Wasn’t like he wasn’t used to being alone.
Another car sat parked out in front of the house, but he didn’t recognize it, at first. It wasn’t Skye’s. An older Mercedes, maybe ten years old, but it looked showroom-new.
Was she even here yet?
He glanced at the time and saw it was 6:58. He knew she was a stickler for punctuality. He’d said seven, so she’d likely be early, not late.
No message from her indicating she was running behind.
All he could do was force himself out of his car and trudge across the grass, across their concrete driveway, and up to the front door.
Bob was already opening it before Axel stepped onto the front stoop. Dressed in jeans, a button-up shirt opened to the second collar with the sleeves rolled up his arms, he was barefoot.
He also wore an ornate leather collar buckled around his neck.
Ah, that explained the car. He knew from what Skye had told him that Bob was actually wealthy, but chose to live conservatively within his means.
But…where was Skye?
“Hi,” Axel managed when he reached the door.
Bob stepped to the side and, without speaking, motioned for him to enter.
“Is Skye here?” Axel asked as Bob shut the door behind him
Bob walked around him, tipped his head in what Axel suspected was an affirmative, and then bowed slightly, indicating for Axel to follow him.
Why won’t he talk to me? Did I piss the guy off?
Or maybe this was Bob’s way of telling Axel he didn’t approve of the freak-out Axel’d had at Venture.
He led Axel through the foyer and down the hallway to their home office, stopping in the open doorway, hands together, head bowed, and cleared his throat.
Landry had been sitting at one of three desks in there, his back to the doorway. He was on a cell phone and talking to someone. Upon the noise, he swiveled his chair and nodded, waving Axel in.
After Axel stepped inside, Bob gave a low bow from the waist and silently closed the door behind him as he withdrew.
Ooookaaaay.
“Look, I told you that isnotan acceptable timeframe,” Landry barked at whoever he was talking to. “I do not care if you have to authorize overtime for every engineer we have on the payroll, and a few we do not, to get that co-lo back on line by tomorrow night. Youdoit. If you make me fly Cristo out thereagainto handle this, youwillfind yourself refreshing your resume and shopping it around the West Coast to find someone who will settle for merely adequate performance. Do I make myself perfectly clear? … Excellent.Thatis the answer I wished to hear.”
He thumbed the end button and dropped the cell phone onto the desk. “Sorry about that. Emergency developed late this morning that we’re dealing with.”
“Um, if we need to cancel—”
“Nonsense.” He pointed at a nearby chair. “Please, sit. We need to talk before anything else happens.”
He sat, his heart squeezing. “Is Skye here yet?”
“Yes, she’s been here for a couple of hours. Why?”
He blinked. “Hours?”
“I had Bob pick her up and bring her here so we could prepare.”
Bob…
The guy who looked like a romance novelist’s wet dream, with gorgeous blue eyes that made his own look like dirty dishwater by comparison, probably with rock-hard abs that would make even his own straight self look twice—who had answered their front door—thatBob?
