Brandi by Donna McDonald Read Free Book Online Page B

make me feel something for you, Gareth. And you know what? Finding out I was wrong hurt just as much as the last time some duplicitous bastard tricked me into caring. I guess I should have known better at my age than to be so stupid again, no matter how nice you talked.”
     
    “Damn it, Brandi. I never meant to hurt you. Things escalated before I could work out how to better handle the situation. All we can do now is draw the trail away from the rest of our life.”
     
    “Well, that’s your opinion of what needs to happen. I don’t know enough to have one yet. Tell me something, Gareth. You knew two months ago I was going to track down the truth about what happened because I told you. Hell, we drove to the Feldspar site together and you still said nothing about what you knew. You led me on personally and eventually sold me out professionally. You’ve been an agent for longer than I have. What conclusions would you draw in my shoes?”
     
    Gareth rubbed his head. “A hundred years ago I made faster and better decisions. What I did with you was because I was being too cynical to see your side of it. After you left me to come here, our personal connection overrode my reluctance to get more involved. Doesn’t the fact that I came to help you tell you I genuinely care?”
     
    “Not really,” Brandi said flatly, turning away from the pleading in his gaze. “All your lame ass excuses tell me is that you don’t want to show up today empty-handed. I imagine doing so might bring a ton of shit raining down on your head. I’m sure that would mess up your quiet retirement plans in Wasilla. Honestly? I think you’re turning me in because you knew they’d come looking for your ass if you didn’t.”
     
    “Damn it. You’re not even trying to understand… and you’re definitely not hearing what I’m saying. Those emotional walls you’re building won’t keep the world out forever. I’m here because I care about you. That’s my only reason.”
     
    Brandi shrugged. “Tell yourself whatever story you want. I didn’t ask you to come after me. In fact, I wish like hell you hadn’t. I might have gotten to keep my illusion that some great guy was going to be waiting for me when all this shit was over.”
     
    Gareth let out a heavy sigh. It had been a long time since he’d screwed up so badly. “Brandi…”
     
    “Let this conversational dead horse die, Gareth. Use the master bathroom while I make some calls. You can deliver me to your boss after we get some food.”
     
    ***
     
    They walked in silence to the curb outside her apartment building and climbed together into the nearest cab. At her favorite Alexandria restaurant, she ordered the largest rare steak on the menu, plus some eggs and toast to mask her extreme need for the meat. Gareth duplicated her order and their nervous waitress scurried off to fill it. The woman probably couldn’t have said what put her on edge around them, but Brandi imagined two silently quarreling werewolves put off quite a bad vibe.
     
    “Let’s call a truce over breakfast. I need the fuel. I’m sure you do too,” she said.
     
    Gareth narrowed his gaze. Her calm covered anxiety. The smell of her stress was a subtle perfume on her skin. It made him ill to know he’d caused most of it.
     
    “I’m sorry now that I didn’t just tell you. I wasn’t sure if I would be welcomed back to my department enough to actually be of any help in the situation. In fact, I wasn’t even sure I was coming after you until you left. About the time you got on your plane, I got a bad feeling and couldn’t stay away. I didn’t turn you in—at least not the way you’re imagining. I just volunteered to be your liaison when you got here.”
     
    Brandi sighed and shook her head. “Let me see if I understand this, Gareth. You didn’t figure I needed to know the man sharing my bed was a former agent like I was? Should I pretend to be shocked by your decision so it fits your paradigm? I hate