James didn’t bother hiding his surprise. “A favor? Why me and not Carter?”
“Oh, I just uh…didn’t want to bother him.”
“So, you thought you’d bother me instead of your own husband?”
I opened my mouth either to retort or rebuke—I wasn’t sure which—but James laughed. “Kidding. Come on in.”
“You’re such a jerk, James,” reprimanded the woman, poking his shoulder again, this time forcefully.
“I know it.” He caught her finger and brushed it with a kiss, surprising me, before letting her go. “Ellie, meet Liberty. She’s my second around here.”
“Hi, Liberty. It’s nice to meet you.”
I shook her hand. Second? Their interaction appeared more like boyfriend-girlfriend, especially with that kiss, but who was I to judge? It wasn’t any of my business.
After Liberty and I had met, she said, “I’m going to get more coffee. This cup’s cold. Anyone want some?”
Neither James nor I did. With a, “Be right back,” she walked out and James motioned me to a nearby chair.
“Have a seat, Ellie. What can I do for you?”
I sank with a sigh. “I need to call my parents,” I said. “I’ve been putting it off long enough. Thought maybe you could help me with getting a phone.”
James eyed me quizzically. “You could’ve asked anybody upstairs for a phone to call your parents.”
“I could have?” Suddenly, I felt a little stupid. “I didn’t know, with the whole witness protection thing, if it would be easy to get in touch with them or not. I didn’t know if Carter had some kind of protocols in place about it.”
“Ah, yes. That makes sense. What doesn’t make sense is you seeking me out instead of him. You guys are on the rocks, aren’t you?”
The surprising shrewdness again. I hid a flinch at the direct question.
“Carter’s just…just…”
“A butthead?”
The juvenile term took me aback and I laughed out loud. “I probably wouldn’t have used an insult from second grade, but, okay, yes. Sometimes he is a butthead.”
James chuckled too. I suspected he’d chosen the word on purpose to make me smile, perk me up.
“You have no idea. I’ve worked with the guy a long time now. When he’s not growling at everyone he’s being a total smartass. Every now and then I get fed up and do something to get him back. How’d his meeting with your dad go?”
Now my eyebrows flared. “You set Carter up for that?”
“Sure did. Tried to, anyway. I heard it worked. I’m sure I’d be dead by now if Blake hadn’t turned on Carter.” James looked inordinately pleased with himself. “Carter relies on me to feed him crucial information. I fed him information alright. I just didn’t feed him a few key pieces.”
“Well, thanks a lot. You got Carter good, but you did know this affected me too, right?”
“Oh, it’s your dad. He can’t stay mad at you forever.” James brushed my protest aside.
“No, but I have a feeling he will stay mad at Carter forever.”
James’ head dropped back as he laughed. “This is great. Carter’s first meeting with the in-laws. Legendary. Wish I could’ve seen it.”
In spite of myself, I couldn’t help sharing a fraction of James’ humor over Carter’s predicament. Sure, it had put me in a tough spot, but I could see James’ point. Carter was so cynical, so sarcastic, so sure of himself…I could see why he and James clashed and why James would have so much fun getting one over on him.
“Was Carter rattled?”
I shrugged. “If he was, he didn’t show it that much. He just seemed a little uncomfortable.”
“That means he was rattled.”
“Well, he recuperated pretty fast. By the time we got to the hospital after he’d been attacked, he was recovered enough to start hitting on me and telling the doctor we were married and making a joke about me being pregnant to one of his nurses,” I said, cringing at the memory.
I still can’t believe he said that to Yolanda.
“He did not.”
“Yes, he did! I could’ve smacked him. I don’t care if he was on painkillers. It was embarrassing.”
“What, the jokes to the nurses or him hitting on you?”
“The joke about me being pregnant and telling everyone we were married,” I responded. “I don’t care if he hits on me.”
“I bet you don’t.”
“I was going to say…” I said firmly, giving James a dark look, “before you interrupted me, I don’t care if he hits on me because I know he doesn’t mean it. That’s just his way of bugging me. Which, speaking of, you’re every bit as bad as him in your own way at bugging people. No wonder you two butt heads. You’re like teenage frenemies.”
This only amused James more, who rolled away from me to check a nearby screen, typing away at the keyboard.
“You’re fun to have around, Ellie. You’re a weird mix of easily rattled and talking smack right back. I can’t lie, I haven’t spent tons of time around normal people, but you’re fun. I know sticking it out here isn’t your plan, but it wouldn’t hurt my feelings if you decided to.”
I started to say, “Well, thank you. That’s sweet,” until he followed up the kind remark with, “It wouldn’t hurt Carter’s feelings if you stuck around, either. Any chance of you two working it out and making a go of it?”
“No! There is no chance of that. And I wish you’d lay off about it.”
“Ah, crap.” Finished, he swiveled back to me. “I think you’re good for him.”
“How would you know if I’m good for him or not? You’ve barely seen us together. We’ve barely been together,” I reminded him shortly.
James’ head cocked to the side as he studied me. “I’ve seen enough to know Carter is putting himself out for you in ways that aren’t like him. Like with the no cursing rule, remember? And the hitting on you thing…Carter uses sarcasm to deflect with everybody, but he doesn’t hit on the women around here.”
“Because that would be unprofessional.”
“It would, but that doesn’t stop lots of people from doing it.”
“Carter isn’t like lots of people.”
“You can say that again.”
“I meant because he’s head of security. He has to be more professional.”
“True. But, trust me, that’s not the only reason he doesn’t hit on the ladies here. He hits on you because he likes you.”
“I think you’re wrong,” I countered. “He knows I don’t like it, and he’s trying to aggravate and embarrass me.”
“Eh, think what you want,” James shrugged one shoulder. “I still say you’re good for him. If you decide to hang around, we’ll all be glad to have you. You are part of the family now.”
Part of the family now…words that had irrevocably altered the course of my life. They struck a chord now, making me flinch. If James noticed, he didn’t remark on it, saying instead as he pushed himself to his feet, “What was it you came down here for? A phone, right? I’ll find one and get you in touch with your parents. You’re right, Carter probably does have protocols in place, but if anyone can break them, it’s me.”