Brooke winced. She hated sounding like a wimp, but it did seem to take the wind out of the sails for both men. Parker eyed Jordan warily while Jordan strode back to her side.
“Do you feel all right?”
Not really, but the last thing she wanted was to launch another argument of people blaming each other for upsetting the pregnant women.
Brooke chose her words carefully. “I’m upset. Who wouldn’t be? I didn’t expect that everyone would do a happy dance, but I expected civility.”
Anna stared down her husband.
Parker grimaced. “Damn. Sorry, Brooke. The last thing I want is to do anything that would harm you or your baby. You’re my sister, kid, I just…” He shook his head as if to clear away the fog of rage. “I just didn’t think.”
She noticed he hadn’t apologized to Jordan , but she figured it was best to leave that one alone for now. At least they weren’t hitting each other anymore.
“Lissette,” Anna, the ever-efficient, called, taking charge, “the dinner table is out of commission for tonight. So I believe we’ll all have a light supper out on the veranda. It’s a lovely temperate evening. Have the cook bring us something simple, whatever she can put together quickly.”
Brooke could hear the implied part of quick, meaning they wouldn’t have to endure this horrible gathering much longer.
Anna hooked her arm through Brooke’s and ushered her toward the door. “Let’s find a lounger where you can put those feet up.”
“That obvious they’re swollen, huh?”
Bonita joined alongside them with an unsteady gait. “You should quit trying to squeeze your feet into those heels. When I was carrying you and Brittany, my ankles swelled up like balloons. You girls caused me trouble from the first trimester and haven’t stopped since.” She tossed back the last of her drink, extending it for someone to refill.
Brooke wondered if she could borrow some armor to wear around her mother. Or earplugs. How come everyone else seemed able to ignore the comments except her?
Luckily,Lissette was otherwise occupied which sent a frowning Bonita off hunting for her own damn refill. Hopefully, the decanters would be empty.
Brooke swung wide the double doors to the veranda. A gust of fresh night air caressed over her with a much-needed cleansing freshness. She turned to speak to Jordan —only to find he’d stayed behind with Parker.
They weren’t throwing punches, but their intense expressions showed their words were equally as powerful. Just her luck, the high ceilings bounced echoes around like racquetballs. Every word of their exchange pummeled her.
Parker stuffed his hands in his pockets. “I always knew you were ruthless, but I never suspected you would sink so low as to deliberately knock up my sister to secure a piece of the Garrison pie.”
She heard Jordan deny it. Heard him tell Parker what an ass he was and how Emilio already owned a piece of Garrison Incorporated. Besides, Jefferies Enterprises could take on Garrison just fine on its own.
Brooke heard it all. Yet still, after a lifetime of growing up in a family that didn’t know the meaning of enough power, she couldn’t help but wonder if Parker was right.
Chapter 4
Standing behind Brooke outside her condo door after the family dinner from hell, Jordan worked his jaw side to side. Parker Garrison packed a mean right hook. Not that Jordan planned on admitting it.
At least he’d given as good as he’d taken. And he had to confess, after so many years of contention between them, it had felt damn great to let loose on the guy.
Except then he’d looked up and seen Brooke’s pale face.
Jordan hadn’t realized until then how emotional the cool beauty could be. The family’s disapproval really had her worried. He would have taken them all on if he hadn’t seen how fast they backed off once they, too, noticed how the confrontation upset her.
Well, everyone except their sloshed mother.
He hadn’t been predicting a red carpet reception, but he’d expected basic courtesy, more like what they’d settled into afterward during the cool—brief—
dinner on the veranda.
Jordan reached to touch Brooke’s shoulder just as she opened the door and stepped into her condo. Closing the door behind him, he sealed them both in the sleek silver and pink luxury of her home. What a strange time to realize that while he’d viewed every inch of her luscious naked body, he’d never seen where she lived.
Now he realized she had been keeping a part of herself from him by insisting they always meet at his place.
He took in the luxury living space sprawling in front of him in a study of silver, white and pinks. Definitely a woman’s domain. No question, it was stylish and high-end, but not a place where he could see himself relaxing. He had a quick mental flash of his own childhood home, as swank as the Garrison complex…
But a hell of a lot warmer.
Jordan brushed aside thoughts that didn’t change a thing about his path with this woman. If he let Brooke see the slightest chink in his resolve, they would be toast.
Even now, he could tell from the brace of her shoulders and the way she chucked her purse onto the sofa, tension still lingered.
He closed the distance between them and rested his hands on her shoulders. He responded to the feel of her beneath his hands. His body aroused in mere seconds any time he got near her these days. But, yeah, she was definitely tense.
Jordan rubbed his thumbs along the kinked muscles in her neck, considering all the ways a man could help a woman relieve this kind of stress. The possibilities tantalized. “Are you going to tell me what’s going on with the silent treatment, or do I have to start playing twenty questions?”
He leaned to kiss the nape of her neck, taking his time to absorb the scent of her.
She swayed toward him with a whisper of a moan. Then he could almost feel the return of her resolve starch up her straightening spine.
She shrugged off his hands and turned on her heel, her Garrison chin firmly set for battle. “Is it true what my brother said back at the house, right after your fight? Did you sleep with me just to gain a deeper toehold in the Garrison empire?
Did you try to get me pregnant on purpose?”
Crap. She’d overheard? Jordan clenched his jaw, then winced at the stab of pain.
He hoped Parker was enjoying at least a couple of bruised ribs.
“Ah, the whole Garrison-Jefferies rivalry.” He considered the best way to reassure her. She likely wouldn’t believe an outright denial anyway. And to be truthful, in the past, he’d done anything possible to get the inside track on Garrison, Incorporated. Anything to get ahead. “It’s a reality we both have to deal with. Isn’t that why you slept with me? To piss off your family? What better way to strike back at big brother Parker and your mother.”