Deal Takers (Dealing with Love 2)

I mime pocketing his air kiss and head for the elevator. “Later, baby.”

Rainey doesn’t notice me exiting the building, so I take a moment to watch her. She left the windows open, so I can clearly hear the beats of Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” blasting from the speakers. Huh...I would’ve definitely pegged her as a pop music junkie. My mouth opens in surprise as I realize that she’s rapping along to the lyrics perfectly. Never one to miss an opportunity to mess with her, I hunch down and round the back of my Suburban like a creeper. Once I reach the driver’s door, I do my best impression of a Jack-in-the-Box, causing her to jump out of her seat.

“Jesus H, Brody!” she shrieks. “You scared the shit out of me. What are you doing?”

“Enjoying the show, Nikki Minaj. Impressive rap skills you have there.”

Her cheeks flush but she’s trying to play it cool. “Ha! I wish! That woman’s ass could rule the world.”

I bark in laughter. “Don’t sell yourself short, darlin’. I’d follow your ass anywhere.”

She scoots over the console and slides into the passenger seat. “You’d follow any ass if it meant you were getting some.”

“Not true,” I argue as I get in. “Not everyone can fill out a pair of jeans like you do.”

She looks down at her denim-clad legs and smirks. “Guys have it so easy. If you only knew how much trouble getting into a pair of jeans can be when you have hips and an ass.”

“Honey, the only thing I care about is getting you out of those jeans. You can get in them any way you want.”

“I walked right into that one, didn’t I?”

“You sure did.”

“Are you ever going to give up?”

“Not likely,” I say with a shrug. “But I get the feeling you don’t mind so much.”

“Maybe not,” she smirks. “You’re certainly good for a laugh.”

“I’m good for multiple orgasms too. You should give that a try.”

Her eyes crinkle at the corners before her expression sobers. “Thank you, Brody.”

> I quirk my head to the side. “For what?”

“I can always count on you to make me smile,” she explains. “Don’t get me wrong—you drive me crazy more often than not—but it’s a good crazy, if that makes sense. I could’ve spent this weekend obsessing about some stuff that I have going on, but you didn’t let that happen. I had a really good time and...as much as it pains me to admit this, you’re a big part of that.”

“I’m happy to be of service, princess.”

And that, boys and girls, is what we call progress.

Chapter Fifteen

RAINEY

I haven’t heard from Adam all weekend—which now that I think about it, is really weird— so I call him as soon as I get home.

He answers on the third ring. “Doctor Walker speaking.”

I chuckle. “Why are you being so formal, you goof? Did you not check the caller ID before you answered?”

“Oh...no, I didn’t. I was just in the middle of something.”

I look at the time on my phone. It’s after eight in New York on a Sunday night. I would have expected his conference to be over by now.

“What kind of something?”

Adam clears his throat. “Yeah, I’ve been keeping busy. New York is always go, go, go.”