a surprise.”
He then introduced her to Charm and noticed that the two women shook hands and said all the niceties, but he knew his sister well enough to know there was immediate dislike on her end.
He caught Charm’s gaze. “Don’t you have a dinner date?”
“Yes. I guess I’ll be going. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
He nodded. “Okay and please tell Regan I said hello.” There was no need to tell Charm to tell Regan he intended to call her later. For now, the less Charm knew the better.
“I’ll tell her.” She then turned to Josephine. “It was nice meeting you, Josephine.”
“Same here, Charm.”
The moment the door closed behind his sister, Garth returned his attention to Josephine. “Would you like to have a seat?”
“Yes, thanks.” She sat down in the chair Charm had vacated and gracefully crossed her legs. Garth knew this was so he would notice. He had. Only thing, although they were a nice pair, he liked Regan’s legs better.
“So, Josephine, why are you here?” he asked, taking a seat behind his desk. “Didn’t the dating service notify you that I’m no longer a client with them?”
“Yes, I was advised of that. However, I figured the least we could do was officially meet. So here I am. I believe we would have enjoyed our two weeks together.”
Garth had a feeling she might have, but he would not have. He was glad the woman he’d spent two weeks with had been Regan. “Would we have?”
“Yes, and I intend to prove it. I decided to come here to spend some time with you. I’ll be here for a week.”
She’d decided?
He needed to explain to Josephine Harris that any involvement they might have looked forward to at one time was no longer a possibility. Granted, he understood the mix-up hadn’t been her fault, but now his heart was elsewhere. And for her to assume she could just show up here unannounced, with the expectation that he would make time for her...for a week...was ludicrous.
His brothers’ offices were down the hall. They might pop into his at any time and the last thing he wanted to do was explain Josephine Harris to them. He was hungry and decided he would set her straight over dinner.
“How about having dinner with me?” he said.
Her lips curved into a huge smile. Too late he saw she’d taken his invitation as something positive. She would find out soon enough it wasn’t.
“I’d love to dine with you, Garth. Then you can tell me if I’ll be staying at the hotel for a week or at your place.”
Garth stood and grabbed his jacket. Yes, he most certainly would be telling her that and a lot more.
Twenty
“I’m glad you enjoyed yourself in Santa Cruz, Regan.”
Regan smiled over at Charm. Like Garth, Charm was known for her radiant smile. Unless she didn’t like you, and then she had no problem making that fact known. “Thanks.” And because Regan didn’t want Charm to ask her any more questions, she decided to change the subject.
“When are you going on your holiday shopping trip?” It was a known fact that Charm traveled to LA around Thanksgiving every year just to do holiday shopping.
“Not sure. I just got back in town and Garth reminded me that I’m getting paid to do a job I’m rarely in the office doing. Like I don’t know the only reason they gave me that cushy office and job title was to keep me out of their hair. He told me to tell you hello, by the way.”
Regan’s fork nearly slipped from her hand. “Did he?”
“Yes. I just left his office before coming here and mentioned I was having dinner with you. I invited him to join us, but that was before...”
Charm’s voice trailed off and Regan glanced up from her meal to study her. Charm was staring at something across the room, and the smile that had been on her face earlier was gone. “Charm? What is it?”
“I don’t believe it. Garth just walked in, and I can’t believe he’s actually having dinner with her.”
Regan felt her heart drop. “Her who?”
“Josephine Harris. The woman who was supposed to join him in Santa Cruz.”
Pain twisted in Regan’s chest. “But I thought he’d decided not to reschedule a meeting with her,” Regan said. At least that was what he’d told her.
“That’s true. I canceled his membership with that dating service myself. But she showed up at his office today, right before I left to come here. He seemed annoyed that