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A click sounded from the foyer.
“What was—”
“Shh.” He dropped his voice to a whisper. “Someone’s trying to get in.” He got to his knees and straightened his pants. Snagging my pants and panties, he shoved them into my hands then hurried into the foyer.
I yanked my pants on as the front door handle gave a familiar squeak. I’d made it to my knees when the door swung inward, and a young man walked in.
“Shit, Hart.” Garrett walked out to greet him. “I was about to fucking clock you.”
Hart laughed, his voice a pleasant baritone. “I still technically live here, you know.”
I got to my feet and tried to ease out of Hart’s line of sight.
He turned toward me at the movement.
Fuck.
His bright green eyes narrowed, then widened with recognition. “Sidney? What are you doing here?”
CHAPTER TWENTY
GARRETT CROSSED HIS ARMS over his chest and glared at me. “Who’s Sidney, and what the fuck is going on?”
“I can explain.” Can’t I?
Hart stared, his handsome face contorted into a mask of confusion. “How did you get here? Are you still doing that pine beetle study thing? The research?”
“Oh, so you’re a researcher, Sidney?”
There was no way out of this. Both men wanted an explanation, and what was more, they deserved it from me.
I straightened my back and walked into the foyer. “Okay, so you know I’ve been looking for my father.”
“You have?” Hart shook his head, his light brown hair flopping over his ears.
“Yes.” I gave him the frankest look in my arsenal. “Hart, I’m sorry, but when I met you, I lied to you. My name isn’t Sidney, and I’m not doing research on southern pine beetles. My name’s Elise, and I was asking you questions about the woods around here to see if you had seen any trace of my father or anything strange.”
He ran a hand over his clean-shaven jaw. “This is sort of a mind-blown moment.”
“I know, and I’m sorry. It’s just that I didn’t know if I could trust you.” I glanced to Garrett as my cheeks heated. “I didn’t know if your family had anything to do with my dad’s disappearance.”
“Disappearance?” He looked from me to Garrett, then back again. “What are you talking about?”
“Maybe we should all sit down?” I motioned toward the dining room.
“No. Go on.” Garrett’s tone edged on dangerous.
“Okay.” I met his fierce gaze. “I looked up your family. I found Hart was a student at a university just a few hours away. I figured he would be my best bet to ask questions about the property without raising suspicion. So, I pretended to be studying the woodlands for my thesis. Hart was kind enough to answer my questions and talk to me.”
Hart smirked, the look almost as devious as the one his brother often wore, but with a hint of innocence from a perfectly placed dimple. “I talked to you because you were hot, not because I’m kind.”
Garrett thrummed his fingers on his bicep, irritation rolling off him in waves.
I hurried along. “So, I asked him about the woods, if he’d seen any beetle activity or human activity because I, um, I said that beetles were attracted to man-made things like houses, shacks, cars, any of that.”
Garrett drew his brows together. “Hart, you fell for that shit?”
Hart shrugged. “Did you hear the part where I said I would have told her anything she wanted to hear? Look at her.” He scanned me with open interest.
“Stop looking at her like that.” Garrett’s voice held a chill.
“Hart is the reason I knew to search here. He saw my father’s car on your property. That’s why I’m here. I swear, Garrett, that was it. I wasn’t trying to trick him or you, I just didn’t know who to trust.”
He stepped toward me, his arms still crossed. “So you still don’t trust me?”
“No, I do.” I rested my hand on his forearm.
“Then why didn’t you share this information?”
I dropped my eyes to the floor and chewed my lip. “I intended to. I just didn’t, but I should have. I guess I was embarrassed about the lies, so I was holding off for as long as I could.” I caught his eye again. “And there’s one more thing.”
Hart whistled. “Sorry to interrupt, but I still have no clue what’s going on.”
Garrett ignored him and zeroed in on me. “What’s the other thing?”
“I snooped in Lillian’s room” —His jaw tightened even more, so I sped my explanation— “and I found my father’s Braves cap and a memory card with photos on it.”
“Photos of what?” Hart asked.
I shook my head. No way I could explain it all. “Probably better if I just show you.”
Garrett pinched the bridge of his nose. “Your dad’s car has been on the property this whole time, yet you didn’t say a word?”
“I’m sorry.” I clasped my hands together. “I wasn’t sure about you, and I …” What else could I say?
“Well, are you sure now?”
“Yes.” I said it easily, no holding back. “All cards on the table.”
Garrett narrowed his eyes. “No more secrets.”
I nodded as regret settled on me like a fine ash. “I promise. You know everything. I swear. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”
He seemed to relax a little, then glanced to Hart. “A beetle researcher? What else have you fallen for while you’ve been away?”
Hart grinned. “Well there was this one chick who said she was on the pill, but—”
“What?” Garrett barked.
I breathed a sigh of relief that he’d turned his ire on Hart instead of me.
Hart laughed. “I’m just dicking with you. Calm down. There’ll be no little Blackwoods running around anytime soon. Promise.” He glanced to me. “Unless there’s something you’ve forgotten to tell me.”
“Such an asshole.” Garrett gave a grudging smile and wrapped his arm around Hart’s neck. Both men were large, Hart’s thicker frame complementing Garrett’s more wiry one. “About time you came home to visit.”
I stepped around them and headed for the stairs.
“Where are you going?” Garrett asked.
“I figured you two wanted some, you know, brother time?” I hesitated on the bottom stair.
Garrett released Hart. “Go in the kitchen. There’s some leftover baked chicken and green beans in the fridge.”
“Are you shitting me? Real food in the house?” He glanced at me. “I’m still not sure who you are, but thanks for cooking.”
I pointed to Garrett. “Actually, he cooked it.”
“Well fuck me running.” Hart bounded down the hallway, the promise of food the only lure he needed.
Garrett walked over to me and cupped the back of my neck. “You think I’d let you get away that easy?”
God, when he said things like that, it was all I could do to not curl my toes. “I-I don’t know.”
He leaned closer, his lips at my ear. “I forgive you, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be punishment.”
A tingle shot up my spine. “Garrett—”
“No way out of it, Red. Not unless you call black.” He released my neck. “Now, let’s go get you reacquainted with my brother. Then I want to see the photos you mentioned. We’ll save the punishment for when he’s out of the house.”
“Okay.” Did I just agree to punishment?
“Go on now.”
I walked past him and yelped when he gave me a firm smack on the ass.
He wrapped his arm around my waist. “Couldn’t resist getting a head start.”
“LET ME SEE YOUR LEG.” Hart plopped down next to me on the couch.
