“Jewelry?” Leanne raised an eyebrow at Laura.
“Yeah. I design it.”
“Awesome! We have to talk. You have to make me a pair of earrings. I’ve wanted them for ages. I can see them in my mind, but I can’t find them in the stores.”
Laura nodded. “Sure. Give me your number. I’ll call you about it.” She smiled for the first time. “I don’t dare talk about it now; it’d drive these guys nuts.”
Leanne laughed. “Yeah. You might have a point there.”
The conversation and the laughter came easily after that. Dan was as relaxed with these guys as she’d ever seen him—but then he would be, they were his family. She probably didn’t need to feel so protective of him around them, but she couldn’t help it. She did it with everyone. Laura was fun when she loosened up and Jack was one of those all-around good guys: good-looking, good-fun and just a fundamentally decent person—she could tell. Before she’d met Ryan, Leanne would have found Jack attractive. But these days, she didn’t even see men that way anymore.
She froze when she felt her phone buzz in her pocket. If it was him, she’d have to take it. This was fun, but no way was she going to miss out on talking to Ryan.
She took it out and checked the screen. It was a message from a number she didn’t recognize.
She frowned as she read it.
He told me about you.
An uneasy feeling settled in her stomach. She wanted to think that it was a wrong number. Wanted to think that the he it was talking about was someone other than Ryan, but her heart was thumping loudly in her ears.
She didn’t answer. There was no point. It probably wasn’t even meant for her.
Dan raised an eyebrow at her. “Everything okay?”
She nodded. Then her phone buzzed again in her hand.
Did he tell you about me?
Oh, she so did not need this.
“What’s up, Lee?” Dan looked worried now and the others had stopped talking and turned to look at her.
She gave them an overly bright smile. “It’s nothing. Everything’s fine …”
Her phone buzzed again, and she looked down at it. Her heart thudded to a halt. She felt as though she might pass out or throw up or something. It was a picture. A photo of Ryan. He was asleep. Or at least, he was lying in bed, his muscular chest naked, his eyes closed and his head on a pillow. She’d seen him that way often enough to know that he was asleep. She felt tears prick behind her eyes. It felt … no. It might feel bad, but that didn’t mean it was bad.
“Lee?” Dan reached for her phone. “What is it?”
She let him take it. Maybe he’d be able to see what was really going on and explain it to her … because it couldn’t be what she thought it was. It couldn’t be, but it couldn’t be anything else either.
Dan took the phone and frowned. “Who’s this from?”
She shrugged. “You tell me. It’s not a number I know.”
“What’s up?” asked Jack.
“Someone’s messing with Leanne.”
Her chin jerked up. “You think? Do you think that’s what it is?”
Dan put his hand on her shoulder. He wasn’t big on physical touch. So, the gesture meant even more to her. “That’s all it can be, Lee. I know what it looks like. What they’re trying to make it look like. But no. He wouldn’t.”
She let out a shaky breath. That was what she wanted to believe. She just hoped she’d be able to. She took the phone back and started to type.
“What are you going to say to them?”
She gave him a tight smile. “I’m not. I’m going to ask him.”
Dan smiled back. “Good girl. And I’m going to see what I can find on that number.”
“Thanks, do you need …” she stopped herself. He was already tapping on his own phone. He would have memorized the number when he saw it.
She opened a text to send to Ryan.
Hey.
That was all she could come up with. She couldn’t ask him what the hell was going on, yet she couldn’t say anything else and not ask. It was enough. She could just be checking if he was free to talk. She hit send and waited.
Her hand shook when she opened his reply. He’d promised her that there wouldn’t be anyone else. He’d promised that he’d tell her if he changed his mind about them. And she had no reason to believe that he’d break either of those promises.
Sorry. He can’t come to the phone right now. Did you like the picture?
That feeling swept over her again, the overwhelming need to throw up or pass out or throw something—or kill someone. Preferably the bitch who was apparently using his phone while he slept—beside her?
She set her phone down on the table. It was ten-twenty here. That would make it one-twenty in the morning on the east coast. Friday night. Had he been out with someone and taken her home? It couldn’t be a random hookup. It must be someone he already knew, someone who knew about her.
She blew out a sigh and looked at Dan. “You finding anything?”
He didn’t meet her gaze. “It’s a DC number. It’s registered to a Brittany Davis.”
She stared at him for a long moment.
“Do you know her?”
“Nope.” She was glad she’d never heard the name before, but the fact that it was a DC number wasn’t doing anything to reassure her. She glanced at Laura and Jack who were watching her and Dan. She forced herself to smile. Whether it was someone trying to mess with her head or it really was what it looked like, she wasn’t going to let it ruin their evening. This was Laura’s first impression of what her new life in San Francisco was going to be like. No way was Leanne going to taint it with a bunch of unnecessary drama. She stuffed her phone back into her purse. If her world was going to crumble around her ears, it could wait until she got home.
Chapter Fourteen
“Are you going to give me the go ahead to travel?” Ryan was pissed. He gripped the edge of Callahan’s desk with both hands and leaned toward him. “Or not?”
As ever, Callahan wasn’t fazed by his outburst one way or another. “You can travel domestically, how about that? You’re still signed off for another week. I’m not sending you back down there. Manny has everything covered. He’ll probably be back here before you get cleared to go.”
Ryan blew out his cheeks. “So, what? I’m supposed to sit around here on my ass and do nothing?”
Callahan smiled. “You could sit on your ass and make yourself useful. Some people make whole careers—and useful contributions—out of sitting on their asses.”
“I don’t mean that.” Callahan was big on respecting the analysts and the cubicle dwellers. Ryan had nothing against them. He appreciated them. But he’d be damned if he’d become one of them.
“I know. But it’s obvious I couldn’t put you back in the field even if I wanted to—which I don’t.”