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“Would you like to ride with me and Archer?” Serena asks me as a black town car pulls up to the curb. “We can talk about details on the way.”
“Sure, I’d love that.”
I glance back as I follow Serena into the backseat, catching Connor’s eye, his face solemn as he watches us. I can’t tell what he’s thinking, what any of that was even about. But it feels like something’s changed between us, that the dynamic has shifted.
And though I’m not sure exactly what that means, a part of me is excited to find out.
Chapter Fourteen
Connor
Archer’s town car pulls away from the curb, Emma’s gaze holding mine until she’s too far to see. I texted Allen to pick me up here, but he’s stuck in traffic up the road.
“Is something going on with you two?”
I turn, Gabriel’s face serious for a change. “What?”
He motions toward the street where Archer, Serena, and Emma just departed from. “You and yourassistant.” He says the last word with air quotes, my brows narrowing.
“What are you implying?”
He ignores my hard tone, rolling his eyes. “That you’re obviously into her.”
My gaze flicks to Mackenzie, who’s studiously looking elsewhere. Are they both thinking it? “What makes you say that?”
He laughs, crossing his arms over his chest. “I haven’t heard you deny it.”
I mirror his posture, irritated at his insistence. “Seriously, why would you think there’s anything between us?”
“Your body language. You were standing awfully close together.”
I purse my lips, trying to remember our exact positions.
“And you two came in whispering to each other, all secretive.”
I huff out a breath, returning his eye roll. “I was preparing her for dealing with you lot. Look what you did first thing haranguing her about her eyes.”
“I still say that was weird. And the whole time you were talking to me and Archer when the girls were in the other room, you kept checking the doorway, then went to her immediately when she came back.”
I shrug, annoyed at how perceptive he is. “What, I can’t watch out for her? You’re all strangers to her. I wasn’t going to abandon her.”
“Why’d you even bring her?”
I motion down the street. “We were only a couple blocks away working. It would have been rude to up and leave her.”
“You mean rude to let her go home early so you could meet your family?”
Okay, so maybe I hadn’t wanted the day with her to end just yet. She’d seemed upset about whatever it was that happened with that interviewer. But if I’d known Gabriel would interrogate me like this, I wouldn’t have come at all.
“Can we drop it? She’s my assistant. End of story.”
He holds his hands up, signaling he’s done, but a smirk still lingers around his lips. “Thou doth protest too much.”
Mackenzie elbows him in the ribs. “He said leave it alone. You push him too far and he’s going to take away that maid he got for us. Thank you for that by the way.”
I nod, relief coursing through me as Allen finally pulls up to the curb, and I automatically go for the front passenger seat, leaving the backseat to them. I don’t need Gabriel questioning me anymore.
Is he only that perceptive because he’s my brother? Because he knows me? Or are my feelings for Emma obvious to everyone?