“That’s strange.” Most people liked it when someone cared enough to remember their birthday. It couldn’t have been shyness. He remembered the way she’d cut Simon to pieces in front of the board without even raising her voice. She was clearly used to speaking in front of an audience.
“It’s next Wednesday actually,” Natalie said. “I want to do something, but I’m not sure how she’s going to react. She can be kind of odd about celebrating special occasions.”
“Well, when you guys were working together she was probably too busy to bother,” Ethan said, fishing a little.
“I don’t know if that’s quite it. She always made time to celebrate other people’s birthdays or promotions, just not her own. I mean, we’d plan everything. Then we would invite her, but she’d get sort of all weird about it and make some excuse about why she couldn’t do it, some BS about how she was super busy or something.” Natalie shrugged, although her frown said it still bothered her. “But she always came in the end, even though it was like pulling teeth to get her there. I suspect it was because she didn’t want to let anybody down more than anything.”
Curiouser and curiouser. All this new information, combined with her heartbreakingly sad face at the christening party and at the park, was making the puzzle that was Kerri more and more difficult to solve.
He needed to figure her out. Her contradictory nature and attitude baffled him. Women were never simple, but none of them had been this complicated. If he’d been less attracted, he would’ve called quits, unwilling to put up with the work required to win her over. However, he was crazy for her, and honest enough to admit his desire for her might never fade. A deeper understanding might help him regain his equilibrium and find better ways to deal with her.
“Anyway, drop me off wherever Kerri’s staying,” Natalie said. “I want to see her.”
“She’s at the Arlington penthouse.”
Natalie raised an eyebrow. “Really? Your place?”
“Technically it belongs to TLD.”
“Technically.”
“Yes.”
Natalie chortled. “And to think that she said you weren’t her type.”
“She said that? Kerri?”
“The very same. She said you’re tall, but not dark. I told her you could always wear a wig, but then she said you weren’t manageable.” Natalie rolled her eyes. “Can you believe it? It’s like she’s looking for an analyst to boss around or something. One with benefits.”
Though Natalie seemed to find the whole thing amusing, Ethan knew exactly what Kerri had meant. She wanted a man she could easily leave behind whenever she felt too threatened. His instinct to offer her a “temporary” arrangement with a clear exit had been spot-on. If he’d insisted on anything else, she would’ve refused.
“Anyway, don’t forget: dinner at our place this evening,” Natalie said. “Alex is flying back right after the meeting to join us. He’s dying to meet Kerri.”
*
Ethan dropped Natalie off at the penthouse and drove on to his office. His assistant looked up the moment he walked in the door. “Ethan, there’s someone here to see you.”
He frowned. “ I have an appointment?”
“Yep. With me.”
He turned around and found Gavin rising from the comfy leather seat. “This is a first,” Ethan said. “I don’t think you’ve ever visited me here before.”
“We need to talk.”
“Okay.” Ethan took him inside. ?
??Coffee?”
“No thanks. I’m not planning to stay long. I had to cancel a few appointments to come see you as it is.”
“You could’ve called.”
“I did call—your admin, to make sure you’d be here.” Gavin took an empty chair and crossed his ankles. It was his way of pretending to be loose and relaxed, though it didn’t fool Ethan. “But what I’ve got to say is too important to talk about over the phone.”
Ethan took his own chair, leaned back and put his feet up on the desk, waiting. They didn’t look like brothers, he thought, not for the first time. Gavin had dark hair, dark eyes, and an upright posture that seemed almost military. There was tightness about him, a hungry tension that coiled inside like a starving cobra. Ethan thought his younger brother was too grim and intense, but he refrained from commenting. Gavin was an adult and capable of making his own decisions about how he wanted to live his life.
“You should be careful who you sleep with,” Gavin said finally. “I didn’t really want to get involved—it’s none of my business who you’re fooling around with—but this is important.”