CHAPTER 7
Anderson
I’d been in a particularly good mood all morning, and even had a spring in my step as I headed to work. However, it all came to a screeching halt when I made it to the office and noticed my office door was wide open. I stepped inside, turned on the light, and froze right in my tracks at the sight of Tobias. Apparently, he had been sitting in the dark waiting for me. And judging from the way he was lounged back in the chair opposite of my desk with his eyes closed, he had been waiting there for a while.
Noticing my presence, he sat up, opened his eyes, and fixed his gaze pointedly at me. The seconds in which we simply stared at each other lasted for what felt like an eternity.
Slowly, Tobias stood from the chair, his eyes narrowed at me. “Well?” he said. “You got something to tell me?”
I swallowed, my mind spinning as I remained frozen on the spot.
Had Joanna actually told him, and if so, why? Why on earth would she tell her crazy brother about our night together? Didn’t she know how dangerous that would be for the both of us?
With shaky hands, I set down my briefcase and cleared my throat, trying to think of what to say, but I had no idea how to explain myself. I knew that sleeping with Joanna was wrong, but in the heat of the moment, I hadn’t been able to stop myself. It was unfortunate that my desire for her had completely clouded my ability to visualize what would happen when Tobias found out; had I possessed such foresight, I wouldn’t have landed in such a predicament, and I wouldn’t have been standing there, shaking in my shoes. “Tobias, I can explain,” I said, outright lying.
“I’m not interested in explanations. I just want you to tell me the damned numbers have been sorted out.”
I paused. “The numbers…” I said.
“Yes,” Tobias said, agitated. “I was asleep before Joanna even came back last night, so I know she was out late with you. I figured you guys must have finished up. Please tell me you finished. We don’t have time to drag this out anymore, man.”
I rubbed the back of my head and let out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding.
The numbers. Tobias still thought Joanna and I had been working on the project.
He didn’t know…
Relief almost made me want to laugh, but I held my composure. “Well,” I said, “Joanna is smart enough to figure it out eventually. Just give us a little longer and we’ll get it done, I swear.”
“Fuck. You honestly mean to tell me that in all that time, you guys still aren’t finished?”
I shrugged my shoulders. “Well, you know how your sister gets. She’s a perfectionist. She wants to make sure everything is just right.”
“Yeah, well we don’t have enough time for her anal-retentive ways right now,” Tobias said.
“Hey, be easy on her. She’s new here, remember?”
Tobias raised his eyebrows, making me worry that he’d heard something foretelling in my voice. I averted my gaze, picked up my briefcase, and headed to my desk.
“Be easy on her?” Tobias said and then suddenly laughed. “Boy, how times have changed. I used to have to tell you that all the time when she was a kid. Now, all of a sudden, you’re the one with all the patience.”
I forced a laugh. “Whatever, man,” I said, still not meeting his gaze. “What are you doing in my office, anyway?”
Tobias stretched. “Hiding out and trying to take a nap,” he said, stifling a yawn. “Nobody ever seems to come in here and bother you, huh?”
“No one except you.”
He laughed. “Well, I guess I need to officially get some work done. See you in a bit.”
“Yep,” I said, settling down behind my desk.
I watched as Tobias left my office and closed the door behind him. Despite him still not knowing what had transpired between me and his sister, I still felt shaken. One of the things that had always made Tobias feel like the brother I never had was the fact that we’d always been so comfortable with each other. Yet now, considering how I felt about his sister, I worried that comfort had been irreparably compromised.
An old memory began to resurface from when he and I were in high school. Although Joanna had been such a nerd as a kid, she had still been pretty in her own way; I simply hadn’t been able to see it back then. Nevertheless, other boys did.
Other boys like Tony Bass, for instance.
I recalled one day when Tobias and I had been walking through the school cafeteria during our lunch hour, and accidentally heard Tony Bass talking to a group of his friends.
“But what is she—a freshman?” a friend of his had asked.
“She won’t be for long,” Tony had responded.
“What’s her name again?”
“Joanna Gentry. She might be small and kind of awkward, but that’s all right. Just wait until I’m done with her,” Tony had said with laughed. “I’m thinking about asking her to homecoming and helping her come out of her shell, if you know what I mean. She’s actually kind of hot, when you see her without her glasses.”
“Maybe you have a point there. Besides, you know what they say about the quiet girls…” his friend had said, his voice trailing off suggestively, causing Tony and the rest of the group to burst out laughing.
Tobias, on the other hand, hadn’t found it at all funny. I imagined he must have started seeing red. Before I knew it, and before I could stop him, Tobias had made a beeline straight for Tony, slapping him hard across the back of his head.
“Hey!” Tony had yelled, leaping up from his seat.
“I don’t know who the hell you think you are, but don’t you ever let me hear you talking about my sister like that again.”
“Man, calm down! I didn’t do anything to your sister!”
“And you better not, or I swear, I will end you. Got it?”
“Whatever!” Tony had said, and then turned his back on Tobias.
“All right, come on,” I’d said, gripping Tobias’ shoulder and steering him away until we found our own table to occupy. Tobias had kept glaring at Tony the whole time though.
“Relax, man. Let it go,” I’d urged him.
But Tobias had rubbed his head as if he had a headache. “I just can’t believe he said that. Joanna is only fourteen years old, and hell—she looks like she’s twelve! What are guys doing even looking at her that way?”
“Beats me,” I’d said in return, also unable to fathom how a guy like Tony could be attracted to her. “I guess it’s bound to happen eventually though. You aren’t going to be able to fight guys away from her forever.”
“You wanna bet?” Tobias had responded. “I swear, I’ll kill anyone who touches her.”
“Don’t be so dramatic,” I had said, biting into my ham sandwich.
Looking back on it now though, I realized Tobias wasn’t just being dramatic. He probably would kill anyone who touched his sister—including me.
I shuddered, feeling profoundly disappointed with myself for winding up in such a predicament when I had clearly known better. It was no secret that I was a sucker for a pretty face, but I had never anticipated one getting me into so much trouble.
Yet I knew that after the previous night, it was going to be impossible to keep Joanna out of my head. I kept recalling the feel and scent of her skin, stirring feelings of desire within me so strong that I could hardly stand it.
Which begged the question, how the hell was I going to be able to keep facing Tobias?
Although he had always been protective of Joanna, ever since her return to Chicago he seemed to be even more protective than usual. He had practically been catering to her from the moment she arrived. It was like he was extra-focused on her well-being for some reason.
As I sat there thinking about it, I contemplated whether it would be wise of me to bring this up to him, to ask if there was any particular reason he was being so overly attentive to her. It may not have been my place, but I wanted to point out to him that she was no longer his baby sister; she was a grown woman, fully capable of looking out for herself. She didn’t need to be coddled. And after last night, I got the feeling she wasn’t fond of being coddled by him in the first place…
Yet I knew it simply wasn’t my place to say any of this to him.
I tried putting myself in Tobias’s shoes, wondering if I had a sister, whether I would be just as protective. How would I feel if I thought a man was disrespecting her? Would I ever feel that anyone was good enough for her?
Most importantly, what would I think if someone I’d grown up with, trusted, and considered a brother had suddenly developed an inappropriate interest in her? Would I be happy that she was with someone I trusted, or would I feel betrayed?
I sighed, knowing I couldn’t fathom the answers to those questions because I simply had never been in such a position before. It was impossible for me to know how I would feel under those circumstances.
The only thing I knew for sure was that there was definitely something up, and that Tobias was being extra watchful for a reason. And if he didn’t know about me and Joanna yet, then it was just a matter of time before he did.
Shit, when that happened, we’d all feel the heat.