“Well?” Brent asked, breaking the silence.
“Cole could have told her any of those things about me,” Miranda stated, sniffing.
“Ah, but he didn’t. He wouldn’t have mentioned you to her,” Brent stated matter of fact.
I looked at Cole. His eyes were so intense on me that I actually stepped back.
“Why wouldn’t he?” Miranda’s eyebrows pinched together, looking back and forth between Cole and Brent.
But, everyone ignored her. They were all watching me.
Brent asked, “What about you, Mr. Fresby? Was she correct?”
“Have you been digging into our past?” Mr. Fresby asked me directly, ignoring Brent’s question, but still answering it nonetheless.
“No, sir.” I shook my head.
“I’ll pay you twice as much as Lion Security, if you come and work for me,” he offered, completely serious.
“Now, wait a second…” Brent started, but I cut him off.
“But you’ll go as high as three and a half times my current pay,” I murmured, a small smile on my lips. I kinda liked this guy.
His lips twitched. “Yes.”
I shrugged and patted his arm. He didn’t seem surprised or back away. “Sorry, sir. I’m happy where I am.”
“Too bad,” he stated, almost smiling and straitening his cuffs, his voice holding sincerity. He glanced around at the crew, and then back at me. “Well, if I were your age and a female, I wouldn’t leave this group to come and work for me either.” He did smile then. Humor glittering his grey eyes. Thaw officially complete. Took long enough.
“Yeah, there not half bad to look at,” I joked. Everyone was watching us like they had been hit in the forehead with a large rock. Kinda stunned and leaning back on their heels.
“How did you know my wife had passed?” He motioned for us to go outside.
I tapped his pinky ring. It was a female’s wedding band, soldered to a man’s wedding band. The female’s portion had an itty bitty piece of glass in it instead of a diamond, speaking of poverty. Simple and old, but cleaned up. He must have gained some weight because it looked tight, but he still hadn’t removed it and was too busy to have it resized. True love that had been snuffed out too early.
“Ah, yes,” he whispered as we walked through sliding door, touching it gently.
I placed a hand on arm. “She must have been something special to land a man like you.” I wanted to make him feel better. What I had said had been harsh. The truth, but still hard to hear so bluntly.
He smiled great big, a little southern coming out of him. Everyone still wore that same expression on their faces as they followed us outside. Where a limo sat. An extremely massive limo.
“I didn’t catch your name, dear,” he asked opening the door for me and taking my duffle. He handed it off to the chauffer, who grabbed it and started loading luggage into the trunk.
My mouth slammed shut. I bent down and hopped inside. Yeah, I didn’t want to tell him my name. So, I moved through the limo and sat down on a seat facing sideways. He followed sitting across from me and I suddenly found everyone entering very interesting. Watching them and avoiding him.
Cole entered first, his height making it a chore to move with the lower ceiling. Brent entered next while Cole crossed toward me. Brent, a few inches shorter, navigate easier and moved quickly, but his feet seemed to tangle with each other, and he bumped Cole right as he went to sit next to me. Cole stumbled forward, having to put a quick hand on the glass partition for balance so he didn’t crash into it. He shot Brent a heated glare as he spun around.
Brent sat down where Cole had previously chosen. His face was sincere as he stated, “Sorry about that. I tripped.”
Cole’s glare only changed when he scanned the interior. He smirked and picked up my purse from beside me, tossing it in my lap and went to sit in its now unoccupied spot. Where there was hardly any space at all. I wouldn’t even fit between me and the divider.
He was about to sit half on top of me when Brent growled and scooted over, tugging me along and making room for Cole. Brent immediately placed his arm around the back of the long seat, behind my head. Cole decided to widen his leg room, resting one of his legs against mine. Both turned their heads toward me.
Wait. Not me.
They were staring at one another over my head, both sets of eyes aware and warning. Words were being spoken without voice.
I glanced back and forth between them.
