“He bought you a little time, but not much,” his eyes glint knowingly. He puts the mug back into my hand and walks towards the door. I’m staring at his back in shock. He is wearing a black t-shirt and dark jeans. Which seems to be his uniform. I’m not complaining. It showcases his ummm…assets.
“Hey, hey, hey! Never fear, Holt is here,” Holt says jovially as he comes in the door. It makes me chuckle. He seems to be the lighter brother to Sterling’s dark. He has a bag slung over his shoulder and Sterling has already gone out to the truck to grab another load.
Holt hands me a large pink bakery box. The scent of sugar, frosting, and freshly made donuts floats up to my nose. This is the second time he has shown up with food. Not the I’m complaining.
“Coffee,” I simply ask him. At his nod, I put the box down and grab him a mug. Filling it, I turn around to hand it to him.
“Thanks,” he states as he flips open the box and takes out a large donut that has a maple frosting and bacon sprinkled on top.
“Did you get these atSugar and Spice,” I ask him. His mouth is full of donut so he nods his head and swallows.
“Sure did, they have the best donuts,” he is already almost done with the first one and is reaching for the second. I’m amazed at his ability to eat so quickly.
“Dude, I’m not going to bring in all the bags, while you stuff your face. Let’s finish unloading and then we can eat,” Sterling says as he comes in loaded down with 4 boxes and another bag.
“There isn’t much left, asshole. I have been in the field all morning, not playing house like you,” Holt says sarcastically. I start to turn my head in embarrassment, but catch Holt winking at me. Setting down his coffee. He turns around and follows Sterling.
I watch them out the window, shoving each other and joking around. They should have their own comedy show. Millions of women would tune in to watch 2 good looking brothers bicker back and forth. I know I would. That would be high quality content.
Each one is making their way back with one more box. I open the door for them as they approach. They each duck their heads to make their way through the door and mutter a thanks. They set the rest of the boxes in the corner out of the way.
Sterling heads to the box of donuts and puts one on a paper plate. I assume he is getting himself taken care of when he turns around and hands me the plate. He needs to stop doing this. Shocking me speechless. “Eat,” he orders.
I raise an eyebrow at him, and want to argue. The second I open my mouth my stomach rumbles, effectively ending any argument that I will be making. Quickly, I turn around and headto the table. Holt is sitting at my computer, cycling through the dreaded e-mails. I feel my blood pressure tick up slightly at the thought.
“This asshole, needs to be taught a lesson,” Holt echoes Sterlings earlier statements. Sterling nods. “And you are sure that you have no clue who could be doing this,” he asks. For a second, I don’t realize he is speaking to me.
I swallow the bite of donut that quickly turned from enjoyable sugary goodness to sand in my mouth. “No, I really don’t. Honestly, I live a pretty low key life—I would go as far as to call it boring. I have a few friends, family a couple hours away, and a local business,” I explain.
Holt nods and Sterling presses on. “I understand, but we need you to think hard about this. Did you turn any business down? Cancel a contract? Does anyone owe you money? Did you have a date go bad in the last few months, get rid of a boyfriend,” he runs through the list.
I practically choke on my coffee. Taking control of the muscles in my throat, I focus on swallowing correctly.
“No, none of those things,” I say simply. And they are true. No need to go into the pathetic dating history, or lack thereof I may have. It wouldn’t take much time anyway.
Sterling is sitting next to me on the bench seat, Holt is across from us on the other side. I see both brothers look at each other. Each raises an eyebrow. Sterling huffs and shakes his head at Holt. Holt scowls and looks down at the laptop. It is almost like they are having a silent conversation with each other.
“So, the plan has changed a bit,” Sterling states. This direct statement is met with another nod from Holt.
“Changed how,” I question. It seems like he is waiting for a response, so I give it to him. This is where I would like to remind him that he said he would try talk to me about planning, but I don’t.
“Holt and I are going to outfit the house with the security cameras, change the locks, and shore up some areas. After that, you are going to pack a bag and come with us.”
The feminist part of me wants to argue with this plan. ISHOULDbe able to stay in my own home. ISHOULDN’Thave to be afraid. However, that wasn’t my reality right now. I wanted to throw a tantrum, but that wouldn’t do any of us any good. I just nodded and swallowed down my protests.
“We will leave my truck here, as a kind of decoy. Once I get your truck fixed we will swap out the vehicles,” he explains. Well, it seems they have it all figured out. I hear static in my ears start again and that tightness in my chest. Suddenly, I feel a hand cupping the back of my neck. It is rubbing soothing circles. I look up and see Sterling looking at me. I take a deep breath.
He is studying me. I quirk a brow. “Don’t worry, no more panic attacks today. One was enough,” I try to joke. His hand stills for a minute and my body is hot and cold at the same time. I have goosebumps on my arms. I’m glad I chose to wear long sleeves. I don’t need my reactions to him to be too obvious.
Holt clears his throat as a signal, causing Sterling to stand up. “You should organize your things. You will probably need enough for at least a few days. We can come back if you need to, but we want to throw them off,” he states.
After that, I’m left alone at the table. Wondering what the hell has happened to my life in 48 hours.
Chapter 20
Sterling
It took Holt and I most of the morning to install the cameras. Carter joined us and helped us wrap up the projects, by taking over the lock installation. He said a few quick words to Meg, and then got started.
