Once he went inside, he heard voices in the kitchen. Old habits sprang up and he slowed his steps, pausing to listen.
“I don’t know that you should feed that thing Cheetos, Brenna.” That was Grant’s voice.
“Gollum likes Cheetos, doesn’t he?” Brenna made kissy noises at what Rome assumed was her puppy. “And you’re just being pissy and taking it out on us right now. Just spit it out already, baby.”
There was a long sigh from the kitchen. “You saw the way Elise ran out of here. Do you think he was harassing her?”
“He? I don’t seem to recall anyone that we hired who was named He.”
“You know who I mean. Rome. He’s a rough sort, Brenna. I still can’t believe you hired him. I— Hey. Don’t make that face at me. I’m just looking out for my sister.”
Rome tensed. Either this was perfect f**king timing or shit timing. Either way, it was good to know what his employer thought about him. He waited, listening in on the conversation.
“You’re being a snob,” Brenna said. “Just because he has some tattoos and piercings, it doesn’t mean that he’s a criminal.”
“It doesn’t mean that he’s not,” Grant countered. “I’m just worried about Elise and our clients. I don’t want him to give anyone the wrong impression, and I certainly don’t want him scaring my sister.”
“If your sister is scared of a few tattoos, she must be terrified of me. Just imagine what she’d think of my piercing.”
There was a long pause. “Please tell me you didn’t show my sister your piercing.”
“Of course not. That’s your property.” There was a sultry note in Brenna’s voice.
“Good. I was about to get a little bizarred out. And quit distracting me with thoughts of piercings.”
“But I like distracting you.” Brenna’s voice lowered to a purr. “In fact, if you’re good, I might just distract you as soon as dinner is ready.”
“I guess that’s my cue to go home and make it.”
“I do believe it is,” Brenna teased.
Things were quiet for a long moment, punctuated by a few p**n ographic groans and a puppy bark. Then it got quiet. Rome waited, body tense with anger.
“You can come out, now,” Brenna called to him. “Grant’s gone.”
Rome frowned to himself, then stepped out of the shadowy hallway and into the kitchen. Brenna stood near the counter, wearing a pair of jean cutoffs that were two sizes too big and a T-shirt that read TULANE. Her new puppy was on the counter, licking an orange Cheeto.
She gave him an appraising look, as if he’d been stripping purely for her pleasure. “Well, hello there.”
He ignored her playfulness. Brenna was obnoxious to everyone. It was harmless. “How’d you know I was there?”
“Gollum tried to go into the hall to greet you, and he’s normally a scaredy-cat, so I figured someone familiar was there. And Pop’s in town and Dane’s in the woods, so I thought it was you.” She wiggled her eyebrows at him. “So I distracted Grant. You’re welcome.”
He felt the sour burn of anger in his stomach. “Your fiancé hates me.”
“He does,” Brenna admitted, fishing another Cheeto out of the bag and offering it to her puppy. “But I wouldn’t take it personally. Grant doesn’t like anyone until he gets to know them. Just look at how long it took for us to get together despite him practically vibrating with sexual tension whenever he was around me.” She looked over at him and winked.
Rome went to the sink, washed his hands, then headed to the icebox and grabbed some lunch meat. He made himself a quick sandwich and took a bite out of it. Brenna didn’t seem to be leaving, so he asked, “Am I in danger of losing my job?”
She sighed and gave him an annoyed look. “Not you, too. Look, you’re fine. Grant doesn’t like you, but he didn’t like me, either, and I’m still working here. Just stay busy and low-key and he’ll relax. He’s got his panties in a bunch because his sister is here and his entire weird family seems to think that Elise is fragile and will break if someone looks at her wrong.”
He wasn’t sure he believed her. He’d let down his guard too many times and gotten dicked over in the past. He pulled a bit of meat off of his sandwich and offered it to her puppy. “I need this job, Brenna.”
“I know you do, Rome. And you’ve got me on your side. Don’t worry. Grant’s just a freak.” She patted his shoulder and then wrinkled her nose at her now sweat-and-grime-covered palm. “He’ll calm down once Elise is back home and he realizes you aren’t a serial killer or something.”
She sounded so confident that he couldn’t help but hope she was right. “I did see Elise today,” Rome admitted. “She came out to the paintball course while I was working on it. Saw me and turned and ran.”
“That girl’s kinda strange, no doubt about it. Nice kid, but strange.”
Rome took another bite of his sandwich, determined not to smirk at Brenna calling Elise a kid. He figured they were the same age, but there was a worldliness to Brenna that Elise was lacking. He swallowed, and then said, “Her brother doesn’t have to worry about her where I’m concerned. She’s scared shitless of me.”
“That’s weird.”
“How is that weird? Her brother is convinced that I’m a convict just because I have a few tats.” He might not have been wrong about that, but Rome wasn’t going to bring that up unless absolutely necessary.
“Yeah, but Elise actually talks to me about stuff, and I wasn’t getting a fear vibe from her when it comes to you, if you know what I’m saying.” She wiggled her eyebrows at him.
Rome rolled his eyes. Brenna thought everyone was as horny as she was. There was no mistaking Elise’s terror when she’d fled earlier today, though. That wasn’t sexual tension. That was the opposite.
“Probably to be on the safe side, you should avoid her, though.” Brenna shrugged. “If she makes Grant all freaked out, you don’t want him coming down on you.”
“I have no intention of bothering her, trust me. I like this job and want to keep it.”
She winked at him and scooped her puppy up off of the counter. “I hear you. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a fiancé to go molest.”
Brenna left and Rome finished his sandwich, made another, devoured it, and then headed off to his own cabin. His mood was black as he played through the day in his head over and over again. Elise’s fear of him. Grant’s perpetual dislike. Brenna’s careless words.