Chapter Sixteen
Scarlett
Briggs is handsome and charming…and not Wade.
There are warning bells going off in my mind even as I think it. I cannot be thinking of Wade, comparing all my dates to him. The man thinks of me like a little sister. I absolutely cannot be catching feelings for Wade. It could only ever be one-sided.
But as Briggs reaches across the table to squeeze my hand, I get none of the butterflies I have when Wade touches me.
“Thank you for coming to dinner with me,” Briggs says as he squeezes my hand. “I’m looking forward to getting to know you better.”
He releases my hand quickly, making it not creepy but rather a sweet contact.
We order dinner and spend a few minutes on small talk. This is the part of dates I like the least. You don’t really get to know anyone by chatting about the weather. Let’s talk about the fall of Rome. Then you can really learn something about a person.
“How long have you been working in the courthouse?” Briggs asks me as he adjusts the long sleeves on his shirt—a pity, that.
“Almost four years now,” I answer just as the waitress delivers our drinks. Mine’s a strawberry lemonade, and his is the beer special of the day.
“How did you get into that line of work?”
At least he’s making an effort to get to know me. But conversation still feels stilted. That is unfortunate. Briggs comes across as charming. And maybe he would be having an easy date if he were out with someone other than me.Small talk and I get along as well as fire and water.
“I think it just came naturally. My family all works in the court system. My mom was a judge, my dad an attorney. My brother is an assistant DA.”
I watch Briggs’s eyes go wide. “Really? Wow, that’s so…interesting.”
“So, how did you like your first time on jury duty?” I ask. “I feel like people either love it or they’re annoyed with it.”
“Jury duty?”
“Yes…you said that’s why you were there…”
He shakes his head and chuckles. “Yes, that’s right. That was my last day of jury duty.”
“I’m surprised I didn’t notice you earlier.” I know he wasn’t in any of the courtrooms I’d been working in. And I didn’t see him in the hallway when the court clerk was leading the other jury to the juror room.
Briggs clears his throat and half-twists the glass in front of him.
My smile turns brittle as all the pieces fall into place. “Because you were lying.”
The surprise on his face is real, and I get a sinking feeling in my stomach. If he was lying about why he was in the courthouse, I’m not going to like why he was actually there.
“I wasn’t lying exactly…” he says slowly .
All the current cases roll through my mind in rapid succession. None of the cases ended the day he said he was finished with jury duty.
“It’s really not a big deal,” Briggs says with a smile. “It’s just a little misunderstanding. My lawyer will clear it up soon.”
His lawyer?
Right. Which means he’s guilty of something. I stand up abruptly, sliding out of the seat. “I’ll take care of my part of the bill.”
If Wade asks me why I’m leaving the date, I’m going to have to come up with something creative. Like, I found out we were long-lost cousins—it’s happened to Phoenix before maybe Wade would believe it happened a second time.
Or maybe I could say he’s allergic to my perfume.That phantom IBS is kicking in. Anything but the truth .
I glance at the door, and my jaw drops open as two police officers, followed by Wade, walk into the restaurant. Wade looks worried. I hurry over to stand next to him as Briggs is read his rights, placed in handcuffs, and marched out of the restaurant.
Stunned, I turn to look at Wade, who’s now smirking as Briggs is led out of the restaurant. “I’m going to kill you.”
“Better not,” he tells me. “They’ll have to arrest you, right along with your date.”
I glare at him, and he wisely takes a step back.
“Okay, sorry. It was too soon for that joke,” he admits with a grimace.
“I’ll walk home. I think I need some time to think,” I grit out as I walk out of the restaurant after paying for the drinks Briggs and I ordered.
“No, please get in the car. It’s too far to walk.”
I spin around to glare at him. “I know you had something to do with the police showing up to my date—in a public restaurant, where I might have seen people I actually know or work with! What were you thinking? This is the kind of stuff I can get fired for!”
“Going on a date with a known felon?” Wade asks as I turn around and start walking away.
He slips up behind me and drops an arm around my shoulders. “I know you’re mad?—”
“I’m not mad,” I assure him. “I’m furious.”
“Of course you are. And how are you going to yell at me if you don’t get in the car with me?”
“You know I’m not a yeller,” I grind out.
Wade pats my shoulder awkwardly as he stops next to the passenger door of his 4Runner. “I know you’re not. Instead, you’ll plot something brilliant to get even. It’s just another thing I love about you.”
He holds open the door and meets my eyes. I glare back at him, still not sure I want to give him the satisfaction of getting in the car. But it is a long way to walk back to The Serendipity…
“Please,” Wade asks softly.
“Okay. But only because you asked nicely.” I climb into the car and close the door.
Wade walks around the front and climbs into the driver’s side. “I’m sorry. I’m really sorry?—”
I wave a hand through the air, cutting him off. “Don’t even pretend you’re sorry! I saw your grin when he was getting arrested.”
Wade flinches as he pulls out into traffic. “You saw that, did you?”
“Yes! And you were laughing at my expense.”
“No!” he fires back vehemently. “No. Never.”
“Then why were you smiling?”
“Because the guy got what he deserved, that’s what. Don’t tell me you knew he had an arrest warrant out on him and still chose to go on a date with him? I figure he lied to you, you didn’t realize who he really was.”
“Despite what you think, I can take care of myself just fine.”
Wade gives me a quick glance before he turns back to watch the road.
“Why do you think I was already standing when you walked in?”
Wade focuses on the road, and I watch his jaw muscles work while he clenches his teeth. I don’t know how he doesn’t get an immediate tension headache. That man’s going to need Botox in those muscles to prevent migraines.
“I’m glad you’re capable, Scarlett. And I know you are. I just want you to know I’m here for you too.” His low voice sends a shiver through me.
I snort to mask my physical response to his words. “Oh, I know you’re here. And you seem to be just as effective as my brother at ruining any and all chances of dating.”
Wade parks in the parking garage next to The Serendipity, and the walk back to my basement apartment is a silent one.
I purposefully take the front entrance. I need some extra stairs.
I went on a date with a wanted felon. Okay, well, I don’t know if he was a felon, but at least a criminal.
The Serendipity is blessedly quiet, and I see no one in the entryway or the hallway.
When I reach the safety of my apartment, I expect Wade to turn around and leave. His babysitting duties are over, but he follows me inside. I slip off my shoes and put them on the mat, then hang up my purse. My movements are practically robotic at this point.
I take the scrunchy from my wrist and pile my hair high on my head, then march to my cleaning closet. I don’t know why Wade is still here, but my frustration with him is mounting.
It’s unfair that I think he’s more attractive than any date I’ve been out with in the last few weeks. It’s unfair that he is right here and I can do nothing about my attraction to him.
I fill the bucket and pull the mop out of the closet, dunking it in the water before I start scrubbing the floor.
“Scarlett…” Wade says.
I scrub at a dark spot on the stained concrete. It’s part of the floor but it feels like I should be able to scrub it away.
Like my growing fascination with Wade, I wish I could just wash it away.
“Scarlett,” Wade says again, and this time it’s closer.
I stand up straight, spinning around to face him. I come face-to-face with his—well, neck because he’s several inches taller than my 5’9”.
I grip the handle of the mop as I stare at those corded muscles on his neck and follow them all the way up to his jawline. His lips are moving and he’s telling me something, but I don’t know what. Because I’m too mesmerized watching those lips move. He’s so close that if I leaned forward a few inches, I’d be touching him. One little lean, and I could kiss him.
I clutch the mop a little tighter as I realize I want to kiss Wade Hendrix.
This is not good.
I spin away, lean the mop against the counter, and stuff my hands in my pockets. Must. Not. Kiss. Wade.
“If you had just told me his name and let me do a background check—” He has a contemplative look on his face that makes me feel like he’s pitying me. And that is absolutely not something I can stand.
“No!” I shout. We both stare at each other in surprise.
I don’t yell at people. This isn’t what I do. I hold it together, and sure, sometimes I quietly get even, but I don’t lose my temper.
It must be the attraction clouding my judgment.
“I need you to leave.” I grind out each word.
Wade throws his hands up in the air. “I’m sorry, Scarlett. I really am. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings—that’s the last thing I want.”
“Wade, I don’t want your pity, and I don’t want your overprotectiveness. I need you to get out.” Before I say something that will forever change the way he looks at me.
Now, he glares at me. “I am not pitying you. Good grief.”
“And I don’t want you to try to be a brother to me.”
Wade steps forward with a confusing smirk on his face. “Trust me, I don’t want to be a brother to you.”
“Good. Because I’m getting plenty mad at the way you’re interrupting every date I go on.” I wave a hand through the air. “I know tonight was warranted.”
“Pun intended?” Wade asks, the corners of his mouth tipping up a little.
“Of course. But you have been all up in my business, and I cannot take it another day.”
My tone is desperate, and something in it must reach through that dense skull of his.
Wade pulls back. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Ever since Phoenix left, you’ve been over here playing big brother. But you’re not my brother. And I’ve noticed that, but I don’t think you have.”
“Wait—I don’t know if I understand anything you just said,” he says softly.
“I’m spending more time thinking about you than the men I go out with,” I mumble, the words tumbling out before I have the good sense to stop them.
Wade’s eyes go wide. This is not good. I shocked him. The poor thing may never recover .
But then he does. He takes another step toward me. He reaches a hand out and touches my cheek. “You feel it too, don’t you?” he says softly.
Too? So I’m not the only one dealing with a racing heart every time we touch?
I don’t know what possesses me. But the words leave my mouth before I’ve even thought them.
“Wade Hendrix, you owe me a goodnight kiss.”