"I'm already on my way out to my car. I'll be there in five minutes."
I shut my mouth. While part of me hated that I was interrupting his workday with this drama, the rest of me was relieved and happy that he was willing to drop whatever he was doing to ride to my rescue.
"I love you, Cam."
"Love you, too."
He disconnected and I lowered the phone, staring at it.
I hadn't expected Brody to stop whatever he was doing and show up immediately. I figured he'd come by at lunch or later tonight, but not right this moment.
I couldn't recall any of my boyfriends doing that before. Or maybe I'd just never bothered to call them because I knew I couldn't count on them.
I glanced up when a movement in the front window caught my attention. I saw a tall, lean man across the street, standing in front of a grey sedan. When he saw me looking, he nodded his head.
Hmmm. I was betting that was the private investigator Brody hired. I wondered why he was still following Monica. I thought that he'd only asked him to keep an eye on Monica while Jacks was with her.
I nodded back and saw the quick flash of his teeth as he grinned at me. Since Brody was on his way, I want back into the kitchen and washed my hands and arms up to my elbows. I'd been wearing gloves but I still smelled like bleach.
When I reached up to brush my hair out of my face, I realized it was a bird's nest on my head. Crap.
I ran back into my office, where I had a mirror on the wall, and took a moment to release my hair, brush it, and smooth it back into a ponytail. I blotted my face with a tissue and then added a little pressed powder. Sadly, there was nothing else I could do at the moment to improve my appearance.
It was just as well because I heard Brody knock on the back door. I hurried down the hall to the kitchen and lifted my eye to the peephole. Dad had insisted on having it installed when I started the business. At the time, I'd thought he was being overprotective, but today I had a whole new appreciation for it.
Brody's angry face stared back at me.
I unlocked the door and threw it open. In the next breath, he was inside with his arms around me. The door swung shut behind him, locking automatically. Another feature Dad was adamant I have and that I'd cursed on occasion. But today I was glad for it.
"You okay?" Brody asked, releasing me so he could lean back and look at me.
"I'm fine," I assured him. "I was upset while she was here, but now I hope she slithers back under a rock."
"Slithers?" he asked, his lips twitching.
"Well, she did remind me a little of a snake getting ready to strike."
Brody shook his head. "What did she say?"
"Ugh. Do I have to repeat it?" I asked.
"Absolutely."
I sighed. "Well, first, she tried to convince me that you were getting back together and that my continued presence in Jacks' life would only confuse her. Then she offered me a hundred thousand dollars. When I told her that the two of you were worth more than that to me, she offered me a quarter of a million dollars. After I turned that down, she threatened me with vague and nefarious deeds."
"Nefarious?" Brody asked. The muscles in his jaw ticked and I could hear his molars grinding.
"Evil, bad, malicious. Don't you read?" I teased, trying to lighten the mood. It wouldn't help matters in the least if he got upset and went off on his ex.
"And then?"
"I told her that I hoped she didn't fall into a lake because I wanted a chance to push her in myself."
And that did the trick. Brody stared at me as though I had three heads. "You said that?"
"Yeah. It's difficult to tell what her exact expression was but the best I could tell, she appeared severely constipated."
Brody chuckled. "I bet she had no idea what to say to that. Monica isn't used to hearing the word 'no'."
