He chuckled. “I guess it’s better than nothing.” He sidled closer to me. “I missed you, if that counts for anything.”
I wanted to rip out my traitorous heart when it rolled. “Huh. I would think that if you missed someone you would call.” I hadn’t meant to say that … and definitely not in that tone. It came out a bit too passive-aggressive and obnoxious for my liking. Still, my mouth had a mind of its own and said whatever it wanted from time to time.
“I wanted to call,” he hedged. “I felt kind of weird, though.”
“Well, there’s no reason to feel weird.” I clapped his arm as hard as I could, as if we were buddies at the bar watching a football game. “No hard feelings here. I’m perfectly fine.”
He tilted his head to the side, considering. “Yeah. I’m getting a different vibe. Still ... I emailed.”
“Oh, that’s the same as a phone call.”
He grinned. “You did miss me. That’s why you’re so annoyed. It’s okay. You can admit it.”
“No.” I folded my arms over my chest. “I didn’t miss you. I barely know you. I mean ... we worked together and I would be sad if someone killed you or something, but I didn’t miss you.
“Like, for example, I would totally be sad if you were the one who died during the blackout today,” I continued. I realized I was babbling, but I couldn’t stop myself. “That would be heartbreaking, but only because you were a human being and not for any other reason.”
Braden’s grin was back, and it caused me to go warm all over. “Has anyone ever told you what a terrible liar you are?”
“No ... and I’m not lying.”
“You’re totally lying.”
“I am not!”
He met my gaze for a long moment and then slowly raised his hand to brush my dark hair from my face. “I’m sorry. I don’t usually go out of town. I lost the coin toss.”
“So your father told me.”
“I won’t have to leave town anytime soon, but next time I’ll be sure to call.”
“I don’t need a call.”
“I’ll be sure to call,” he repeated. “What do you have planned for the rest of the night?”
“I’m going to the boathouse and ... reading.” I didn’t have any plans. That was the first thing that came to mind. It sounded lame, but I didn’t care. “It’s a really good book.”
His eyes lit with mirth. “What book?”
“Um ... it’s about witches and stuff. I like reading about witches. Heck, I like witches, period.”
“I like them, too.” He winked at me. “I was thinking — and I know this will be difficult because you were obviously attached to your plans — but I was thinking that maybe you might want to go out to dinner with me.”
That was a horrible idea. He already had butterflies dancing in my stomach, which I was mortified to admit even to myself. “No. I’m not dating you. We’ve been over this.”
“It wouldn’t be a date.”
“What would it be?”
“Dinner.”
“That’s a date.”
“No. See ... I figured I would take you to Grimlock Manor. We could tell Dad what you saw, grab dinner there and then see where the night takes us. That’s not a date because my family will be there and no sane man would take a woman on a date with his family.”
He had a point. “I don’t know.”
“Have you eaten?”
“No.”
“Were you planning to tell my father what you saw?”
“Yes.”
“Then this solves both problems ... and ensures that it’s not a date at the same time.”
I hated to admit it but he had a point. “Fine.” I heaved out a sigh. “Just dinner with your family, though. I’m not letting you turn this into a thing.”
“I would never turn this into a thing.”
I didn’t believe him. Still, I wanted to put distance between the aquarium and me. I was still shaken by the visions. “I hope your father is having something good.”
“I believe there’s a Mexican bar tonight.”
“I love Mexican food.”
“Then this should be right up your alley.”
Four
Grimlock Manor was exactly as I remembered it.
I still wasn’t over the fact that the Grimlocks named their house — it looked more like a castle — and found the entire thing hilarious. The house I shared with my grandfather growing up was a two-bedroom shack compared to the glorious abode Braden parked in front of.
“It still looks the same,” I noted.
He cast me a sideways glance. “Did you think it grew in your time away?”
“No. It’s just ... it’s beautiful.” I knew I sounded wistful, but I couldn’t stop myself from being a little jealous. “You must’ve had the best time growing up here.”
“It certainly wasn’t a bad time. We had a lot of fun, but it wasn’t all easy.”
“I know you lost your mother. That had to be hard. You were already an adult, though. Your childhood must have been amazing.”
Instead of immediately agreeing, he shrugged. “Money doesn’t buy happiness. My mother told me that at a young age. I was whining because I wanted some toy and my father told me no. I didn’t understand because it was obvious Dad had the money for it. She explained that money made things easier, but it would never make us happy.”
That was interesting. “We didn’t have a lot of money growing up. I never went hungry or anything, but there wasn’t much to spare. My grandfather taught me how to catch frogs in the bayou so I could sell them to local brujas and make extra money if I needed anything.”
“You caught frogs for money?”
I nodded. “Why? What did you do?”
“We had chores around the house, but in retrospect that sounds lame. It certainly wasn’t much work for the allowance we received.”
“Still, you all seem to have good work ethics.”
“We appreciate a job well done.” He hopped out of the car and hurried to my side. I was already halfway out before he arrived. “I was trying to open the door for you,” he groused, making a face.
Puzzled, l met his serious gaze. His eyes were a ridiculous shade of purple that made me want to dive into them. “Why?”
“It’s the gentlemanly thing to do.”
I was sincerely amused. “Did your father teach you that?”
“No. My mother did.”
He didn’t cringe when he mentioned her this time. The sadness that often permeated his being when he talked about her was absent. I hoped that was a good thing. No one deserved to be as sad as he often looked.
“Well, this isn’t a date,” I reminded him.
“Oh, it’s a date.” He chuckled when I glared. “Oh, don’t give me that look. We both know it’s a date. You’re not ready for a formal date yet, but this is a half date.”
“I already told you ... .”
He cut me off with a shake of his head. “You don’t want to date me. I know. I’m going to change your mind.”