She puts her hands on her hips, glares at me, and says very slowly. "My office. Now."
Shit, shit, shit.
While I consider Georgia to be my friend, probably my closest in the world, she is talking to me now like a boss, and I cannot ignore it. With a sigh, I pull the towel over my shoulder, toss it onto the counter, and turn toward her office, knowing that she and Brian are close on my heels.
When we are inside and the door closes behind us, I turn to face both of them and say, "There is nothing going on."
"Gray said something to you at the arena that's upset you," Brian says matter-of-factly, his eyes pinned on mine. "And I want to know what it was."
I swallow hard, trying to push past the lump in my throat.
To lie or not to lie?
To start this relationship off right, or to start it with hard feelings and untruths?
Without letting my gaze waiver from his, I tell him, "Gray advised me that I shouldn't see Roman."
"And what exactly did she say?" Brian asks neutrally.
"She said he had a bad reputation. She was concerned for me," I tell him.
"And do you believe she meant that? Outside of the 'bad reputation' part, which speaks for itself."
"Yes," I say without hesitation. "I think she was genuine."
"But that's not all?" he guesses.
"I was advised of my obligations to the Brannon name, and that if things got messy with Roman, it would reflect on the family."
"I see," he says slowly, and takes a step toward me. With head tilted, he asks, "And what did you do?"
My chin tilts up. "I told Roman I couldn't see him anymore."
"Hmmmm," he says, flicking his eyes over to Georgia, and I notice they share a look. I'm not sure what it's about, but there's no doubt they've had a conversation about this in some detail. When he looks back to me, he calmly clasps his hands behind his back and asks me, "And why in the world would you ever do that?"
"Huh?" I say dumbly.
Just...huh?
"Why would you stop seeing a man just because Gray advised you to do so? I mean, I haven't known you all that long, but it's been long enough to know you're a free thinker and have a good head on your shoulders. So I repeat...Why would you ever stop seeing someone you're clearly interested in just because Gray said so?"
"What?" is all I can say.
Brian shakes his head with a measure of disappointment in his eyes. He raises a hand and taps the tip of his forefinger against my forehead. "Think for yourself."
Then he drops his finger and taps it over the left side of my chest. "And follow your heart."
"What?" I ask again, my brow furrowing in confusion.
And then the great Brian Brannon rolls his eyes at me. The CEO and owner of the Cold Fury, worth millions upon millions of dollars, who commands respect throughout the entire sports world, pulls a twelve-year-old's eye roll on me.
"Lexi," he says. "Stop being obtuse. You understand me just fine."
And yeah, I do, but I'm just having a hard time believing it. "But...Gray was concerned...and then there's a reputation to uphold...and--"
"Gray doesn't know everything," Brian interjects. "So stop trying so hard to have something with her that you'll give up a part of yourself to get there."
And now my eyes narrow at him in suspicion. "You do know that Roman has made quite a bad name for himself, right?"
"Sadly, I've read all the tabloid reports and I've obviously been privy to his suspensions," Brian says dryly, and I completely ignore Georgia's snort.
"So, as my father," I ask dubiously, "you don't have a problem with me seeing him?"
"I have a problem with you not being happy," he counters. "And if Mr. Bad Boy Roman Sykora makes you happy, go for it. I just ask that you refrain from posting half-naked selfies with him online."
Georgia snorts again, and this time I can't help it...my lips tip upward.
Then they curve into a full smile as I realize all of a sudden that Brian has just paved the way for me to see Roman. Well, assuming that Roman still has any interest in me, since it's entirely possible that he could be completely repulsed by me after my brush-off.
"And you don't think Gray will be mad at me?" I ask, my smile faltering slightly as this thought occurs to me.
Brian shrugs his shoulders. "So what if she is? Sisters fight, you know."
"But not newfound sisters who have over two decades of lost time to make up for," I say tartly.
My dad laughs, throwing his head back, and when his eyes return to me they're sparkling with amusement. "Now that I'll give you, but honestly, Lexi, I'm sure Gray was just giving advice, and if you choose not to follow it, she's going to be fine. She might still be concerned, but trust me when I say she wants you to be happy too."
"Do you really think so?" I ask gruffly, my throat once again clogging with emotion.
"I know so," Brian says firmly, then his hands come to my shoulders. "Gray may be a high-powered woman who can be slightly intimidating on the best of days, but at her core, she has a heart as big as the ocean. Just trust me on this, okay?"
"Okay," I say as I huff out a relieved breath followed by a smile. "Can we hug it out now? Then I'm going to call Roman."
Brian laughs again and wraps me in an embrace. Standing on my tiptoes to accept it, I see Georgia watching us with her hand over her mouth, head tilted, her eyes shining with emotion. She's as moved by this father-daughter moment as I am.
Which brings to mind...
I pull away from Brian and look to him, then to Georgia, and back to him. "You two clearly had talked about me before you came here. What's up with that?"
"Oh, that," Georgia says as she walks over and loops her arm through Brian's. "We had our first date today, and I think it was marvelous. So good, in fact, I feel comfortable eating tabbouleh on our next date."
Wait! What?
Before I can even process that, Georgia pats Brian's arm and turns to look up at him. "And when might that next date occur?"
Brian looks down at Georgia and grins at her. "I'm thinking dinner...tonight. You game?"
"Oh baby," she says with a purr. "You have no idea."
And...this just got weird. "O-k-a-a-a-y," I say slowly as I back away from the weirdness toward the door. "I'm just going to leave you two alone to kiss it out or something."
"I don't kiss on the first date," Georgia says primly as I open the door with a backward reach of my hand. Then her eyes practically glow with wickedness as she winks at me. "But I'm totally open to at least second base thereafter."
"Ugh," I say dramatically as I clap my hands over my ears. "Don't ever say that stuff in front of me again."
Brian's lips press into an amused smile as he watches me walk backward out of the office, my hands still secure against my ears to muffle any sound. And when I'm clear and can shoot a hand out to pull the door closed behind me, I watch as Brian turns to Georgia and, sadly, I hear him say, "Second base, huh?"
I pull the door shut fast and it slams loudly, cutting out any further naughty flirting between my dad and Georgia. But then I put them out of my mind as I dig my phone out of my pocket and pull up Roman's number.
My heart beats madly as the phone rings, but I'm disappointed to get his voicemail. It's simple and adorable in his light Czech accent. "Sykora. Talk to me." Then a long pause. "Or don't. I don't care which, but I suspect you do."
I smile as I wait for the tone, then leave a somewhat breathless if not confusing message. "Um...hey...it's Lexi, but you probably know that because of caller ID and all that, but anyway...I just had the most amazing conversation with Brian and he may have pointed out I was a fool to stop seeing you, which is weird, right? But anyway, I want to know if you're still interested in a goofy, ukulele-playing girl who works at a coffee shop. Or have I so thoroughly wounded your ego that you're not willing to give me a second chance. If it's the first, call me back. If it's the second, throw the bag I left at your house onto the front lawn and text me when it's rea
dy. I'll come by and pick it up. Okay, that's it. I really hope it's the first. Call me and I'll play the ukulele just for you."
I grin as I disconnect the call. I don't know Roman well, but I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that he'll be charmed by that message and I'll be hearing from him sooner rather than later.
Chapter 15
Roman