“O’Reilly’s at that conference in Chicago. And Hutto’s on vacation. He moved it forward a week so he’d be in town next Tuesday for the meeting.” Phillip scrunched up his face. “Sorry, Cole. After the day you’ve had, I’m sure you don’t feel like working late.”
“Yes, I’m beat. I’d love to go home and fall into bed.”
“I’ll bet.” Phillip chuckled. “You newlyweds…”
Cole’s face warmed, and he bent his head, pretending to search for something in his bottom desk drawer. He should’ve expected this type of friendly ribbing, but he’d been caught unprepared. By tomorrow, he’d have some witty response, but nothing appropriate came to mind. “Thanks for letting me know about the meeting.”
Phillip took the hint and left him alone. He called Mack on his cell phone.
“Hey, Mack. I need you to pick up Brooke for me.”
“I know. I’m already on my way to Hayward Home.”
“Why?” His heart hammered against his ribs. Something bad must’ve happened.
“I’m going to rescue Brooke from the reporters. Isn’t that why you’re calling?”
“No, I just got hung up at work.” Why were they bothering her at her job? Cole had thought he had a gentlemen’s agreement with the press to leave her alone in exchange for the wedding images he’d shared. “I can’t believe they double-crossed me,” he muttered.
“Hayward Home invited them.” Mack’s voice conveyed his disapproval. “Brooke told me it’s a publicity stunt. She doesn’t want to participate, but she doesn’t really have a way to escape, either. That’s why she called me.”
“Why didn’t she call me, instead of you?”
He could picture Mack’s huge shoulders lifting in a shrug. “Maybe because this is my job, and we told her to call me if she had any problems.”
Mack was right, but it didn’t take away the sting of knowing she’d turned to another man for protection. Forget the economic development committee! “I’ll be there in fifteen minutes. Twenty, tops.”
“We’ll be gone by the time you get here,” said Mack. “You stay and get your work done, and let me do my job. I’ll make sure she gets home safe and gets something to eat.”
It could be nine o’clock or later by the time Cole made it home. He didn’t want her to be alone. But his gut twisted at the thought of her spending so much time with Mack.
“That’s a bit outside your pay grade, to be a babysitter. Do you think Andrea could stay with her until I get home?”
“You want Andrea instead of me? Are you afraid I’m going to flirt with your wife?”
“I didn’t say…” Cole sputtered. “I just thought Brooke would enjoy a woman’s company. And Andrea is certainly competent for the job.”
“Whatever you say.” Mack gave a snort of laughter. “For the record, not only would I never betray you, but Brooke doesn’t strike me as the cheating type, either.”
“Don’t worry. I trust both of you.”
He wasn’t lying. He had complete faith in both Mack and Brooke. Cheating wasn’t the issue. His greatest fear was she would compare him with another man and develop a sort of buyer’s remorse. His ego wouldn’t be able to handle that, even from a temporary wife.
“But how much overtime pay will you get?” Brooke tried to camouflage her question as curiosity, when, in fact, it was all part of her ongoing accounting efforts. Only her second day of marriage, and she’d already had to call Cole’s security team to rescue her. She could’ve blamed it on Hayward Home. But admittedly, Hayward wouldn’t have been pandering to the press if Cole hadn’t promised them an exorbitant amount of money to secure her job. That made the whole fiasco her responsibility.
Now one of Cole’s employees was wasting her time babysitting Brooke at the apartment. Nothing Brooke said had persuaded Andrea to leave before Cole arrived home. At least she’d agreed to sit down and share dinner.
“That’s not how it works,” said Andrea, as she pushed her empty plate away. “I’m paid to be on call. And this is about the easiest gig I could possibly draw… eating dinner with the boss’ wife inside his penthouse. The pack is going to be soooo jealous.”
“Are days like today pretty commonplace? Dealing with the press?”
“Not really. I’ve been on board for two years, and this is only the third time we’ve had problems with reporters.”
“Was last week one of the other two times?” Brooke asked, dreading the answer.
“Yes, although there’ve been other crazies to deal with.” Andrea closed her mouth tight, as if she were afraid she’d said too much. “Do you want some more chicken or veggies?”
Brooke looked down, surprised to find her plate empty. How had she been able to eat with all that was going on? She must’ve chewed and swallowed on autopilot.
“No, thanks,” she responded, standing to carry the plates to the kitchen.
While loading the dishwasher, her mind swam, searching for an answer to her dilemma. As she’d suspected, her presence in Cole’s life was causing more problems than he could’ve possibly predicted. And today, his sister, Mariah, had tracked down her work number to call and warn her that Cole’s parents were planning a surprise visit that weekend.
“Why are you telling me?” Brooke had asked. “Why not warn Cole?”
“Because Cole would probably leave town to avoid them. Heck, he’d probably leave the country. But I think I can convince you it would be better to get it over with.”
“Get what over with?”
“Letting Mom satisfy her curiosity about you.”
“Cole doesn’t like having his mother interfere.”
“She’s not interfering… not really. She just loves him and wants to be part of his life. But she wants to be more involved. Cole’s always shutting her out. In fact, he shuts his whole family out—including me.”
“What do you expect me to do?” Brooke had asked. “I don’t have any say in his decisions. We aren’t even going to be together that long.”
