“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to take Bonnie away from her desk.”
“I can find my own staples,” Jordan assured her.
“I heard that,” Bonnie called from Justin’s office.
Marley grinned. Justin smiled, too, even though he wanted to take his fist and ram it into his flirting brother’s face. He saw movement from the corner of his eye and looked over to see his father entering the office. Great.
“Good afternoon.”
Marley turned at Dale’s greeting, a wide smile on her face. Justin’s unwelcome jealousy made a lightning swift transfer. He watched his father approach with his chest all puffed out, as if he were the man in charge. Talk about deceiving appearances.
“Hi, Dale.” Marley’s tone was familiar and warm enough to further heat up Justin’s resentment.
“I’m glad to see my sons have come to their senses.” Dale extended a hand to her. “Welcome to the office.”
Marley’s hesitation before accepting his father’s hand was barely perceptible, but Justin caught it. She had the same expression on her face as she’d worn in the bar the other night—polite and pleasant and perfectly normal for anyone who hadn’t witnessed her sincere interaction with the men on the job site. Not the expression of a woman who’d been intimate with the man she was touching.
Despite the fact that only seconds before she’d greeted his father like a well-known friend, Justin recognized her discomfort and was confused. Unless she was just uncomfortable in front of him and his brother?
She pulled back from the handshake at the point that it was almost rude, and Justin saw Jordan toss him a quick look.
He ignored his brother, and Dale didn’t notice much of anything except his own hot air.
“I look forward to working with you. Your father would be proud.”
“I hope so,” Marley said.
The mention of her father seemed to ease her tension and Justin wondered if he’d imagined the earlier moment. No, because Jordan had seen it too. Could it be there was more than business between Marley and their father? Justin didn’t even want to think about it anymore.
Dale spoke again. “He would, I’m sure of it. What’d Nate have to say, by the way? This puts the two of you one step closer to your dream.”
Justin noticed two things simultaneously; a shadow passed over Marley’s face at the mention of her brother, and he heard an odd note in his father’s question.
“Actually, I haven’t talked to him in a few days,” Marley admitted, reaching for a ruler on the side of the model board. Justin heard a note of worry in her voice.
“Everything okay?” Dale asked. “He didn’t leave town or something, did he?”
“No,” Marley said with a quick glance up. “He wouldn’t do that.”
What kind of a question is that? Justin thought. God, he hoped Jordan caught this, too.
“He’s just taking some time to himself, that’s all. He’ll be happy when I tell him,” Marley assured his father stiffly. Justin didn’t buy her explanation. What was the deal with Nate?
Dale nodded. “I’m sure he will. Well, I’ve got a meeting at two-thirty, so I’ll see you later.”
After Dale left, Vince and Bonnie returned to work on the model.
“I’ve got some papers that need your signature,” Jordan said to Justin.
“I’ll be back in a bit,” Justin told Marley before following his brother across the hall to his office.
“That was strange,” Jordan said when he’d closed the door.
“What?” Justin asked, just to be sure.
“The whole thing. She was nice when she first saw Dad, then couldn’t let go of his hand fast enough. Maybe you were right about the affair.”
Justin’s jaw clenched when Jordan voiced his own suspicion. He didn’t want to be right about that.