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Mateo nodded. “Yep, read the same file. What are you getting at?”
“I’m saying that you’re not the love-them-and-leave-them type like everybody thinks. Yeah, you leave them, but you’re always careful to choose the type who knows the score. You keep up your walls and never let any woman in. You would never date a woman like this.”
“Again, what’s your point?”
“You’re getting a furnished apartment in Baltimore. Just how do you plan to get your information from MacLaine?”
“I’m going to become friends with her. That’s what I would have done if MacLaine was a MacLaine, and it’s no different if MacLaine is a Lainey.”
“Bullshit. I read up on her. Besides having a soft heart and being a looker, she has a brain. She graduated with honors from Clemson University. Don’t lie to me, these are all things that ring your bell.”
“What are you talking about? That’s not the kind of woman I date.”
“Exactly. You date women who have as much depth as a mud puddle, with an IQ to match. Lainey’s going to do it for you, and just being friends is going to be tough. I had it easy when I was in Dubai dealing with that piranha, Amanda. No matter how hot she looked, there was not one redeeming quality about her. As a matter of fact, kissing her was damn near impossible.”
“Who said I’ll end up kissing Lainey?”
Braxton lifted his left eyebrow.
How did he do that? Mateo’s brother Luis could do that too, but try as he might, Mateo never could master the art of the one eyebrow lift.
“Seriously Brax, that’s not my plan. Yeah, I asked her to dinner, but I plan on keeping this platonic.”
“And if that doesn’t work? If you aren’t getting the info we need? Right now, MacLaine Simpson is our best shot at tracking down the Kraken. What then?”
“I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.”
“All I’m saying—”
“You’ve made your point. Finish your beer. I need to get a move on.” And he didn’t need to hear anymore of Brax’s warnings.
Brax got up and meandered to the kitchen. He poured the rest of the beer down the sink, rinsed out the bottle, then put it into Mateo’s recycling.
“Mateo, if things get sticky, just know you can give me a call, okay?”
Time to change the subject. “How’s your sister doing?”
Braxton lit up. “She’s doing a lot better. The latest treatment is working wonders.”
“That’s great to hear.” And it was. “When will she be up for visitors?”
Braxton grimaced. “Not quite yet. But soon. Dad and I are working on her. So, soon.”
“Let me know the day, and I’ll be there with bells on.”
“I know, and I can’t tell you how much that means to me. To all of us.” Braxton headed for the door. Then turned around. “By the way, I’ll give you that little bit of deflection, but I mean it. Call me if you need to talk. You’re going into the emotional lion’s den.”
That’s what he was afraid of.
11
Lainey looked in the mirror for the sixth time. Did she have lipstick on her teeth? Hadn’t she blotted? She leaned in closer. Nope, no lipstick.
Dang it, calm down.
The problem was, she hadn’t been on a date that she had been looking forward to since college. She’d been on too many dates to count that her dad, mother, and sister had set up, and not once had she given even a little bit of a boonswoggle if she looked good. Okay, she did care that her breath didn’t smell, but that was the low bar she’d set for all those pompous country club idiots. And as for the college boys? Well, there had been two. One was named Randy, and that had been apropos. Then there was Rob. Both of them had been boys, and neither of them had lasted too long.
She’d been beginning to think there was something really wrong with her, and then boom. Suddenly, lust had hit her like a freight train. And even more, there was a healthy dose of ‘like.’ So yeah, not only did she want her breath to be minty fresh, but she also wanted to look really, really good.
