disappointment. âAnd?â she murmured, silently berating herself for being such a nitwit, knowing her reaction was foolish. With everything going on in her life, she didnât have time to be sensitive over the moody Runnerâs opinions, but damn if she wasnât. For some stupid reason, sheâd wanted him to beâ¦different. To see her in a way that others didnât.
He shrugged his shoulders at her sharp tone. âNothing.â
Oh no. She wasnât letting him off the hook that easy. âUh-huh. You brought it up, so you might as well go ahead and spit it out, Brody.â
And she had a good idea of what it would be, aware of how most people pegged her as an eccentric basket case, walking around with her head in the clouds, once they learned that she owned a paranormal specialty shop. But the truth was that she had a good head for business and had simply chosen a market that she found fascinating as well as financially promising. She had her feet planted firmly on the ground, even if her mind was open to the world beyond what most humans considered normal.
âYou just donât look like the business type.â The look he cut her way said so much more than his words, and heat rose in her face that had nothing to do with the hot air gusting toward her. Oh yeah, she didnât need to read minds to know what âtypeâ he thought she was. Her entire life, her looks had never given her anything but trouble, affecting how people treated her, judged her, thinking she was nothing but a pretty face with fluff for brains. Thinking she was good for some fun, but nothing serious. Her last boyfriend, Ross Holland, had enjoyed her body, but when it came to his blue-blooded public image and budding political aspirations, he hadnât wanted a woman whose sensuality was so blatantâso âin your faceâ as heâd put it. In Rossâs eyes, her business had only been another strike against her.
She didnât want to admit it, but it hurt to realize that Brody apparently looked at her in the same, narrow-minded light. âBelieve it or not, I donât sleep to dream, Brody. You shouldnât make assumptions about me based on physical appearances or what I do for a living.â
âSleep to dream?â he repeated, his brow furrowed over the deep green of his eyes. âWhat does that mean?â
Michaela struggled to keep her voice even. âIt means that I donât have my head stuck in the clouds, worrying about when my next pedicureâs gonna be and whoâll buy me dinner on Friday night. When I sleep, I sleep hard because I work hard. I donât live in a fantasy world, playing dress up. My business takes up all of my time and Iâve worked my backside off to make it successful.â
âI didnât mean to offend you,â he grunted in a low rasp, surprising her. âAnd I imagine Iâll get to see firsthand just how hard you work, since weâll be spending the next day or so at your shop.â
âI guess you will,â she muttered, looking down to realize her knuckles had gone white, she was fisting her hands together so tightly. She hadnât realized she was so touchy on the subject, but apparently she was. Or maybe she was just touchy about Brodyâs opinion. An unsettling thought, and another one she didnât want to look at too closely.
Without glancing in her direction, he went on to say, âAnd seeing as how weâre going to be in the city for the next few days, are there any boyfriends I should know about? I donât want to have to deal with some jealous bastard who gets his nose bent out of shape because weâre staying together.â
âNo,â she sighed, squeezing her eyes shut, wondering how the hell this was going to work. The guy had her twisted up in knots and theyâd only been together for a few hours. How was she going to endure days, if not weeks? She was too aware of him, too on edge.
âNo what?â
Her mouth thinned and she opened her eyes, staring at the dark stretch of road through the front windshield. âNo boyfriends.â
A rude sound vibrated in the back of his throat. âRight.â
Michaela shook her head in baffled amazement. She wasnât easily flustered, damn it, but something about Brody Carter made her feel stripped down to the raw, vulnerable, as if she were vibrating with energy, tension and anticipation. âIâm not sure what you mean by that.â
He lifted one hand off the wheel, shoving his long, scarred fingers back through the auburn threads of his hair in an utterly male gesture of frustration. âIf you want to lie about it, fine, but women like you always have a line of guys waiting in the wings, six or seven deep at least. Iâd bet my life savings on the fact that youâre involved with someone, Doucet.â
âThen youâre an idiot,â she snorted, âand if you took that bet, youâd be a broke one at that.â
He grunted in response, and she turned her head to glare back out her window. She kept quiet the remainder of the drive, not even giving him directions, since he already knew where she lived. But when they pulled to a slow stop behind the dark Mercedes parked in front of her house, she couldnât stop the low groan that fell from her lips, unable to believe her rotten, miserable luck. âMerde,â she cursed. âThatâs all this day needs.â
âA friend of yours?â Brody asked with a smirk, eyeing the shadow of the man lurking on her front porch.
Michaela konked her forehead against the cool glass of her window once, then twice, and turned to send him her best glare. âI may be a lot of things, but Iâm not a liar. There is no boyfriend.â
He jerked his chin toward the waiting man. âThen who the hell is he?â
âNobody. Heâs a big olâ nobody,â she muttered, undoing her seat belt.
âIâm still waiting for a straight answer.â His eyes narrowed as his face became etched with some unnamed emotion that was fierce and dark.
âHeâs my ex,â she sighed, wondering how she could have ever been so stupid as to believe herself in love with a jerk like Ross Holland.
âEx-what?â he grunted, his shock evident in his expression. âHusband?â
âThank God, no,â she supplied with a low, husky laugh. âEx-boyfriend. But itâs been over forâ¦too long to count.â
âCount it anyway.â
The look she slanted him was equal parts surprise and exasperation. âLast year, okay?â
âAnd heâs still coming around?â He shifted that dark stare back to Ross. âHasnât he gotten the hint?â
âNo,â she replied dryly. âHe doesnât seem to grasp the concept that he canât have his old girlfriend and his new wife at the same time.â
He absorbed that for a moment, taking his eyes from Ross and watching her again with that deep green stare, making her feel as though he could see beneath her skin, beneath her guard, and take an intimate stroll through her mind. âHeâs married?â
It was obvious he wanted the story, and wasnât going to
