He cleared his throat and both sets of eyes shot over to him.
His brother was the first to acknowledge him. “Hey man. Come on in. There’s some supper left if you want some. Didn’t realize you were coming or I’d have made more.” He nodded toward Genevieve. “You remember Ginny.”
“Hi, Graham.”
“Genevieve.”
He looked from one face to the other, attempting to appear nonchalant. “Am I interrupting anything?”
What the fuck is going on? His thoughts never made it to his mouth. His eyes locked with Genevieve’s and he could have sworn he saw guilt flashing in her eyes. Guilt over what –
exactly? Forcing down the surge of jealousy that was rearing its head he made his way over to the cupboard and grabbed a plate from the overhead cabinet.
He heard a chair scratching the floor and heavy footsteps behind him as he scooped some spaghetti from the pot and then covered it with sauce. His brother came to stand at his side and leaned into him.
“What the fuck, man? What’s with the attitude toward Ginny?” Dane kept his voice low, so Ginny wouldn’t be able to hear.
Graham looked over his shoulder to eye Genevieve. She was focused on her plate, but just picking at her food. She apparently hadn’t told Dane they’d gone out a few times. But on the other hand it wasn’t like they’d had “the talk” and made things exclusive. They’d kissed a few times, but nothing heavier than that. And he hadn’t told Dane either.
He redirected his attention to Dane. If she was seeing Dane behind his back then Dane certainly wouldn’t be taking things slow like they were. If they were fucking he was done with her, no questions asked. But if she wasn’t…
“What’s she doing here?” Graham also kept his voice lowered.
Dane sliced a piece of garlic bread off of the loaf and plopped it onto Graham’s plate. “We found her merchandise. By accident really, but it worked out for her. I thought it would be nice to tell her in person.”
“So you’re not like…” he attempted to sound dismissive and hoped Dane couldn’t see through his façade. It was hard to hide anything he was thinking from his brother. It was a twin thing he supposed.
Dane sighed, turning his back to the counter and looking over at Genevieve. “No. I’d like to, but no.” He clucked his tongue off of the roof of his mouth. “I’m not getting the right vibe from her yet. And I don’t want to scare her off.”
“Why do you think that is?”
“Dunno man, but I’ll figure it out.” He slapped Graham on the back and pushed off the countertop. “Grab a chair and take a load off. The Vegas thing is forgotten, it’s all cool.”
Graham battled with himself. Should he pull his brother aside and end this now? If he told Dane to back off chances are he would. But on the other hand if Dane was the one she wanted to be with then he didn’t want to be the consolation prize. He was once, with Emma, and he wasn’t about to be that again. He’d rather win her affections fair and square.
~*~*~*~*~
~ Genevieve ~
This was one of the most uncomfortable situations she’d ever been in. Worse even than the afternoon in Vegas when she realized she had gone down on the wrong brother.
It’s your guilt chickie, if you really felt you weren’t doing something wrong you wouldn’t feel this way, her conscience nagged.
“So Genevieve, how’ve you been?” She could feel both sets of eyes burning into her and had no choice but to lift her eyes from her food to look up at Graham, who had seated himself next to her.
She forced a smile. “I’m better. Your brother found my inventory. It’s a relief.” She wanted to pull him aside and explain to him nothing was going on, but was scared doing that would make it look as though there was.
“I bet.” He scooped up a helping of spaghetti, twirled it around his fork and shoved it into his mouth.
“How was your day?” That was the best she could come up with.
“Full of surprises.” He smiled and redirected his attention back to his food. He speared another forkful of spaghetti and then looked over at her again. “Surprises just keep on coming really.”
Fuck! I blew it. Shit, shit, shit. She was disgusted with herself. Her indecisive attitude came back to bite her in the ass. But when she looked from one brother to the other, examining them both, evaluating her emotions toward each, she knew who it had to be – that is, if she even had a choice anymore. She just needed him alone.
One thing she did know was that she needed to get out of there. Regroup. Give it some more thought.
She looked down at her watch and feigned shock. “Oh shit.” She did her best to display an anxious expression, but she was a horrible actress. “I didn’t realize the time. I gotta go.”
Graham cocked a brow at her, seemingly amused. “Why? What’s going on?” He motioned to his brother and back to him. “Anything we could help you with?”
“So soon?” Dane piped in, bewildered by her abrupt announcement.
“Ummm. Ahhh. Yeah.” She got up so quickly from her chair that it nearly went toppling backward, had it not been for Graham’s quick reflexes, grabbing it before it hit the floor. “Gotta meet a client. They were only available tonight. Ummm. Yeah.”
She grabbed her precious Birkin bag and the Chanel bag she had brought with her. She directed her attention to the bewildered Dane and motioned toward the Birkin. “Thank you by the way. You have no idea how much this means to me.” Without another look to Graham she scurried across the kitchen, her precious bags clutched to her chest.
“Here, I’ll see you out.” He started to stand.
She spun around at the threshold of the kitchen and put her hand up, stopping Dane from leaving the table. “No. No. It’s okay. You guys finish your supper. I can see myself out.”
She turned to leave, stopped and spun back around to face them again. Both men were staring at her, a mixture of amusement and puzzlement in their expressions. She pointed to Dane.
“Thank you for supper. It was incredible.”
“My pleasure.” He gave her a smile that told her there was more to his statement than simply accepting a compliment. She bit down on her lower lip, not even sure how to respond – so she didn’t. Spinning around, she rushed from the kitchen and was out of the house within a minute.
Chapter 10