Page 40 of Elijah’s Whim

Grant made a low hum in the back of his throat before saying, “Oh no, we will. Anyway, meet the redhead somewhere public, break it to her gently that her days of riding Thunder Mountain are over, she needs to exit the park in an orderly fashion, and no one will get hurt.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. It started as a chuckle and worked up to a full belly laugh until I could barely catch my breath. “Jesus Christ, man. What makes you say the shit you say?” But thank God he did blurt the stuff he did because sometimes a guy just needed to laugh at the ridiculousness of his own existence.

“So what has Hannah so skittish? Is it what happened at the kitchen? Or something other than that?”

“Well, that definitely messed with her pretty badly. She’s been having nightmares about that afternoon for the past two weeks. Last night, I finally talked my way into her bed, and I think it was the first full night’s sleep she’s gotten since she came to stay with me.”

“Hold up,” Grant said, and I could hear the shift in his temperament.

“Oh, here we go,” I muttered. “Are you going to be an asshole now?”

“Can this really be happening? The once famous Elijah Banks, manwhore of all manwhores, is losing his touch. Oh, pretty boy, say it isn’t so.”

“No, I’m not. Not at all. I happen to have more respect for the woman than a quick fuck. Is that so hard to understand?”

“No, I understand the concept completely.” Grant chuckled. “I just thought you no longer did. It’s been a whole lot of time, my brother, and a whole lot of random pussy between you and the last time you talked about respecting a woman.”

Honestly, he wasn’t wrong.

Something had been prickling at the back of my neck since I received Shawna’s texts. It took me until now, though, to realize what it was.

“Dude—” I started to say in a rush but completely forgot I was using the phone on my desk. I stood abruptly and pulled the entire phone base with me. “Oh, shit!” I yelped as my cold morning coffee began to topple before I caught the cup and steadied the thing, narrowly avoiding an epic desktop disaster.

“You good, man?” Grant asked.

“Yeah, yeah. Almost had a huge coffee mess on my hands. Anyway, I’ve had a weird feeling about this whole Shawna thing, outside the obvious weird feelings. You know, something just didn’t seem to be adding up, and it finally hit me. Why does Shawna even know about Hannah? I mean, she shouldn’t. I made a great effort to keep them apart the one night they were at the house at the same time. And despite what Hannah still believes, it was just one night—the first or second night she was there.”

“Why the hell did you do that? Have her over when Hannah was there? You know how loud Shawna is. If she had even an inkling that someone else was in the house, I wouldn’t put it past her to turn on the theatrics,” Grant pointed out, only confirming my same thoughts.

“Oh no, man, I didn’t invite her over. She just fucking showed up. I couldn’t tell you the last time I actually asked her to come over.”

“Banks…” My friend just stopped there, and the silence ballooned between us. When I realized how foolish I likely looked through his eyes, I didn’t like it one bit.

Lashing out at him seemed like the best option. “You could’ve fucking said something before this moment, you know? How about that?”

“We both know this isn’t my fault and you’re just swinging at me because that’s the way you deal with shit that makes you look bad.”

“Because I’ve had a stalker how many times before?”

“I’ve told you that dick was going to get you in trouble, chief. Makes the ladies cray. Zee.”

“You’re the one who’s crazy. And I love you for it, man. Thanks for listening, but holy shit, I’m never going to make it to the Edge on time for this meeting.”

“Go. Keep me posted,” my best friend said as a farewell.

“Will do. Bye.”

Christ. I hated being late for anything. It was a major pet peeve of mine. Well, one of them. As I hustled past my assistant’s desk, I said much more tersely than I cared to, “Walk with me.” Then quickly added, “Please.”

“What’s up, boss?” Carmen asked, smart pad already in hand to take notes.

“Can you either call or email Louise Chancellor? Her information is in my contacts. Please find out the soonest she can meet with me regarding a personal legal matter that involves one of her employees.”

“You got it. Anything else?”

“Yes. Can you send Hannah Farsey… Do you need me to spell the last name?”

“She’s the caterer?”

“Yes. Good memory. Send her flowers from that shop next to the Chinese food place I like a few blocks from here. You know the one?”

“Sure do.”

“Excellent. Pick something nice. More than friendly but not red roses, you know? Oh, and not carnations. Make sense?”

“You got it. But just curious, what’s wrong with carnations?”

The elevator doors closed on my arm for the second time, so I gave my assistant one last set of instructions.

“I want the card to say, ‘Looking forward to our date this weekend.’ And I just don’t like them. They remind me of senior prom. That night was a clusterfuck I never want to remember again.”

He laughed. “I’m on it.”

“Thanks, man. You’re the best.”

“I keep telling you that.” He smiled as the elevator doors closed.

I descended to street level and the waiting car that whisked me off to my meeting in the Financial District.