Chapter 9 #3
The kiss turned carnal—and it was all Shadow could do not to pull her over onto his lap and beg her to take his cock inside her. He forced himself to pull back, but not too far. He rested his forehead against hers.
“You taste like coffee and peanut butter,” he murmured.
“So do you.”
“I like it.”
“Me too.”
Shadow lifted his head. “So…will you go out with me again? Soon?”
Brinley smiled. “We haven’t finished our first date.”
“So?”
Her grin widened. “I’d like that.”
“Good. Are you hungry?”
She nodded.
“Awesome. Me too. Let’s get out of here. Gotta feed my woman.”
Shadow lifted a hand and smoothed back some of the strands of hair that had escaped their confines. He loved that her hair wouldn’t be tamed. That no matter how hard she tried to keep it tied back, wisps inevitably escaped.
He couldn’t stop himself from leaning in and kissing her again, but he kept it light and quick.
Her face was flushed once more, and he freaking loved knowing she was so into him, as much as he was into her. He wasn’t going to rush this.
He drove to the restaurant and they went inside, once more holding hands. She sat next to him instead of across from him in the booth, showing him without words that she was enjoying his company, his proximity.
Just after their salads arrived, while they were deep in discussion about whether the long summer nights of no darkness were better than the long winter days with limited sunlight, her phone rang. She pulled it out of her purse, frowned, and put it back after silencing the ringer.
“Everything okay?” he asked, not liking the look on her face. It was a mixture of frustration, irritation…and even a bit of fear. It was the latter that hit him the hardest and had his hackles rising.
“Yeah.”
The sound of her phone ringing again was impossible to miss, but she made no move to answer it.
“Should you get that?”
“No.”
“It could be an emergency.”
“It’s not. I mean, it’s not Cypress, and there isn’t really anyone else who would call me that would constitute an emergency. It’s fine, Dash.”
They continued with dinner, but her phone rang at least half a dozen more times. After they’d finished eating, Shadow couldn’t keep silent about his worries anymore.
“Who’s calling you, Brinley? What’s wrong?”
She sighed and stared down at her fingers, fiddling with a spoon next to her plate. “It’s not a big deal.”
“Look at me, hon.”
It took her a moment, but she did eventually raise her gaze to his.
“Talk to me. Let me in. Please?”
“It’s just a woman I met down in Fiji, at the pageant.
She wanted to hire me, and I told her no.
She didn’t like that answer, so she’s been calling me ever since, begging me to change my mind.
Since I already told her I wouldn’t take her on, I’m not going to waste my time answering her calls. She’ll get the message eventually.”
“I don’t think she will, if the eight or so times she’s called tonight are any indication,” Shadow said doubtfully. “Who is it?”
“Her name is Tamika Black. She was one of the Canadian representatives.”
“The woman hanging around with your sister?”
“Yeah. That’s her. The brunette. Tall, leggy, and too damn skinny.”
“I’m guessing she got your number from your sister?”
“Probably.”
Shadow didn’t like this. Not at all. “Did she leave a message?”
Brinley shrugged.
“Can I see? Listen to it?”
“Why?”
“Because. Calling you eight times in an hour and a half span isn’t normal. It’s harassment, Brinley. And you don’t have to put up with it. You can tell her to knock it off or you’ll report her to the authorities. She can’t force you to work with her.”
The look in Brinley’s eyes was heartbreaking. But what she said next was even more so. “I don’t want to hear what she has to say. She’s not nice, Dash.”
“Then let me listen to whatever message or messages she’s left. I can even call her back and tell her to cease and desist immediately. Let me help you with this.”
“Why?”
“You know why. I already told you earlier tonight that there’s something between us. That I want to see you again. That you’re important to me. And if someone is harassing you, I’ll do whatever I can to make them stop.”
“I can just delete any messages. Block her.”
“It’s better to know what you’re dealing with than to ignore it, hon.”
She sighed. “Okay.”
“Okay, what?”
“You can listen to whatever she has to say in her messages.” Brinley took the phone out of her purse and unlocked it before handing it to him.
It took a ton of control to calmly take the phone from her and click on the voicemail button. But that was nothing compared to the effort it took to keep a straight face as he listened to the three messages the Tamika person left for Brinley.
First she cajoled, then whined, and, in the last message, flat-out threatened Brinley if she didn’t take her on as a client.
You’ll regret this.
The three words echoed in Shadow’s brain. The woman sounded furious, almost unhinged. And it worried him. But he didn’t want to freak out Brinley any more than she probably was already.
Without asking, he tapped on the share icon and sent the three messages to his email. For some reason, he felt the need to make sure the messages weren’t erased. He had a feeling Brinley would delete them in an effort to make the issue disappear.
“What did she say?” Brinley asked, her brow furrowed.
Shadow hated that she was so obviously stressed. The carefree date they were having had shifted, and it was all because of some bitch who couldn’t take the word “no” for an answer.