The Player - By Rhonda Nelson Page 0,53

into something a lot more potent. A movie? she mentally scoffed. Why watch a movie when there were other, more satisfying ways, to pass an evening.

Especially with him.

In the process of trying to crawl into his lap without upending her popcorn, Audrey jumped when a loud knock came at the door. Seconds later, it abruptly burst open.

Moses leaped off the recliner, 150 pounds of pissed-off growling canine, and barreled for the door.

“Moses, heel!” Audrey shouted at precisely the same instant she recognized her grandfather. There were two grim-faced men behind him whom she couldn’t identify, but she could hardly think about them at the moment. She was more concerned with keeping her dog from ripping the Colonel’s throat out. “Heel,” she ordered again, jumping up after the dog.

Her grandfather scowled. “Moses,” he scolded. “It’s only me.” He glared at Jamie. “It’s him you should maul.”

Confused, Audrey grabbed Moses by the collar and tugged him back. “Sit,” she told him, patting him on the head. Her dog issued another warning growl, but did as she commanded.

Jamie had left the couch and had come to stand behind her. “Colonel,” he acknowledged. His gaze darted to the men standing behind her grandfather and he gave them an up-nod, one of those male gestures of acknowledgment which seemed to indicate that he knew them.

Baffled, Audrey tucked her hair behind her ear. “Gramps, I didn’t know you were coming,” she said, for lack of anything better. She hadn’t called with updates the way he’d asked her to—she’d been too busy sleeping with his friend, she thought, squirming—but surely that wouldn’t warrant a personal visit.

He continued to bore a hole through Jamie. “That’s because I wanted the element of surprise.” He paused. “When you didn’t return any of my phone calls, I began to get suspicious.” His brows lowered even further. “Then Tewanda made an ominous comment about ‘my plan working out even better than I anticipated’ and I knew that I’d created a problem.”

His plan? Audrey wondered, completely confused. What plan? “Gramps, I don’t under—”

“I made the mistake of contacting your friends, here, Flanagan. As you can see they leaped to the same conclusion I did and have rushed here on your behalf to try and save you. Touching, but pointless.” Unbelievably, his frown grew ever darker. “Because if you have done what I think you’ve done—if you have rounded any of the bases I warned you about—then no one will be able to save you. I want answers,” he thundered. “Now.”

He wasn’t the only one, Audrey thought, growing increasingly worried. What the hell was going on? To hell with it. She didn’t have to wonder. This was her house, dammit. “Gramps, what are you talking about? Plan? Bases? Why are you threatening a guest in my home?” Granted he was her grandfather, but this was uncalled for.

For the first time since he’d barged into her home, her grandfather paused to look at her. A flash of discomfort and oddly, contrition, momentarily claimed his features. “I have a confession to make, Audie. Do you remember last week when I told you that I would always have your best interests at heart, and to always remember it?”

A cold chill settled in her belly. She looked from a grim faced Jamie back to her grandfather. “I do,” she replied cautiously.

He grimaced. “Well, remember it now because what I’m about to confess is most likely going to make you angry.”

“Sir,” Jamie butted in, speaking for the first time since this weird scenario had begun only minutes ago. “Let me tell her. Please,” he added as an afterthought.

A throb started above her left eye and a sickening sensation swept through her midsection. Tell her what? What the hell was going on?

“You lost that option, Flanagan, and you’re going to lose a lot more. I trusted you with someone I love, and you betrayed that trust. You’ve betrayed her. You were supposed to flirt with her, dammit!” He gestured wildly. “Not treat her like all those other tramps you whore around with.”

The sickening sensation worsened, pushing panic into her throat. She squeezed her eyes tightly shut. “Gramps, what are you talking about?”

“Flanagan owed me a favor, Audrey, and I called it in on your behalf.” He shifted uncomfortably. “You see, Tewanda had told me that Derrick had proposed and I was afraid that you would say yes.” He jerked his head in Jamie’s direction. “He was supposed to change your mind.”

Floored, Audrey didn’t know what to address first, her grandfather’s