Eli walked over to Cara, one of the women on his landscaping team.From what Nick could gather from his vantage point, they were talking about a TV show they both watched.
Good Lord, Eli.Can’t you talk to Cara about Death Island tomorrow?
Nick’s phone buzzed again.
Claire: Well?
Nick quickly texted a message.
I would love to fuck you.Thanks for asking.Now how do we get everyone to leave?
I don’t know.
Is there a fire alarm you can pull???Maybe that’ll work.
Once again, Claire laughed.She then disappeared into the sanctuary.
Nick watched her go.His stomach growled, as if he hadn’t eaten in a day.Another message from her appeared on his screen.
Meet me in my office.Don’t be long.
Suddenly parched as well as hungry, Nick kept an eye on his phone, in case any other raunchy texts came through.In the meantime, he kept an eye on the others.Several team members began to file out.He loved his colleagues, but he’d never been so happy to see them go.
Michael finally emerged from the laundry room.“You on your way, Nick?I hear traffic’s bad tonight.”
“Yeah,” said Nick.“I’m just checking some alternate routes.I’ll see you tomorrow, bro.”
“Drive safely.”Michael waved to Eli and Cara and the others, and got into his truck.
By the time Eli meandered over to Nick, most of the others had gotten into their vehicles.
“You good to go?”asked Eli.“If you don’t want to fight the traffic, you can come with me.I could drop you off.One less car on the road.I’m sure Claire wouldn’t mind if you left your truck here for the night.”
Nick felt badly for mentally cursing out his brother for his long-windedness.“Nah, I’m good.Thanks, Eli.”
Eli paused before getting into his truck.His grin had slipped into shit-eating territory.“So…are you leaving?”
“Yeah.”
“Because you’re not moving.You seem to be, I don’t know, unwilling to clear out.”His mouth hung open in fake surprise.“Wait!Could it have something to do…with Claire?”
Nick glared.“Eli, go home.”
“If you want to wait out the traffic with someone, I’m happy to keep you company.”
“Bro, if you don’t leave right now, I’ll call Mom and tell her you’re annoying me.”
“That might have worked when we were kids, but it won’t work now.Besides, Mom knows I behave better than you do.”Eli landed a light punch on his shoulder.“Have a good night, Nick.Don’t stay up too late.Lacey doesn’t like dark circles on her star.”
Nick breathed a sigh of relief as his brother finally peeled away.He did a quick check of the parking lot, to make sure everyone else had gone, then headed into the sanctuary.He shoved his hand into his jeans pocket to make sure he hadn’t lost the two condoms he’d grabbed that morning.
It was important to be prepared, after all.
He reached Claire’s office and found the door closed, so he knocked.
“Is that you, Nick?”she called.
“Yeah.Can I come in?”
