Whatever You Like (20 page)

A
s October slipped into November, Lena's days settled into a predictable routine that she almost welcomed for the sake of her sanity. She got up every morning and drove an hour to work, where she'd been recently promoted to assistant director of grants and corporate development, a position that put her in charge of two grant writers and an intern. She'd also received a ten-thousand-dollar salary increase and gushing accolades from the college's president, who'd waxed eloquent about Lena's accomplishments during the grant dedication ceremony heavily attended by the media.

As she posed for the requisite photo op with the giant cardboard check, Lena smiled brightly and forced herself not to think about what she'd had to do to procure the grant money, the ultimate price she'd had to pay. She was relieved when Roderick sent a company executive to represent him at the ceremony. She couldn't have
maintained her composure if he'd been there, couldn't have smiled through the charade.

After the way her last date had ended, she dreaded the idea of going out with another client. Fortunately, she had enough money saved up to cover her grandfather's care expenses for the next six months, so she didn't need the extra income right away.

When she called Zandra and told her she was taking some time off, Zandra didn't ask any questions.

She didn't have to.

 

Thanksgiving rolled around, arriving at a time in Lena's life when she was feeling anything
but
thankful. She wanted nothing more than to spend the day in bed, wallowing in her misery. But she knew she couldn't do that. She had a feast to prepare, a family tradition to uphold.

That afternoon, she was removing a picture-perfect turkey from the oven when her grandfather wheeled himself into the kitchen, looking refreshed from his catnap. She'd taken him out of the retirement home for the next four days so they could spend the holiday together as a family.

“It sure smells wonderful in here,” Cleveland exclaimed, appreciatively eyeing the turkey. “My, what a beautiful bird!”

“Thanks, Poppa.” Lena threw him a knowing grin. “But you'd say that even if I'd just pulled a charred carcass out of the oven.”

He chuckled, not denying it as he surveyed the array of food covering every available surface of counter space. “Everything looks delicious, baby girl. I can't wait to eat.”

Lena could. She hadn't had an appetite in weeks, and
the thought of gorging on all this food made her feel decidedly ill.

As if he'd read her mind, Cleveland jabbed a finger at her and warned sternly, “Don't think I'm gonna sit by and let you get away with picking at your food. You've been losing too much weight as it is.”

A rueful smile touched Lena's mouth. “Remember how Grandma used to ration my portions at Thanksgiving? She used to say to me, ‘Now, baby, you know I'm only doing this for your own good. You have the most beautiful face, but it'd be a shame if folks only saw a chubby girl every time they looked at you.'”

Cleveland's expression softened. “You know she meant well. She just didn't know what to say out of her mouth sometimes, God rest her soul. But she was very proud of you. Used to brag about you all the time.”

Lena smiled softly. “I know. I never doubted that.”

“Good,” he said gruffly. “Anyway, don't change the subject. We were talking about how much weight you've lost.”

“No,
you
were,” Lena corrected, turning to remove a pot of collard greens from the burner.

“I'm worried about you, Lena.”

The gentle concern in his voice made her throat tighten. But she'd promised herself she wouldn't cry today, or any other time during her grandfather's stay.

“Now, you know I don't like to pry in your personal life—”

Lena snorted out a laugh. “Since when?”

Cleveland had the decency to look abashed. “Well, I
try
not to,” he amended. “But I can't help it if I worry about you, especially when I have plenty reason to.” His gaze followed her around the kitchen as she bustled
about putting the finishing touches on dinner. “What happened between you and that nice young man?”

“Roderick?” Lena kept her tone neutral. “I thought I told you that I'm not seeing him anymore, Poppa.”

“You didn't tell me—your sister did.”

“Oh. Where
is
Morgan anyway?” Lena wondered aloud. “I sent her to the corner store to pick up a few things I needed, and that was over an hour ago.”

“Knowing your sister, she probably took a detour to the shopping mall, or snuck across town to see Isaiah. Things seem to be going pretty well between them. And there you go again, trying to change the subject.”

“I'm not, Poppa.” Lena lingered in the pantry so she wouldn't have to lie right to his face. “There's not much to say about me and Roderick. We hadn't been, ah, seeing each other for very long. We weren't that serious.”

Cleveland grunted. “That's not the impression
I
got from him.”

“With all due respect, Poppa, you only met him once.”

“Twice, actually.”

“What?” Lena whirled around in surprise. “When?”

“He came to see me again a week later. It was Sunday night. I remember because you'd brought me a lemon pound cake earlier that day, and I shared it with Roderick when he stopped by that evening. He couldn't get enough of it. I told him, ‘Wait till you try her German chocolate cake,' and he said something about how you'd gotten him to appreciate fudge.”

Lena blushed from her scalp to her toes.

“Anyway, he brought two six-packs of beer, which made him very popular with the fellas. They propped me up in bed, and we all sat around playing cards and
watching the Bears game.” Cleveland grinned. “Most fun I've had in a long time.”

Lena couldn't believe what she was hearing. Roderick had paid a visit to her grandfather the day after the whole Glenn fiasco? While
she'd
spent the day driving herself crazy over whether she would ever see him again, he'd been yukking it up with her grandfather at the retirement home?

Incredulous, she shook her head. “Why didn't you tell me, Poppa?”

Cleveland shrugged. “He asked me not to, and given the way you tried to hustle him out of my hospital room, I guess I can understand why he didn't want you to know. Anyway, that's when I realized he must be pretty serious about you, baby girl. Why else would he spend a whole evening hanging out with a bunch of old coots at a nursing home?”

“Why, indeed?” Lena murmured, staring at the bag of flour in her hand as if she couldn't remember how it had gotten there.

“So you can understand why I was surprised when your sister told me that you and Roderick broke up.”

Lena heaved a weary sigh. “We didn't break up, Poppa. We were never really together to begin with.”

Cleveland gave her a pointed look. “Is that why you went to Japan with him?”

She said nothing.

Cleveland wheeled himself over to the breakfast table, picked up a small plastic plate and began adding items from a fruit and vegetable tray. When Lena hurried over to help him, he waved her off, saying gruffly, “If I can play cards with one arm in a sling, I can damn well fix myself a plate of carrots and celery sticks. Now go on
and finish what you were doing so we can eat soon. I'm starving.”

Swallowing a grin, Lena dutifully returned to her simmering pots on the stove.

“I was thinking,” Cleveland said casually.

“Thinking what?”

“Now that you got that nice promotion at work, maybe you can quit that second job of yours.”

Lena froze for a moment, then spun around and stared at him. “You…you know about that?”

He met her gaze calmly. “Your sister told me that you got a part-time job to supplement your income so that you could afford the retirement home.”

Lena scowled. “I'm going to kill her,” she muttered under her breath.

“That won't be necessary,” Cleveland said mildly. “I'm glad she told me. I've always suspected you were working two jobs to keep me at Lakeview, but every time I tried to ask you, you shot me down. Morgan dodged my questions, too.” He paused. “But not this time. She seems to be under the impression that the long hours you work are interfering with your personal life. Specifically, your relationship with Roderick.”

“That's not true,” Lena protested with a vigorous shake of her head. “My—”

“I want you to take me out of Lakeview Manor.”

Aghast, Lena stared at him. “But you love it there!”

“I do,” he calmly agreed. “But I love
you
more.”

Tears pricked her eyelids. “Poppa—”

“I've talked to Nurse Jacobs and asked her to look into more affordable retirement facilities for me. She's familiar with the terrain and has several contacts who can supply good referrals. Another option she suggested is home care assistance. She knows of some affordable
providers, and even offered her own services if we're interested.” He smiled. “She told me to let you know that her rates would be very reasonable.”

Stunned, Lena shook her head slowly at him. “You've really given this a lot of thought, haven't you?”

“I have for a while,” Cleveland admitted. “I was just waiting for the right opportunity to discuss it with you.”

Lena blew out a deep, shaky breath. “This is a lot to consider, Poppa. I need more time to think it over. And I want you to stay at Lakeview until your arm completely heals. Don't argue with me,” she warned when he opened his mouth to protest. “I've already paid the bill for the next six months, so that's that.”

His eyes twinkled. “Yes, ma'am.”

She gave him a knowing look. “So you want Nurse Jacobs to be your personal caregiver, huh?”

He nodded. “She's going to help me achieve my ultimate goal.”

“What's that?”

His expression grew tender. “To walk you down the aisle on your wedding day.”

That undid her.

When Morgan returned to the apartment, she was greeted by the sight of Lena curled up in their grandfather's lap, tears streaming down her face as she softly crooned the words to “Stormy Weather.”

A
t the end of January, Lena decided it was time to quit her job as an escort. She hadn't gone on a date in months, so she figured there was no sense in prolonging the inevitable. Because she and Zandra had become good friends, she wanted to give Zandra the courtesy of resigning in person.

On her day off from work, she drove to the downtown building that housed Elite For You Companions and parked in the rear lot. As she stepped through the doors of the escort agency, she skidded to a halt, her heart slamming against her chest.

Standing in the lobby was a tall, broad-shouldered man in a dark suit, his hands tucked casually into his pockets as he studied a painting on the wall.

“Roderick,” Lena breathed before she could stop herself.

The man turned to face her, his mouth quirking at
the corners as he met her yearning gaze. “Not quite,” he murmured.

Realizing her mistake at once, Lena blushed furiously and stammered out an apology.

“No need to be sorry,” Remington Brand drawled. “I get that all the time.”

Lena couldn't help staring at him. Although she'd known that Roderick had a twin, she was still stunned by the striking resemblance between the two brothers. She could only imagine the games of switcheroo they must have played on friends and unsuspecting strangers. Their features were identical, even right down to the thickness of their black lashes. To the untrained eye, the most obvious—and only—difference between them was the trim goatee that framed Remington's full, sensual lips. But because Lena had memorized Roderick's face, she could detect other differences, subtle things that she'd picked up while watching him sleep, or gazing at him across the dinner table.

She suddenly realized that Remington was returning her appraisal, his dark eyes narrowed as if he were trying to place where he'd seen her before. “So you know my brother?”

Lena swallowed, then jerked her head in a nod.

A slow, lazy smile curved Remington's mouth. “Well, any friend of Rod's is a friend of mine.” He slid his hand forward. “Remy.”

Lena shook his hand. “Hi, I'm—”

Her introduction was interrupted when Zandra suddenly emerged from the back. “Sorry to keep you wait—”

She stopped short at the sight of Lena and Remington standing in the lobby. She looked from one to the other before her gaze settled on Lena. Her sympathetic
expression spoke volumes. Coming face-to-face with Roderick's twin had been a shock to Lena's system, and Zandra understood that.

“Hi, Lena,” she greeted her gently.

At the mention of her name, recognition dawned on Remington's face. Lena didn't know whether to be ecstatic or sad that he'd apparently heard of her before.

Zandra said, “Lena, this is Roderick's brother—”

“I know.” She smiled at him. “We were just introducing ourselves.”

He smiled back at her. “So you're Lena, Roderick's—”

“Friend,” she finished.

She didn't know how to interpret the look that passed between Remington and Zandra. It was followed by a long, awkward silence.

Pointedly clearing her throat, Zandra said to Remington, “Before she headed out, my receptionist told me you were waiting in the lobby. What're you doing here?”

“I came to take you out to lunch.”

Zandra shook her head. “Not today. I'm busy.”

“So take a break.” The determined set of his jaw let her know that it wasn't a request. Lena remembered the look all too well.

Zandra frowned, her eyes narrowing on Remington's face.

He just stared her down.

“Fine,” she relented, huffing an exasperated breath. She turned to Lena, whose mouth was twitching with laughter. “I'm so sorry, Lena. You came all the way down here—”

“That's okay. I should have called first anyway. I know how busy you are.”

“I'm never too busy for you. Are you free on Saturday? We can get a massage and do lunch afterward.”

Lena smiled. “That sounds good. See you then.”

Zandra nodded, then shot a dark glance at Remington. “I'm going to get my coat.”

“You do that,” he said silkily.

She stalked off, muttering under her breath about pushy, overbearing brothers who thought the world revolved around them.

Remington grinned, and the sight of that lazy grin was so achingly familiar to Lena that her heart squeezed. As his gaze wandered back to her, she cleared her throat and pasted on a bright smile. “Well, it was nice to meet you, Remington.”

“Remy,” he corrected her.

“Sorry. Remy.” She smiled, then turned and walked to the door.

“The whole family's flying to Japan next week,” he announced to her retreating back.

Lena stopped, but didn't turn around. “Oh? The whole family?”

“Yep. My parents, grandparents, siblings, nieces and nephews. The Brand clan is invading Tokyo.” He chuckled.

Lena smiled softly. “I'm sure Roderick will be happy to see all of you.”

“He'd better be. He left right after Thanksgiving, and Mama's been depressed ever since. Even our old family dog has been moping around. Everyone really misses him.”

“I bet.”
I know the feeling,
Lena mentally added.

“We also figure he could use some cheering up. He
hasn't been himself in quite a while.” Remington's voice softened. “Mama says he's staying away from home so he can lick his wounds in peace.”

Lena closed her eyes, and for the first time in weeks, she felt a tiny glimmer of hope.

“Is there a message you'd like for me to pass along to him while I'm there?” Remington asked gently.

Lena swallowed hard. There were so many things she wanted to say. But words failed her. Courage failed her.

Glancing over her shoulder, she shook her head and said quietly, “Enjoy your trip.”

 

Later, though, she had second thoughts. After staring at her cell phone for over an hour, she worked up the nerve to type what she hoped would be a game-changing message:
I didn't sleep with Dylan, and Glenn was a mistake. You weren't.

She sent off the text and anxiously waited for him to respond.

By the end of the week, she still hadn't heard from him.

And that was when she finally abandoned the last shred of hope she'd been foolishly clinging to.