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“I took a couple ibuprofen, so it’s bearable.” Her gaze shifted from their gear he’d carried over, to the food heating in the pot above the fire. “You didn’t have to do all this.”
“It’s only soup. No big deal.” He glanced up, then gestured to one of the benches set around the fire pit. “Just relax, it’s almost done.”
As she took a seat, he felt her assessing gaze. He had a feeling he wasn’t going to like what came next.
“Let’s talk about my background check.”
Yep. Only a matter of time before she brought that up. “What about it?”
“What did you learn?”
“Enough.” Enough to intrigue him and raise even more questions as he mentally evaluated the information during their ride.
“Such as?”
Her voice told him she wasn’t going to let it go until she had some answers. He gave her one she’d love. “I at least had the rich part right.”
He glanced up to see her watching him, only the response he expected never came. Instead, she sat there, eyebrows raised, waiting for more. Okay, fine, he’d play.
“You’ve never been arrested, no outstanding warrants, no parking tickets. Never been married, no kids. Parents divorced, one sister.” He dumped the vegetable stew into two bowls and handed one over to her before settling back with his own. “You’re an Illinois resident, but you’ve worked out here every summer since high school. You graduated college with honors this spring with a double major in business and advertising. Your finances are secure and you’ve got good credit.”
“Hm. That’s a lot of info.” Steam rose as she stirred her spoon in a circle. “Any of it make me a suspect?”
A quick glance caught her still watching him from beneath her lashes. He gave a noncommittal shrug. She was less suspect than Mitch, but he’d rather keep her guessing. Then again, as she’d pointed out earlier, she was still here, so she should’ve guessed the answer to her question before even asking.
“You’re employed by Lucas International Technologies. That’s your father’s company, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then what are you doing out here?”
“Helping a friend.” She stirred some more, then added, “Figuring out what I really want to do with my life.”
The unexpected admission seemed to surprise even her. After having just graduated with a double major that fit in perfectly with her father’s company, he could see why. She frowned down into her bowl and he tilted his head in consideration. “That what the mustang is about?”
Her shoulders rose in a slight shrug. “Maybe. Probably.”
“You’d have job security with your father,” he pointed out. “These days, that’s pretty hard to come by.”
“Yeah, you’ve got a point.” One she didn’t look too happy about as she lifted her spoon.
“But?”
“You haven’t met my father. He has extremely high expectations, and it’s not always easy to live up to them.”
“Yet you’re here instead of there.”
“I am. And he wasn’t too happy about it.”
“Because you put a friend before family?”
“No, because I put a friend before my career. His business always comes first.” Resentment weighed her voice down, coating her words in hurt.
Joel wondered if the guy was that much of a jerk, or did he only have the job? Divorced, his daughter run off to Colorado to find herself…maybe the poor guy was just trying to survive. Joel knew from experience, family didn’t guarantee devotion. With his mother, money had come first and—nope, not going there.
He focused back on Brittany to see her lips curved in a brief smile. Then she looked up and flipped the conversation on him. “Enough about me. Tell me, if I were to read a background check on you, what would I learn?”
“My middle name.”
