“This is a nice place, Sophia.” Brayden’s low voice comes through the door. “You been here long?”
“Five years,” she says proudly. “Let’s see, how did I find this place? I think it was that guy, Daryl, who I was dating for a while. Well, I wouldn’t say dating; I would probably say screwing, you know?”
Sophia giggles, and I hear her flirt button click on even higher. As if telling Brayden how gorgeous he is wasn’t enough.Good Lord.Why did I not remember what time this wedding was?
Her flirting distracts me so much that I give up on makeup and step into my dress. I zip it up as best I can, but it’s just not possible. So I pull my hair up into a twist like I practiced last night, give myself one last brush of rouge and lipstick, and step out of the bathroom and into my heels that are waiting for me right outside the door.
By the time I get them on and look up, Sophia and Brayden are sitting in silence and watching me. Sophia’s smiling as I walk over to Brayden nervously.
“Hi,” I say. “Sorry I’m late.”
“You’re not late,” he says as he stands up. “I was early.”
I stare at his beautiful dark suit and blue tie that matches his sapphire eyes so perfectly. His hair’s combed and styled, and his expression is filled with desire. My breath catches in my throat, so much so that I can’t speak for a moment.
“Your zipper, Lei,” Sophia says for me. “You need help?”
I nod and she turns to Brayden, who also seems to have lost his breath. “Brayden, you want to help Leleila with her zipper?”
Brayden steps behind me. When I feel his hands on my back, I shiver and catch Sophia’s eye. She raises her eyebrows at me. Brayden struggles with the zipper at first, and his hand slips, but then he gets it and zips up the back.
“Thank you,” I say to him as he comes around to face me again.
“You look beautiful,” he says to me.
I smile and grab my fancy purse off the couch. “Have fun tonight,” I say to Sophia.
“I will. Don’t you worry.” She walks us to the door. “You have the key, Lei. If you come back here, that is.”
I shut the door on her laughter and look at Brayden as we walk together toward his truck.
“So do you,” I say as he opens the passenger door for me and helps me step up onto the cab.
“What?” he says to me.
“So do you look beautiful.” I bite my lip.
He steps up onto the cab and kisses my cheek. “Thank you.”
During the drive, Brayden’s cell phone rings.
He talks for a couple of minutes and then hands the phone to me. “It’s an officer from the PD in town,” he says.
I take the phone and say hello. The voice on the other end identifies himself as Officer Hayden, who says he sent a team to the ranch this afternoon.
“It was everything Mr. Wild described,” he says. “And it’s darn illegal I can tell you that. The owners of the property never even knew what was going on; it looks like it was a few of his rogue workmen who set the whole thing up. One of them works two jobs. He was asked to dispose of the container for a wire manufacturing company, and he was to pay the fee and then be reimbursed. Well, he went to find out what the fee was, then told some lie to his company in order to get the reimbursement check anyway, and went and buried the darn container for free.”
“Wow,” I say.
“He said he didn’t think any contaminants would spread when the container was sealed. Of course, there are leaks all through the thing. Our environmental specialist says the darn toxins have been leeching in that soil for weeks.”
“That’s what I was afraid of.”
“But we’ve got a team together. They’ll begin the process of removing the contaminated soil and then containing the rest to make certain there’ll be no more seeping of toxins. The cattle will all be tested as well in case any of them ate from that part of the field. The good news? It doesn’t look like it reached the reservoir. We have a group of experts coming out to run more conclusive tests, but I think the town is safe. But thank God you two followed up on this. You’ll get a lot of press for this one, and well you should. Can you come into the station now?”
I look over at Brayden. “Sure. We have a few minutes.”
* * *
