Behind Closed Doors (15 page)

“No.” She shook her head. “He just gave me his number and said to call him if anything else happened.”

He came over and picked up one of his own business cards, writing the detective’s name and number on it, and put it in his wallet.

“Are you ready to go?”

“Yeah,” she said, closing her purse and quickly forwarding the phones to voicemail.

Chris walked her out to her car before getting into his own as he had every day since she’d returned to work. He’d never offered to drive together again, and she’d not brought it up. If he was scared of whatever was happening between them, she didn’t want to make it worse. She was never alone though. If Chris had to leave, Terry would come into the office to “make some calls” until Chris came back. Although she felt it was somewhat ridiculous, she appreciated the effort. Even if Chris hadn’t kissed her again since that morning in her apartment, he was showing her he cared by making sure she was safe. It was new to her, but she found that she liked it.

Sunday morning Elizabeth and Jan piled into Chris’s truck for the drive to Cincinnati. The two women were excitedly chatting away while he, on the other hand, was a nervous wreck.

He’d manage to keep things appropriate for the past week, making sure he was never truly alone with her. At the office, he stayed at his desk for the most part. And when she came in, he made sure his butt stayed firmly planted in his chair.

It had worked. He hadn’t kissed her again even though the thought crossed his mind about a thousand times a day.

As much as his hormones were wreaking havoc with his mind, he knew there was no way his family would let Elizabeth’s presence slide, especially his mom. He was already on alert due to their conversation two weeks ago, and there was little doubt that Jan had helped fuel the fire.

The problem was he couldn’t deny it. He liked Elizabeth. He wanted her. He just wasn’t sure those were good things. He had to keep reminding himself that eight months ago, she was married. A relationship was not what she needed right now.

A relationship. Was he really contemplating getting involved in a relationship with her?

All too soon, his parents’ house came into view. He parked in front and they all got out. His mom was out the door to greet them before they’d reached the front walkway.

“You made it,” she said, pulling him in for a hug.

“Morning, Mom.”

She smiled up at him before glancing over his shoulder. “Jan!” Mary quickly moved and gave her a warm hug. “It’s good to see you.”

“We really should get together more often.”

“You’re so right.”

“So,” Mary said, looking back over her shoulder at him. “Are you going to introduce us?”

“Oh! Of course. Sorry. Mom, this is my new neighbor and assistant, Elizabeth Marshall. Elizabeth, this is my mother, Marilyn Daniels.”

Mary enveloped Elizabeth in a quick hug.

Her tense look almost had Chris stepping in when his mother leaned back and said, “I’m so glad you could join us today, Elizabeth.”

“Thank you for inviting me.”

A screen door opening and out came Chloe. Chris turned around to meet her bright smile. “Uncle Chris!” she squealed.

He bent down and picked up the four-year-old and she hugged him. “And how are you today, Miss Chloe?”

She giggled. “We’re going to the football game to see Uncle Gage play.”

“I know. It’s been a while since you’ve seen Uncle Gage, hasn’t it?” She nodded in a way that reminded him of a bobble head. “Well, I’m sure he misses you.” Chloe glanced behind him and then ducked her head in his shoulder. “What’s wrong?” he asked, looking behind him.

“Stranger,” she whispered.

He looked back again and saw Elizabeth was still talking to his mother. Chris frowned. That didn’t bode well.

Before he could dwell on the situation, he turned back to Chloe. “That’s Elizabeth. She’s living in the house with Jan and me now.”

“Is she your girlfriend?”

“No, she’s not.” He couldn’t even define what she was to him right now, let alone try to explain it to a four-year-old.

“Oh,” Chloe said, seemingly disappointed.

Her reaction stung more than he would have liked to admit. Everyone seemed to have an opinion on his love life, or lack thereof. The sound of the screen door opening again had Chris looking over his niece’s head to find Paul, his brother, strolling toward them with a smile on his face.

“I see you found your Uncle Chris.”

The little girl twisted in his arms. “I did, Daddy.”

He went straight for Elizabeth. “Hello. I’m Paul, and you are?”

His mom supplied the introduction. “This is Elizabeth Marshall. She’s a friend of Chris’s.”

The implication was clear, and Paul turned with a raised eyebrow to look at him. “She moved into the second floor apartment,” he said quickly.

“Ah,” he said, clearly not convinced.

He’d known with every fiber of his being that if Elizabeth met his family they would not believe that she was just a friend. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do about their assumption.

Soon, Chloe wanted down so that she could meet Elizabeth, and he had to admit that, so far, his mother seemed to like her. That was more than could be said of Carol. His mother had never liked his ex-wife, not even when they’d been dating.

Just after eleven o’clock, everyone was ready to leave. Elizabeth had met everyone in his family except Gage, who she would meet after the game, and Trent, his brother, who would be pulling up with minutes to spare if history was anything to go by.

Sure enough, with everyone already divided as evenly as possible between the two SUVs, two minutes before they were to leave for the stadium, Trent pulled up in a pickup truck not that much different than Chris’s.

“Hey, family! Sorry I’m late,” he said waving to their mom, dad, and Jan in the other vehicle as he squeezed into the SUV with Paul, Chloe, Chris, and Elizabeth.

Once everyone was strapped in, Paul put his vehicle in gear and headed to the stadium.

Chloe said, “Uncle Trent, Uncle Trent. Guess what Daddy bought me?”

Trent glanced over at Paul. “What did your daddy get you, Princess?” Paul sent a quick glare over at Trent before returning his eyes to the road, which only made the brother’s grin widen.

“I’m wearing Uncle Gage’s jersey. See?” she said, squirming in her booster seat. Chloe was trying to pull the oversized shirt out from under the seatbelt so that Trent could see the big number seven. “It has Uncle Gage’s number and everything.”

Trent twisted around in his seat to look back at his niece, and Chris knew exactly when he spotted Elizabeth. “Yeah, Princess. I like it. Uncle Gage will too, I think.”

“You think so?”

“Yeah. I do,” Trent said to Chloe, but his eyes were on Elizabeth and she shifted.

“Hello there. I’m Trent. And you are?”

“Elizabeth.”

“It’s nice to meet you. And how do you come to be with us this fine day?”

Not liking the way his brother was looking at Elizabeth, Chris rolled his eyes and moved his arm to rest on the back of the seat behind her. There was no physical contact, but the implication was clear. “She moved into the second floor apartment at Jan’s, and she’s my new assistant.”

“I see.” Trent’s expression clearly indicated he was not deterred by Chris’s show. “Well, I’m glad you could come today. You can sit by me and I’ll talk you through the game. Football is a lot more fun when you know what you’re seeing.” He winked.

Elizabeth’s back straightened, and she got a spark of determination. “Oh, I don’t know about that. Maybe it will be me talking
you
through the game.”

Trent fell back dramatically. “Be still my heart. I think I’m in love!”

Chloe giggled at her uncle. Chris, however, was not amused. His fists tightened, and he had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from responding.

From the front seat, Trent continued to flirt with Elizabeth all the way to the stadium. He took a little break when he went over to hug their mother, father, and Jan. After that, however, he was right back at Elizabeth’s side, chatting away.

Chris said nothing. She wasn’t his, not really, but the last thing he wanted was for his brother to flirt with her.

The game started and he hoped the flirting would stop. It didn’t. What made matters worse was that Elizabeth seemed to be eating it up. She was smiling and laughing right along with him.

By the time halftime rolled around, he was seeing red. “You know . . . ,” his mom leaned in from her seat behind him and whispered, “. . . if you’d stake your claim, your brother would back off.” Chris held tight to the arms of his chair and shook his head. “Suit yourself,” she said, sitting back.

It continued like that until it was time to leave. Tennessee had won the game by a field goal so Gage would be in a celebrating mood. Chris could only hope that didn’t mean he’d have two brothers to fight off Elizabeth. One was enough.

Elizabeth was having a wonderful time. There was lots of standing and shouting, just the way she liked it.

Trent had stayed close to her side the entire game. He poked fun at Gage or joked about how the other team couldn’t seem to catch a pass, and yelled right along with her when a bad call had been made, or jumped up with her and cheered when there was an especially good play.

The only downside was that Chris had not participating in the celebration. Every time she’d glance over at him, he didn’t seem happy. The rest of the family was getting into the game, while he just sat there looking as if someone had died. She didn’t understand it. His family was great. They’d welcomed her, made her feel included. She hadn’t felt this carefree since her parents had died in that horrible car crash almost four years ago.

It was only after Trent had lifted her off the ground in a celebratory hug at the end of the game that she understood. Chris didn’t like his brother giving her so much attention.

She didn’t understand. Chris hadn’t made any attempts to kiss her again, nor had he acted as if he was open to discussing it. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe he just wasn’t interested.

She liked Chris. More than liked him. And she loved kissing him. That was something she definitely wanted to do again.

But for whatever reason, a reason he wasn’t sharing with her apparently, he wasn’t jumping at the chance to be with her. Meanwhile, Trent seemed more than happy with her company.

The seating arrangements in the SUV for the trip back Mary and Mike’s house were such that Trent could be in the back with Elizabeth. Chris didn’t seem all that happy about it, but he didn’t protest either, so she went with it. She was not going to force herself on a man that didn’t want to be with her.

Once at the house, the brothers pulled out a large grill onto a large back deck and fired it up. She settled into a lounge chair and of course, Trent sat in the one beside her.

Just as Chris’s dad, Mike, was putting the meat on the grill, a sleek black sports car pulled up to the curb, and a young man who looked to be in his mid-twenties stepped out. She surmised that this was most likely Gage. The family resemblance was uncanny with his dark hair and broad shoulders.

Gage strolled with purpose toward the group lounging in the backyard, but went directly to his mother, picking her up off the ground and twirling her around. She swatted his arm when he finally put her down. “I don’t know why you continue doing that to your old mother. You’re going to give me a heart attack one of these days.”

He laughed. “Nah. You’re not old, Ma. Just seasoned.” Gage winked.

Mary rolled her eyes.

“So,” Trent said to his brother. “No entourage today?”

Gage shrugged, reached for a bottle of water, and downed it in what seemed to be one swallow. “Well, I for one am glad you didn’t bring one of those girls you seem to like to hang around with,” his father said.

Gage ignored the comment and turned his attention to Elizabeth. “And who do we have here?”

After introductions were made, Gage strolled over to take a seat at the end of her lounger. “Well, that’s a pity. We could use another pretty face in Nashville.” She was floored by all the flirting. First Trent and now Gage. Chris was always so serious. It was hard to believe they were part of the same family.