A Beauty Uncovered (Secrets of Eden 2)

They wrapped up lunch and Sam went back to work. The afternoon was busy, with Brody sending her multiple emails with tasks that kept her mind on work and off their situation. When she finally got the chance to glance at her clock, she realized it was time to go home for the day.

Yesterday after their kiss, she’d slunk away with her tail between her legs, too embarrassed to say goodbye. She wouldn’t do that today, but she probably shouldn’t initiate a lot of conversation as much as she wanted to.

She slung her magenta peacoat over her arm, scooped up her brightly colored Dooney & Bourke purse and knocked gently at his door.

“Come in.”

Sam turned the doorknob and stuck her head inside. Brody was seated at his main monitor, but he stood up when she entered so she could see more than his eyeballs over the top of it.

“Sam,” he said with a smile she was getting rather used to seeing. “Do you have plans tonight?”

Her eyes widened, her jaw falling open. He was asking her out. It was Friday night. Was he asking her out? He talked to her, gave her a rose and now he was asking her out.

“Plans?” she repeated, not sure what her answer should be. “Not really. I was going to repaint my toenails and watch a sappy movie on the Hallmark channel. Why?” she added, unable to turn off the flirtatious response that was certain to get her in more trouble. “You got a better offer for me?”

Brody didn’t respond right away. Any other man she knew would give her a sly grin and ask to take her out for a drink. He didn’t seem to know how to react to her boldness. “Not really,” he said with a frown. “I’m going to be working late tonight and I was wondering if you could stay for a while and help me with this briefing I’m presenting next week. I know it’s Friday night and probably not your idea of a good time, but I could really use your help.”

“Oh,” Sam said, not sure if she was relieved or disappointed. “I thought you were asking me to dinner or something.” She said the words without thinking, immediately regretting them the moment they left her mouth. Why would she even bring up the idea of them going on a date when he hadn’t suggested it? Stupid.

Brody didn’t notice her mental chastisement, as he seemed too busy trying to connect the pieces that would make her think such a thing. His eyes widened. “Oh, Sam, I’m sorry. I, uh…don’t go out to dinner.”

“Forget it,” she said, wishing they both could.

“If you can stay tonight, I’ll order Chinese for us. How about that?”

It wasn’t the most romantic offer she’d ever received, but the overtime she’d be earning made up for it. “Sure.” Sam tossed her things back onto her desk and returned to his office with the tablet he provided her to take notes.

About an hour later, the security desk called to let them know the Golden Dragon delivery guy was in the lobby. Sam didn’t even know they had ordered yet. Brody hadn’t asked her what she wanted. She could feel the heat of irritation at the back of her neck. She hated those arrogant men who ordered for a woman without thought to what she might actually want. “I’ll be right back,” she told him, leaving the office before she said something smart.

She returned a few minutes later with an increasingly poor attitude and a heavy sack of food. It was a good thing they weren’t on a date. “What did you order?” she asked.

Brody had moved over to the living room sitting area so they could eat at the coffee table. He had already poured each of them a drink. “Kung Pao chicken, beef and broccoli, fried rice with no peas, hot and sour soup with extra wontons and vegetable eggrolls. Is that okay?”

Sam had been on the verge of telling him she didn’t appreciate a guy choosing her food, but she had no complaints. He’d ordered everything just the way she would want it, down to no peas in the rice. Stunned into silence, she nodded, pulled a few cartons from the bag and set them on the glass table. They settled in and ate for a few minutes before she worked up the nerve to ask.

“How did you know what I wanted?”

“I looked it up,” Brody said casually before crunching into an eggroll.

“Looked it up? My Chinese food preferences?”

Brody shrugged. “Everything can be found on the internet if you know where to look.”

“Did you get it from that report you were running on me yesterday?” She’d been so flustered by his anger and the passionate kiss that followed that she forgot about seeing her own name on his computer. She wanted to know what that was all about. “Are you running a background check on me?”