Danielle had been quiet, inordinately so, during the ride back to the hotel. Justin had attempted to draw her into conversation, but her distracted, vague answers stilted his attempt. He pretended to read his email as he thought back through the afternoon. What happened? His mind jolted to the incident at the door. Could the accidental brush of his hand over her ass be the reason? He closed his eyes and dropped his head back onto the seat. Fuck, he'd been so distracted by his attraction to her that he hadn't considered if the feeling was mutual. Had he misread her interest and misinterpreted her comments? Hell, he didn't know. It was probably fate biting him in the ass. He'd basically placed Danielle onto a three-tiered pedestal as employee, friend and possible lover. She'd long since been more than an employee to him. She’d been firmly entrenched on the friend tier...until this trip. For some reason, his mind had catapulted her onto the third tier, and fuck him if it didn't sting that she didn't return his attraction. It was best to acknowledge her distance and reel back his feelings. He needed some space and time to deal with the fact that he'd overstepped. She probably did too.

The car pulled into the drive at the hotel and stopped. He exited and allowed the driver to offer Danielle a hand out of the vehicle. She didn't notice or seem to care. Justin followed her through the lobby and hailed the elevator. The ride up was as silent as the trip across town.

Danielle stopped at her door. "I'll see you in the morning?" She flashed her keycard against the reader.

Justin stopped in front of his door. "No, not tomorrow."

Her head whipped up. Her eyes went wide and then narrowed. "Why?"

He shrugged. "Max and I need some time to work some issues that don't involve acquisitions. I'll need you to represent me at the closing with the title company tomorrow afternoon. The rest of the meetings I can handle with Max or Miranda. Good night." Justin pushed his door open and walked into his suite. The door closed behind him, and he drew a deep breath. He'd apologize for his errant touch when they got back to New York.

The phone in his suit pocket vibrated at the same time someone pounded on his door. Justin spun and opened the door without checking to see who was knocking.

"That is complete and utter bullshit. What did I do to get that attitude?" Danielle's face was flush with anger—the last thing he’d expected.

"You didn't do anything." Justin stepped back as she planted a hand on his chest and pushed him to the side as she strode past.

She clicked angrily past him on her heels and spun around glaring at him. "I'm not stupid, Mr. King. I've heard that tone from you. Usually when you're brushing off one of your many conquests. You do not get to treat me like one of your floozies!"

"Floozies?" Justin repeated the ridiculous word. The women he’d dated were career-minded professionals.

"Yes, floozies. I'm your friend. What in the hell was that?" She flung her arm out and pointed toward her suite. "Max drives you crazy with his hovering at meetings, and Miranda Tschetter will replace me over my dead body." Justin blinked as she growled out the end of the sentence. He opened his mouth to speak, but Danielle spun away from him and threw her hands up in the air. "What did I do? Did I miss something in the meeting? I wasn't paying attention to the bankers, but I never do. Did I embarrass you somehow?" She spun around again and put her hands on her hips. She drew up tall and lifted her chin before she spoke, "Don't clam up on me and pretend I'm not your friend. Tell me what I did, and I promise it won't happen again."

Justin ran his hands through his hair. Still standing in the small hallway leading into the suite, he dropped his hands and looked at her. Time to bite the bullet, King. "I'm sorry." He put his hands in his pockets and rocked forward onto his toes as he searched the Carrara marble floor for the words he needed.

"You better be. I deserve to be treated better. Now, why the dismissal?" Danielle kicked out of her heels and walked over to the couch, sitting down and tucking her legs under her.

Damn it, she wasn't making it easier. "I could tell you were upset."

"What? When?"

"In the car."

A surprised look flashed over her face before she shook her head, narrowed her eyes, and pointed at him. "You know I have had, like, two hours of sleep in the last forty-eight. I'm running on fumes, and so are you. There is something else. Something else that prompted you to act like that."

He walked into the suite and unbuttoned his suit jacket, as his phone vibrated in his pocket again. He ignored it as he sat down across from her. "I thought maybe I offended you and I was trying to give you some space." He glanced out the window. He didn't want to see the confirmation of his trespass in her expression.

"Justin, look at me." He drew a breath and swung his gaze back to her. The confusion clearly written on her face startled him. "What do you think you did that offended me?"

He looked down at his hands and steepled his fingers. "I accidentally..." hell, how did he say it..."copped a feel of your ass this afternoon as we went into the meetings." He lifted his eyes when she snorted.

She leaned back on the couch and shook her head. "You are always a perfect gentleman, Justin. I never thought for a second that touch was anything more than what it was, an accidental brush of your hand. Remember. I. Know. You. Besides, I am so not your type."

An explosive chuff of air burst from his lungs before he could stop it. God, she was exactly his type, and he'd just figured that out. How in the hell did he tell her?

She frowned. "Right? I know you aren’t interested in me. We're good. I need to order some food and go to sleep."

Justin blinked at her response. There was something off, a brittleness to her voice, as if she was talking politely to a stranger. She grabbed her heels and stood, heading toward the door. He shouldn't correct her, but he needed her to know how wrong her assumptions about him were. "You're wrong, you know."

She stopped and turned around. "About what, exactly?" Exhaustion dripped from her question. She looked defeated and small. Black circles under her eyes marred her light complexion.

"I am interested in you. I care about you." He'd probably said those words in some form or fashion to all of the women he'd dated, but after saying them to Danielle, he realized he'd never given weight to them before.

She relaxed, her tense shoulders fell, and she smiled softly at him before she nodded. "I know. You're my friend. I care about you, too." She turned around and spoke as she went down the short hall. "I want eggs tomorrow morning."

Justin smiled at her parting shot. His confession hadn't been the liberating event he'd hoped, but knowing they were good and Danielle considered him a friend gave him hope.

The phone in his pocket vibrated again. He snatched it out and answered it without looking at the caller. "What?"

"Well, that is a hell of a greeting." The voice of his brother Jacob snapped him to attention.

"Hey, what's up?" Justin shook his arm out of his suit jacket, transferred the phone to his other hand and dropped the coat onto the sofa.

"Jason wanted me to get ahold of you after your workday ended and since I'm here, I was magnanimous and agreed—that and he'd fire me if I didn't." Justin laughed at his brother. Jacob was the clown among them. He laughed often and enjoyed life. "He had to go to a student-teacher thing at Reece's school, so he asked that I contact you." Justin glanced at his watch. It was obviously a late night or very early morning for Jacob. "He wanted you to know that what you discussed earlier is a moot point. Someone else has the information and he doesn't need you to do anything else for him." Justin grabbed his tie and loosened it with one hand. "Can I ask what in the hell he was talking about?"

"You could ask, but if Jason wanted you to know, he would have told you." Justin smiled as he yanked his baby brother's chain. As far as he knew, Jason hadn't let any of the brothers in on what he did for Guardian—not that Jason’s silence had stopped Jacob from suspecting. Obviously.

"Listen, that shit wasn't funny growing up, and it isn't funny now. I'm surrounded by asshole brothers." Jacob mumbled the last part into the phone.

"Poor widdle Jacob." Justin taunted.

"Fuck you, meathead."

"Oh, so eloquent, little man. Please tell me you don't work in communications for Guardian." Justin flopped onto the couch and put his feet up on the coffee table. Fuck, he was tired.

"I send messages, but usually not with words." Jacob gave an evil chuckle.

"I don't even want to know."

"Good. You know that old saying, ‘If I told you, I'd have to kill you?’ It applies here."

"Well then, by all means, keep it to yourself. I enjoy breathing."

"Noted. Hey, when are you coming back? We need to get together. You won't recognize the boys. They are growing like weeds. Tori wants to start doing a family reunion once a year. She says it is the only way the boys will see all of their aunts and uncles at the same time, but with Jewell's wedding, we may pass on this year and start planning it for next year."

"That sounds good. I just need to know a date as soon as possible, so I can schedule my meetings and travel around the event." The thought of a family reunion made his stomach flop. He was good with short periods of intense questioning, like at weddings, but a weekend of interrogation? Not so much.

"You can't blow this off. We never see you. I want the boys to know their uncle, and don't you dare tell anyone this, but I miss your ugly ass, too."

"It hasn't been that long." That was a lie. It had been...

"Years, Justin. Two fucking years and that is two fucking years too long."

"Yeah." What else could he say?

"You still calling Mom?"

"Weekly. She'd hunt me down if I didn't."

"Well, at least that's something. Do me a favor, come home. Let us see you."

"I'll try. My schedule is insane, but I promise, I'll try." He wasn't sure if he was lying or not. Maybe he would drive down to D.C. and surprise them. That way he could leave on his schedule, not theirs.

"You travel more than anyone I know." Jacob laughed and added, "Which begs the question who, or what, are you running away from?"

Justin flinched because his therapist had asked almost the exact same question about a month ago. He responded to Jacob with the same words he gave Doctor Morrissett, "What makes you think I'm running away from something, and not running toward something?" His doctor had raised an eyebrow and stated Justin shouldn't ever run towards death or serious bodily injuries. Jacob just laughed. His brother had no idea who or what Justin had become.