swear we don’t need the qualifier—Vince excluded, of course,” she said to Cami.
“Almost all.” Delphi nodded in emphasis. Apparently tired of the topic, she turned to Cami. “Since Jeremy is going to be in the wedding party, he sent me an email with names of other photographers for your wedding. I’ll make calls tomorrow.”
That effectively changed the subject away from Delphi, who was obviously not going to talk anymore about the guy back home, and put the spotlight on Cami.
Not really needed in the conversation, Sage sat back and watched the others, pay
ing special attention to Delphi. She was hurt by her ex’s actions, but Sage didn’t think it was because she had a broken heart. Not over him, anyway. Which begged the question of which man Delphi thought of when she indicated not all guys were jerks. Was there someone in her life she wasn’t talking about?
As usual, Delphi withdrew inside herself, her barrier of aloofness every bit as effective in blocking her real feelings as Rosemary’s devil-may-care attitude. As neither was healthy, Sage couldn’t help her rising worry for both of them.
“Hey, long time, no see,” Harrison said as he came through the door into Sage’s office.
Sage smiled, happy to see her brother. “It’s only been a couple of days.” And between a busy work schedule and looking over her shoulder every minute, she had been a bit distracted.
“Yeah, but I thought maybe I’d actually see you once in a while now we’re working at the same place.”
True enough. She’d been excited to learn Harrison would be working at the resort with her. Life had a way of intercepting her good plans to spend time with him, though. “It has been crazy, but we’re together more than we used to be.”
“Staff meetings don’t count.” He reached over and gave one of her dark curls a tug. “What do you say we grab dinner and go back to my place, catch a flick or something?”
“That sounds good. Cami invited everyone to grab pizza tonight. We could eat with them—”
He lifted his hand to cut her off. “If everyone includes Rosemary, I’d as soon not, if you don’t mind. I don’t have the energy to deal with her tonight. We’ll grab some takeout. I’ll order from the bar here so we don’t have to stop anywhere else.” He paused. “I guess you can invite your friend.” He jerked his thumb in the direction of the security office.
Some almost-alone time with Harrison did sound good—they hadn’t done anything without a crowd of others around since coming to Colorado. It seemed like there was always someone—or several people—there when they got together. As quiet as Joel was being half the time, having him around was almost the same as being alone. “That sounds like fun. You finish at five?”
“Yes. I’ll order the food. I think I remember what you like.”
Sage dropped her voice conspiratorially. “I already know Mom wouldn’t approve.”
“What she doesn’t know won’t kill her. And no need to let her remind us that the food we eat could kill us.” He grinned and headed out the door. “I’ll swing back for you at five.”
She heard a sigh and caught sight of her assistant manager, Wendy, biting her lip as she watched Harrison walk away. Sage had heard some of the girls talk about hot guys working in the hotel, and Harrison’s name had come up several times. Though she’d considered teasing him about it, she decided he didn’t need the ego stroke.
Sage grinned and pulled out her phone to send Joel a note to make sure it was good with him if they went to Harrison’s that night. He had been on hyper alert, wanting to know every detail of her schedule when she wasn’t in the spa area. She wondered if she’d be allowed to drive herself anywhere ever again.
“So, you and the HR guy, huh? I totally didn’t see that coming,” Damon commented as he came to the computer terminal next to her door and looked up the schedule. “Have you known him long?”
“All my life.” Sage saw his brows furrow as he stared at the monitor and decided she didn’t need to fuel rumors. “He’s my brother.”
Damon’s head whipped toward her. “How come I didn’t know?”
“I guess it gets lost in the information shuffle and we haven’t exactly shouted it from the rooftops. There are a lot of twisted relationships in this place.” She hit send and put her phone back in her pocket, then looked over his shoulder to double-check her next appointment time.
He snorted in response. “Your dad sure wasn’t afraid of nepotism, was he?”
As always, the image of her father gave her mixed feelings. She missed him so much, wished he were still near to talk to. On the other hand, she still hadn’t managed to reconcile his warm and open heart with the fact that he’d kept all of his daughters a secret from each other for decades or that he had cheated repeatedly on his wife, not only the one time with her mother. From what she knew now, he hadn’t stopped after Jonquil was conceived either. “He was smart about it, though. He had a way of seeing where each of us belonged in his organization. I think it’s working out well.”
“It seems to be. Luckily for all of us,” Damon said with a grin.
Sage nodded, wondering, if her stalker was hanging around, was it really lucky after all?
Joel checked the monitor again and saw Sage talking with the guest as she worked on her feet and another woman applied some kind of facial mask or peel—he didn’t really understand what they did in there. He tried to focus on his work, but his eyes kept gravitating back to the screen. Sage laughed at something the guest said and her whole face lit up. It was an expression he didn’t see nearly often enough.
He turned back to his computer and sent off the email he had been fiddling with for the past ten minutes, then checked the folder with the duplicate of Sage’s emails. There hadn’t been any question that her stalker would try to contact her at her new job, so Joel had her email forwarded to himself as well as going to her. He would have preferred to vet them all, and send along only the ones that were business related. When he’d made the suggestion, she’d refused, saying she may need to be able to respond faster than he could get through her emails.
It turned out that Sage was right, but he still wanted to see everything coming in—even if she often read her copies first.
When his eye caught on an email from someone with the user name of ‘Future Husband,’ he froze for a moment, not breathing, not moving, just staring at the message. He clicked up to it and read through it.
Dearest Sage, it’s been a long time since I’ve been able to send you email. Have you missed my notes? I wish I could have been there when you opened my birthday gift. I lie awake at night thinking of what you must look like wearing it, the way it must cling to your curves. I dream of the day that we’ll be together and I’ll get to see it for real.
As I write this, I imagine your wild hair twisted up on your head like you wear it when you’ve reached the end of your day and it’s gone slightly frizzy. I love your curls, the way they spring when you walk, the way they frame your gypsy face, and the red and gold highlights in them when the sun flashes off the strands.
Sometimes I watch you come in to work, talking and laughing with one or more of your sisters. I’m glad you get along with them so well, though none of them are good enough for you. I can’t wait to get to know them, to become part of your family. Until then, know I think of you always. I’ll be in touch. Literally.
Your Future Husband
Joel looked down and realized his hands ached from being clenched. This had been sent nearly half an hour before, but Sage hadn’t checked her email during that time. If she had seen it, she would have contacted him—he hoped that was her first instinct.
He was tempted to remote into her computer at work and delete this email so she never had to see it. The compulsion was strong. He looked at the monitor again and saw Sage switch feet in her reflexology treatment. She would never know.
But he’d promised to be honest with her, and deleting the email without telling her about it would be something less. Joel remoted into her computer anyway, removing it from her inbox. She had a break after this appointment. If he hurried, he could catch her and tell her about the email. Hopefully knowing it existed would be enough. He didn’t want the disturbing images the email evoked to run through Sage’s head. It was bad enough it was in his.
He double checked the email in his duplicate account, found the IP address it had been sent from and hoped that it would be the key to finding the creep. He checked it and discovered it came from town. Dread shot through him and he checked their own IP address.
It had been sent from the hotel.
Joel ground his teeth. The stalker had sent the email from one of their own WiFi networks. Joel rubbed his eyes. There was no convention today, so that router was off, but it could have been sent from any of the guest rooms, the restaurant, public areas, pool—even the spa. He could spend hours studying video tapes of the time the email was sent, but WiFi had a tendency to not conform to the outline of rooms and a huge percentage of the hotel wasn’t covered by cameras.
Mick entered, whistling and checking something on his phone. “Hey, I wondered if I could take my break a bit early today. My date gets hers in half an hour.”
“That’s fine.” Joel rubbed his bald head and stood. “I’ll be in the spa, but I have my radio.”
“The spa is one of my favorite places around here,” Mick said with grin.
Joel nodded, though he didn’t see Mick as the massage type—what did he know?
Sage was still in the treatment room when Joel arrived. He waited for her to finish, impatience screaming through his veins. When she finally exited the room, she looked upbeat and happy. It made him wish he could keep it all from her so she could enjoy her good mood. “Hey, I need to speak with you for a few minutes,” he said, pushing away from the wall.
She smiled when she saw him. “Okay, I have a little time. Wendy, can you make sure the room is ready for the next guest?”
“Of course.”
Joel followed her into the office and shut the door, giving them some privacy, though there was a big window in the door, allowing her to keep an eye on everything in the reception area. Or in this case, preventing her from the kind of privacy he would have preferred. There was a set of blinds she could lower, but he’d never seen her use them. She took her seat behind the desk, but he stayed standing on the other side, ignoring the nearby chair.
“What’s going on?” Her smile was gone now as she read the seriousness on his face.
“I checked your email.” He didn’t know how to ease into it.
SEALed With Love (DiCarlo Brides book 2) (The DiCarlo Brides) Page 7