Page 8 of Nothing to This (Nothing to… #8)
Lunch was good, the food anyway. Brenna had dozens of questions, most of which couldn’t be answered while the kids shared their table. Though the topic wasn’t completely embargoed. The little ones filled in a lot of details for their aunt, talking about having Daddy at the apartment.
The twins spoke about dinner, about him staying over, and about him moving in, which raised Brenna’s brow.
Normally, Brenna didn’t walk her all the way back to work or return the kids to daycare with her. On that day, she did.
“You’re coming back to work with me?” she asked en route to the elevator.
Brenna linked their arms again. “Let’s go get a coffee. Tell your boss there was a family emergency or something. It is Friday after all.”
She pressed the elevator call button. “Because we all know there’s more chance of having emergencies on a Friday.”
Brenna shrugged. “Sure.”
“I can’t,” she said, watching the numbers descend. “My only family is our children. If I tell JD there’s a family emergency, he’ll buy a hospital and maybe… a police department or something.”
Brenna laughed. “Sounds like my brother.”
“And that’s another reason. My new boss is your brother. We’re trying to hide our association. If he lets me cut out early, people will ask questions.”
“He’s like your top floor boss. I don’t think top floor bosses know what goes on in marketing.”
True. “They don’t,” she said, dreading the reveal of that day’s development. “But your brother usurped me.”
“Sounds kinky.”
“I’m working as his executive assistant now. So, it’s to his desk I go, not marketing.”
The doors opened. As always, she kissed her friend. Instead of accepting the kiss, Brenna bundled her forward into the elevator and selected the top floor.
“What are you doing?”
“You know my brother hasn’t really had a home all his adult life. You’re lucky if he makes half of his visitations with the kids.”
“We’re slating him now?”
“No, not slating him, praising him. His slick move gives me an advantage too. I’ve never met any of his haughty top floor friends. That means I can parade around up there making his life miserable and, unless he wants to blow your cover, he can’t tell me not to.”
“He could tell me it’s a security breach to have my friends around the office.”
“Yeah, but he won’t,” Brenna said, squeezing her arm. “He loves us too much… and I’ll tell Mom… oh, and his children. I’ll tell his children. Don’t forget them. He might think they idolize him, but they love Auntie Brenna more. If I tell them their father upset me, whoa!”
Brenna could always relax her. “Okay, you can come snoop around.”
“And have a real conversation,” Brenna said. “Tell me, if he’s staying with you and this is his weekend with the kids, how does that work? Does Baxter know?”
“I’ll take them to your mom’s.”
“Even though he’s living with you?” Brenna’s incredulity opened her mouth except, yeah, she had nothing. “What does Baxter think about your ex living with you?”
Sliding a hand up the strap of her purse, she avoided eye contact. “I’m seeing him tonight.”
“So he doesn’t know?”
“Since when do you care about my boyfriend’s opinions?” she said, twisting to smile like it was a tease. “Besides, I wouldn’t exactly call JD an ex.”
“Meaning he’s a… current?” Brenna asked and gasped, tugging on her arm. “Did you have sex with him last night?” She gasped again. “Are you ovulating?”
The constant questioning and childlike enthusiasm were hilarious. “Geez, Bren, the guy knocked me up once. You think either of us would make the same mistake twice?”
“Uh, have you forgotten that your kids are delightful? I think you should have more… Would you have more?”
“Kids? Are you and Lotta still talking about it?”
“I don’t know, kinda,” Brenna said. “But don’t change the subject.” The elevator pinged and the doors opened. Out they went, through the bullpen and up the stairs. “Why not stay at Baxter’s apartment this weekend? Leave Jamie alone with the kids at yours.”
Troublemaker. Brenna would relish putting her brother in any stressful position.
“Your mom will swoop in and help him, you know that.”
“Not if I tell her it’s prep for a newborn.”
“A newborn?”
“Sure, he’ll have to prove he can handle two four-year-olds before we let him use your uterus again.”
Another laugh. She guided Brenna to the desk, propping her on the end while she retrieved a chair. When she brought it back, she put it at the end of the desk and steered Brenna down into it.
“He doesn’t want to use my uterus again,” she said. “Let’s talk about your uterus.”
“No, let’s talk about what you’re going to do this weekend,” Brenna said, watching her switch on her laptop and check what had materialized on her desk since she left. “Go to Baxter’s, screw his brains out, break the news about Jamie gently, and leave my brother to drown in SpaghettiOs.”
She returned to filling in the forms she hadn’t finished before. “My children don’t eat SpaghettiOs.”
“All kids eat them,” Brenna said, picking up a document from her in-tray. “You just aren’t nice enough to give them to your children. Bet my brother has enough money to buy the whole factory. He could buy the twins all the SpaghettiOs in the world.”
“Why are we talking about SpaghettiOs?”
“Because you don’t want to talk about your uterus, or your boyfriend, and you haven’t brought me coffee.”
Pushing the papers aside, she rose. “I’ll get coffee providing there’s no more talk of my uterus or my boyfriend.”
Leaving her friend at the desk perusing papers, she went downstairs to the coffee room—one of the first places she’d sought that morning. As long as there was coffee, she’d get through the day.
***
JD came out of an office at the end of the mezzanine, his mind full of a thousand thoughts. Most of them faded when he noticed his sister sitting alone at the end of Rylee’s desk, looking through official work product.
“Are you lost, Nana?” he asked, plucking the papers from her hands to drop them into Rylee’s in-tray.
Bouncing up from the chair, she shoved him toward the office. “No, Jame, go inside, I want to see your fancy office.”
He went inside and straight to his desk. “What are you doing up here?”
His sister was still wandering around exploring when he sat down. “How come you never told Mom and me about this decision to move here?”
“I got the opportunity to buy this company and I took it. The decision to make this my base came later…”
“You still could’ve called us. We could’ve got you apartment listings and made sure you had a home straight away.”
“I was fine in the hotel,” he said. “I thought I’d be fine… Did Rylee say something?”
“No,” Brenna said, sauntering toward the desk. “But those kids will break their hearts if you leave them.” Inhaling, she came around and boosted herself to sit on the desk. “Are you going to seduce her?”
Didn’t take her long to get to the point. Provoking a reaction or objection was exactly what she wanted.
He played dumb. “Who?”
Brenna gave his shoulder a shove. The juxtaposition jarred. Before that day, had anyone been so informal with him in the office? All it took was two women, two women unintimidated by him, probably unintimidated by anyone, and his balance was shaken.
“Rylee,” she drawled.
“Why? You worried I might be your competition?”
Brenna leaned back, resting her weight on her hands.
“Oh, I would eat that woman’s pussy in a heartbeat,” she said.
His smile was knee-jerk. “She knows it too. It’s no secret, even my girlfriend knows it.
I’ve tried to take advantage of the mother of your children plenty of times.
I’ve got her drunk, tried to feel her up—”
“Okay, Bren,” he said, pulling himself into the desk.
Sighing, she swung her legs. “Yeah, I’m jealous actually.
You’ve got the penis, so you get the babe.
It’s kind of unfair because I’m so much more compatible with her than you.
” Allowing her mischief to continue, he retrieved his contracts to keep reading.
“You want to be a good brother and tell me about that?”
“Tell you about what, Nana?”
“Eating her pussy.”
The words ceased to have meaning. Slowly, his eyes rose to his grinning sister. He didn’t get a chance to speak before the office door opened and Rylee came in.