“Hey, look who dropped by,” Cori says with a smile plastered on her face. Sitting at my island is the man who is slowly starting to irritate me.
“I was in the neighborhood.” Brian smiles.
Chapter Four
Brian
“Well, that went as well as I thought it would go,” Tommy says when Kellie and Cori march out the door. “I’ll call her later and smooth things out.”
“In order for me to do my job and do it to the best of my ability,” I say, “I need everything from the list of tour dates and cities to the hotels where we will be staying.”
“Yeah,” Tommy says, sitting down. “I can get that and send it to your email.”
“This isn’t going to be easy if she fights my guy the whole way,” Hunter finally says. “He’s one of the best I’ve got. If anyone can keep her safe, it’s him.”
I don’t talk for the rest of the meeting. My head spins with all the things we need to do, but it’s all muddled with the fact she was pissed I was the one going with her. If my memory serves me right, the last time she sat in my car and made me drive around for five hours, she said we should go out sometime. I will be the first to admit that maybe not answering didn’t help, but what the hell was I supposed to do? Pull the car over and drag her over to my side of the car and kiss the ever-loving fuck out of her? Negative.
“I just told my secretary to have everything sent over to you,” Tommy says, getting up. Hunter and I do the same as the other men in the room. They didn’t say a word, and I wonder why they were even here. We walk out of the conference room, and Tommy walks with us to the elevator. “Gentlemen,” he says when the ding of the elevator sounds, “I have no doubt she’ll be safe with you.”
I shake his hand and then so does Hunter. We step into the elevator, and Hunter looks over at me. “You sure you’re okay with this?”
I lean back against the elevator wall and look over at him. “Have I ever given you a reason to ask me that?”
He shakes his head right away. “No.” Putting his hands in his pockets, he says, “But then again, you’ve never wanted a client before.”
“I don’t want her,” I say, and now I’m a little pissed. “What have I done to make you think I want her?”
“The look on your face when Tommy touched her hand,” he points out, and I want to kick myself because I thought I had it locked down. “I mean, I’ve never seen the tic of your vein on your forehead.” The elevator dings, and I look up to see we have reached the lobby. “We will meet tomorrow with everyone and go over the list.” I nod to him and walk out, making my way to my car while Hunter goes to his.
I get into my Audi and start it. My finger taps against the steering wheel, already knowing what I want to do. Driving down the street, I make my way through the traffic and then the hills. I pull up to the wrought-iron gate and press the little white button on the speaker. A man’s staticky voice answers.
“What can I do for you?” he asks, and I look up to find a video camera also.
“Hey, I have some papers to deliver to Kellie Hudson from the office of Tommy Surray.”
“I don’t have you on the list.” He comes back on.
“Yeah, I know. I was in a meeting with him, and he asked me if I could swing by and deliver it. Like I wanted to come all the way out to the hills in rush hour!” I laugh. “I mean, if you want to come and get the papers and deliver them, you can.”
“Nah,” he says, and the next thing you know, I hear the creaking of the gates opening. I shake my head and make my way down the gated street. I park on the street and walk up to Kellie’s gate, noticing her huge white mansion. The gate is sturdy, and there is no way I can break through it. I look at the side and see that the shrubs have a little space for someone to fit through. Walking over, I squeeze through to the other side of the gate and let out a curse.
I walk over to the house and ring the doorbell. I don’t even know if she’s home, but I took a chance. The air needs to be cleared, and this is the only time I’m doing this. I hear footsteps coming closer to the door, the locks clinking, and then the door opens. Except it’s not Kellie; it’s the girl Cori.