Tangling Hearts - Faleena Hopkins Page 0,4
for coming over, Tommy.”
“It was the only place I wanted to be. Talk soon.”
“Bye.” I close the door and lock it, resting against it as I smile.
She’s been lying to Brendan. And we all know how much he loves that. She’s toast. Finally, I have the answer.
Heart racing with excitement, I make a beeline for my luggage to get dressed.
Chapter Four
Annie
Every Door: opened for me. Except for my car, but he’s wounded, come on.
“Oh man, it’s so good to be home,” Brendan says on a long exhale as he locks the door behind us. We walk from the hallway into the main room of the penthouse, with me in front.
I stop walking. Stunned. “Wow. When’s Donald coming home?”
Brendan eyes me, confused. “Donald?”
“Trump.”
He laughs and lays his hand on my lower back to give me a little push in. There’s a winding staircase going up to an unexpected second floor, in front of us. Right behind it, on the first floor, is a dining room table and before that, a curved, L-shaped couch on a gorgeous rug that must have cost a thousand dollars. I close my hanging mouth and walk to the couch, lowering myself, as my head swings left to right, taking in the masculine opulence. Hardwood Floors. Taupe walls. Simplicity in décor. Art-deco style lamps. The art is minimal and there’s a mirror on the floor, propped against a wall in front of the couch, beside a huge flat-screen television.
He plops the bag of take-out on the coffee table next to a Wired Magazine and calls back to Mark. “Yeah! It’s me. Annie’s here, too.”
Mark pokes his head over the upstairs railing. “Hey Annie.”
“Hi.” I wave, pretty much speechless.
Mark looks to his roommate. “They let you out early… I take it that’s a good sign.”
Brendan stands, looking up at his best friend. “Yeah. They gave me an M.R.I. and we had to wait for the results. Looks good. The doc said I’d heal better at home.” He walks to the kitchen as Mark’s head disappears. I’m guessing he went back to his room, but it’s interesting to me; that was all the conversation they needed to exchange. Men… I love ‘em.
Bouncing on the couch to enjoy the firmness and quality of the material, I look over my shoulder to see Brendan, but he’s out of eye-line. So I wait, having a hard time believing I’m here, and when he comes back into the room two minutes later, he’s carrying two bottles of Guinness in his left hand, I still don’t believe it.
We smile at each other and I open the bag. “I thought you were getting us plates. I’m glad you didn’t.”
He lays the stouts on the table and sits down beside me, watching as I spread out the food. “I figured since you like burgers over steak, you probably wanted to eat them in the box they came in. But I got the Irish girl her home brew. That was a must.”
“Indeed.” I lean over and kiss him before we chow down, each of us closing our eyes on the first bite of yummy. “Mmmm.”
“So good, right?" He picks a fallen sautéed mushroom off the table and tosses it into his mouth. “This is so much better than the hospital food!”
“Night and day,” I say, with my mouth full of bacon cheeseburger as I reach for a French fry. “This is a beautiful home.”
He glances to me, his mouth stuffed, too. He looks around. “You like it?”
Chewing, I nod and hold my index finger and thumb up with a small space between them, indicating, a little bit.
He swallows, his eyes dancing as he says, “I made such a show of why you should come home with me, wouldn’t it have been hilarious if it was a dump?”
Covering my mouth with my free hand, the other holding a dripping burger, I laugh, nodding. He moves a long lock of hair away from my eyes, putting it behind my ear. I stay still, watching him as he concentrates on getting it right. He meets my eyes and we look at each other, quiet. I look away first and pick up my beer, swallowing before I look over to him again. I know he didn’t move, that he’s still staring at me, but when I meet his dark, blue eyes again, my heart swims in my chest anyway. There’s a depth to his look that is far-reaching. A stillness to his body that is locked in, like he’s really present.