by Ashlyn Chase
“I’m working, Darryl.”
“I’ll be quick. I know I left without much of a good-bye, but that’s because I thought ripping off the Band-Aid would be easier.”
Yeah, for you.
“But that was a mistake,” he continued, heedless of her need to wait on tables. “I want you to come to Switzerland with me.” He held his arms out to her as if she should jump into them and let him carry her away to a better life.
Oddly enough, a few weeks ago, she’d have done just that.
“Things have changed a bit since you’ve been gone, Darryl. Why don’t you have a seat and when I’m not so busy, I’ll fill you in.”
He frowned and let his arms drop.
Brandee made her way to the table and said, “What can I get for you?”
“It’s about time,” the female half of the couple answered.
Brandee was about to apologize when a tap on her shoulder interrupted her train of thought. She pivoted. Darryl stood right behind her, arms crossed.
“I don’t think you heard me,” he said.
This time the male customer spoke. “Lady, can you fight with your boyfriend on your own time? We’re dying of thirst here.”
She returned her attention to the table. “He’s not my boyfriend, and I’m sorry about the wait. What would you like?”
“What kind of imported beers do you have?”
“I’ll get you a list.”
Darryl followed her to the bar. “We need to talk.”
She grabbed the wine and beer menu and returned to the couple without answering or even looking at him.
“Damn it, Brandee. This isn’t the way I pictured it.”
No shit. You thought you’d be greeted like a returning hero, you vain asshole.
She handed the menu to the couple and said, “I’ll be right back.”
“I’d rather you wait,” the female customer said. “Who knows when you’ll make it back here.”
Brandee bit her tongue and stood there, hoping Darryl would find a place to sit and leave her alone until she could talk—before she stuffed a wet rag in his mouth.
At last she had the couple’s orders and took them to Kathie. Brandee lingered, rather than walk away, since there were only two bottles to be opened.
Again, Darryl approached her. This time his smile was back in place. “I missed you, baby. I know you must have missed me too and you’re probably mad, but I’m back now and I’m ready to work it out.”
Brandee rolled her eyes. “I didn’t have time to miss you. I have a new boyfriend. He asked me out about five minutes after you dumped me.”
The first opened beer landed on her tray, soon followed by the other.
Darryl laughed. “There’s no way that’s true.”
She tried to maneuver around him. He grabbed her arm and the beers toppled over, hitting the floor with a smash. Beer flew everywhere, hitting her legs as well as a customer’s pant leg.
“Oh, I’m sorry!” she said to the customer and grabbed a handful of napkins for him.
Darryl made a sound of disgust and walked away. “I’ll wait over there.” He pointed in some direction, but Brandee didn’t see which one and didn’t give much of a damn.
She cleaned up the mess and carried the couple’s two new beers to them carefully. She hadn’t dropped a drink in over a year. Now her record was sullied, thanks to dumbass Darryl. How could she ever have thought he was Mr. Possible?
Brandee was relieved when Nick showed up fifteen minutes later. He strolled over, gave her a meaningful smile, and asked, “How is everything, beautiful?”
She threw her arms around Nick’s neck and kissed him full on the mouth. He happily returned the enthusiastic greeting.
When she stepped away, she slapped Darryl up the backside of his head and said, “See? I told you he was real.”
Darryl rose to his full five-foot-ten height and looked up at Nick…waaaay up. Apparently he decided he was no match for the six-foot-three, broad-shouldered, good-looking guy, so he tossed a dollar on the table and quickly walked out the front door.
Nick eyed the dollar. “Big tipper,” he said with a smirk. “Why didn’t he believe I was real?”
“Long story. I’ll tell you later tonight.”
“Speaking of which, I may have to meet you at your place. I have a couple of things to get out of the way first, and those will probably take me until past closing.”
“Okay. I’ll see you whenever you get there.”
Nick scanned the bar and lowered his voice. “Where’s Angie?”
“Home, I think. I haven’t had a chance to call her yet.”
“Good. Sly told me what he told her, and you should know so you can play along.”
“Okay.”
“She and Claudia think Anthony gave her a couple of days off because she had been working so hard and deserved it.”
“I guess that will explain why she went to Star Island. Maybe she thinks it was a mini-vacation instead of a freak-out retreat.”
“Probably. If Anthony needs to reinforce anything later, let him know.”
“I will. I guess I’ll have to wing it in the meantime.”
Nick cupped her cheek. “That’s my girl.” He leaned down and gave her a quick kiss before heading out the back.
***
Brandee dragged herself upstairs to her apartment that evening, totally exhausted. She suspected it was more emotional than physical. Talk about bizarre days.
When she opened her door, she was hit with the most amazing cinnamon aroma. Yippee! Angie’s been baking.
She entered the kitchen just as Angie pulled something out of the oven. It looked as good as it smelled.
“What did you make?”
“Bread pudding. Want a piece?”
“Thanks! I had a crazy day. I can use a bit of comfort food.” Brandee was grateful that Angie always cooked with lactose-free ingredients so she could share nummy things with her.
“That bad, huh? I’m glad I had the day off, but if you needed me you could have called.”
“Nah, the new part-time bartender was happy to have the hours. I was just a little overwhelmed mentally. Guess who showed up?”
Angie said, “Wait, don’t tell me. Brad Pitt, and you’re overwhelmed from crawling after him, starstruck, trying to lick his shoes.”
Brandee would have laughed, but it took too much energy. “No. Almost as unbelievable, though. Darryl.”
“Darryl? The guy who wasn’t into you enough to continue your relationship long distance?”
“That’s the one.”
Angie cursed. “Someone buzzed the intercom and asked for you. If I’d known it was him, I’d have said you moved to Hawaii. What did the douche bag want?”
“Me. He said it was all a big mistake and he wanted me to move to Switzerland with him.”
“Ha. I hope you sent him packing—literally.”
“Even better. Nick showed up.” Brandee touched her lips and smiled.
“And?”
“Darryl took one look at his replacement and ran.”
“Poor baby.” Angie chuckled. “I know I wasn’t always supportive of Nick, but I see how he treats you, and believe me, you upgraded quite a bit.”
“Thanks. I agree.”
“Did you ever find out why he quit the police force and became a PI?”
“Uh, yeah. It had something to do with his identical twin being accused of some high-profile art theft. Even though his brother was acquitted, there was still suspicion hanging over his head like a big black cloud.”
“Is that because of the twin thing? Did people see his brother’s picture in the paper and think it was him?”
“Yeah, partly, and because the thieves wore Boston Police uniforms to get past the security guards, some people
still think he was involved somehow. By the way, he’s coming over sometime tonight. Don’t bring it up, okay? I don’t think he likes to talk about it.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll be cool. Speaking of cool…” She pointed to the bread pudding. “I’ll cut up this bad boy while it’s still warm. Would you like a scoop of lactose-free ice cream on it?”
“That’s really sweet of you. Thanks.”
Brandee was ravenous and the bread pudding was incredible, so she savored a piece. “Oh, Ange, that’s like the Fourth of July in my mouth!”
Angie chuckled. “Eat up. I made way more than we need.”
Half an hour later, Brandee was starting on another piece while waiting for Nick. When the door buzzed, her mouth was full, so she just pushed the button to let him in without using the intercom.
She waited for the knock on her door and opened it without looking through the peephole, confident that it was Nick. To her surprise, in walked Darryl.
“You didn’t ask who it was. How did you know it was me and not some rapist?”
Brandee nearly choked. When she could speak, she said, “I thought you were my boyfriend.”
He set his hands on his hips. “And I thought you were my girlfriend. How could you just throw away a year with me for a couple weeks with some big, blond, hairy ape?”
“Ape? You don’t even know him.” Her stomach growled and roiled. She clapped a hand over her rounded abdomen. “Oh crap.” I know these symptoms. She had an awful feeling there might have been some kind of milk in the bread pudding. She could already feel the bloat beginning to distend her stomach.
Darryl stepped back and eyed her belly. “Shit.” He pointed to it. “Is that from us?”
He thinks I’m pregnant! Brandee was about to rip him a new one, but when she opened her mouth to speak, she burped instead. “Oh, my Pepto…”
“Uh, yeah. Never mind, Brandee. You have a new guy in your life now. He can deal with your—problems.” Darryl turned on his heel and practically ran out the door. His footsteps pattered quickly down the stairs.
What an ass. Nick would never do that.
She thanked her lucky stars that she found true love before settling for—for what? She realized she didn’t even like Darryl. Why on earth did she think she might have a future with him? Was avoiding loneliness more important than learning what love really was, even if it took a while? Talk about a close call!
Brandee didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She opted for running to the bathroom when she felt the inevitable about to happen.
As soon as she was seated on the throne, she yelled, “Angie!”
A few seconds later, Angie answered through the door. “What’s the matter?”
“Did you use milk in the bread pudding?”
“What? Of course not, I know better than to…”
Brandee couldn’t hold it in without immense pain, so she let out a loud burp.
“Oops. Let me check.”
***
As Nick rounded the corner onto Charles Street, he thought he saw Brandee’s ex-boyfriend fleeing from her apartment. He chuckled to himself, wondering what his little spitfire had said to scare the guy off like that. He could hardly wait to find out.
He jogged the rest of the way to her apartment, opened the outer door, and hit the intercom buzzer. He waited a while before Angie finally answered it.
“Nick? Is that you?”
“Yeah. Brandee’s expecting me.”
“I know, but she’s a little, um…under the weather at the moment.”
She looked fine at the bar. I hope she isn’t crying over that asshole. “All the more reason to let me in. Whatever it is, I can help take care of her.”
“I don’t think she’d want you to do that right now.”
“Angie,” he said in a controlled tone, but one he hoped broached no argument, “open this door and let me in.”
“Or what? You’ll huff and you’ll puff and blow our four-story brick building down?”
Nick almost gasped. Did she still know he was a wolf? Was she protecting her roommate from him? A growl escaped.
He pressed the intercom again. “Angie. Let me in. I mean it.”
“Oh, all right, but you’re going to wish I hadn’t.”
What the hell could be wrong with her? He yanked the door open when the unlocking mechanism buzzed and took the stairs two at a time. He arrived at the second floor before Angie had a chance to change her mind. He pounded on the door a little harder than he meant to.
Angie opened it with the chain still linked across. “Jeez, calm down. She’s not dying or anything.”
He balled his fists. “Angie, let me in. I need to see her.”
“You can’t. She’s in the bathroom, and you really don’t want to go in there.” She lowered her voice and spoke behind her hand. “Not without a gas mask.”
Nick’s eyebrows shot up. All of this because of a little gas? He gentled his approach. “Just let me talk to her through the door.”
Angie sighed and closed the door enough to remove the chain. “Fine. But I guarantee she’ll be embarrassed. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Nick stalked to the bathroom and stopped just short of the door. “Brandee, honey? Are you okay in there?”
“Nick?”
“Yes. Angie said you were feeling ill. I need to be sure you’re all right.”
“Yeah, I’m just…indisposed at the moment.”
Her voice sounded okay. At least she didn’t seem shaken up.
“I can wait,” he called.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Why not?” He glanced over his shoulder and saw Angie coming up behind him.
“She’s lactose intolerant, and I accidentally used the regular milk instead of the lactose-free stuff in my bread pudding. The recipe called for four cups and she had two pieces.”
“Oh.” He chuckled. “Christ, you had me worried. I thought she was really sick.” Is that why her ex-boyfriend ran off? Afraid of a little gastric distress?
“Sweetheart,” he called through the door. “Don’t worry about me being put off. I love you no matter what. You believe that, don’t you?”
After a brief pause, Brandee answered. “Yeah, but I don’t want to ruin the romance right away. I’m not feeling very sexy.”
“I don’t expect you to feel sexy all the time.”
He heard a soft sigh on the other side of the door. Then she called out, “Go into the living room and get comfortable. I’ll be out as soon as I can.” Her sentence was punctuated by a long, muffled burp.
“Hey, Brandee?”
“Yeah?”
“You’re adorable.”
***
After a large dose of Pepto and a few more good burps, Brandee hoped her symptoms were under control. She pattered out of the bathroom and curled up on the sofa next to Nick. He looped his arm around her shoulder.
“Hey, you. Feeling better?”
“I might still need to jump up and run to the bathroom in a hurry, but I’ll live.”
“I’m very glad to hear that.”
Nick leaned in for a kiss and she gave him a quick one. Burping during a kiss was about the least sexy thing she could imagine. Now, to change the subject. “How’s Katie?”
“She’s getting antsy being indoors all the time. She has a tutor so she won’t fall behind at school, but she misses her friends.”
“I can imagine. Her parents won’t even let me take her to the mall. Are you getting any closer to catching the culprit?”
“Yes. I can’t tell you any more than that right now.” He shot a meaningful look her way, and she figured it had something to do with Angie possibly overhearing the conversation.
He looped her hair around his finger. “So, what did you say to make your
ex-boyfriend run out of here like his heels were on fire?”
“I didn’t get a chance to say anything. He saw my bloated belly and assumed I was pregnant.”
Nick swore. “And he took off? Left you to fend for yourself and an unborn child?”
She nodded. Nick wouldn’t run from responsibility like that. He’s too honorable and would probably propose marriage on the spot.
Nick smiled. “For what it’s worth, I’d be thrilled if I found out you were carrying our baby.”
Whoa.
It was better if she changed the subject back to something safe—even if it was gross. “I can’t believe you waited this long for me. I must have been in the bathroom for half an hour.”
He swept her hair behind her shoulder. “You’re worth waiting for. Besides, if we’re going to live together, I can’t let a little upset tummy get between us.”
Wow. He really is in it for the long haul. She couldn’t believe her luck. Before she could make a terrible mistake, a truly devoted guy had shown up and swept her off her feet, and now he wanted to make a life with her. The idea was thrilling, but going all-in so soon still felt like a big risk. Caution tamped down her momentary excitement.
She chuckled. “You might want to slow down, cowboy. Even though I’m glad you know what’s wrong with me, and it doesn’t seem to faze you.”
“Of course not. And why wait? I know you’re the one, sweetheart.”
But am I sure you’re the one? Everything had moved so fast. Brandee could feel their relationship deepening. However, only a few weeks ago, he was still One-Night Nick, and she would never have guessed him capable of living with any woman, never mind her. Anyone would say she was nuts for considering it. Still, she wasn’t like most people.
Brandee knew she had her issues, like anyone else, but she was worthy of a loving relationship. In that department, she hadn’t had much luck. Of course, she didn’t have Nick before. Comparing him to any of her past boyfriends, Darryl included, made her very glad none of them had worked out.
She lowered her voice again. “I haven’t mentioned it to Angie yet, and now is not the time.”
“When, then?”
“It would be ideal if she had a boyfriend too, or at least another roommate.”