She should tell him why she was really here. The instinct to trust him with her secret was right there. He was looking at her with the most earnest expression on his face, and she wanted this man on her side.
There was a chime, and he sighed. “That’ll be Deke with your things.”
She reached out and touched his hand. “I don’t want to tear up the contract. I think I might need The Club now more than ever.”
She was surprised that she meant those words, and not merely for her investigation. She was starting to think that working with Michael could be good for her.
His mouth kicked up in a grin, and he brought her hand to his lips in a gallant gesture. “I’m glad.”
He stepped away and turned on the lights before disappearing down the hallway.
She heard the door open and Michael murmuring. Then a tall man was walking into the living room carrying her suitcase. A second even bigger man strode in behind him. He was blond and gorgeous, with wide shoulders and a ready smile. He was also carrying…was that five pizza boxes?
“Vanessa, these are my friends. This is Deke Murphy.” Michael gestured to the man holding her suitcase before nodding pizza guy’s way. “And this walking gut is Brian Ward, but everyone calls him Boomer. He rode along with Deke and helped him get around the reporters.”
“I set off a bunch of fireworks that sounded like gunfire.” Boomer was a big hulk of a man with the sweetest smile. “They ran.”
Deke frowned his way. “We barely got out of there before the cops showed up.”
Boomer shrugged one big shoulder. “I know most of the cops. They have decent sandwiches.”
Deke’s eyes rolled. “They have bologna. Really, you’ll eat anything, won’t you?”
“Someone made that sandwich, Deke. It would be rude not to eat it,” Boomer replied and then nodded Vanessa’s way. “I brought you pizza, Movie Lady.”
“It looks like you brought everyone pizza.” She had to smile because he had such a sweet energy.
“Nah, I just didn’t know what you liked,” Boomer replied. “So I got one with everything on it and one with veggies only and one with a bunch of meat and one of those Hawaiian ones and a cheese.”
He was a sweetheart. “I’ll eat anything, too. Thank you so much for picking up my things.”
“I got you everything you need for about five days, and I tossed your makeup in there, too. I found your moisturizer and a razor. I don’t think Michael has one.” Deke glanced Michael’s way. “He’s got that constant scruff that lets a person know how cool he is.”
“I have a razor,” Michael insisted.
Michael did have a sexy scruff, but she was impressed that Deke had managed to pack for her. “Thanks for getting my moisturizer.” It had been in the bathroom outside of the rest of her makeup. “You seem to have been very thorough. If you brought me more than one bra, I will thank you forever.”
Deke set her case down. “Five outfits. Five complete sets of underwear. Breasts deserve clean clothes, too. I have a lot of sisters. I know how to pack for women. There are also two dresses in case you need to go somewhere nice, and I brought all the shoes.”
She had shoes and makeup and clothes. She hugged the big guy. “Thank you.”
Deke patted her back. “Oh, you’re welcome. I was happy to help you out.”
“Hey, if, uh, you’re not going to eat all the pizza…” Boomer began.
Michael sighed. “I’ll get some plates. Unless Boomer’s just going to inhale his.”
The boys were off, razzing each other, and she followed them into the kitchen. Her appetite was back.
For a lot of things.
* * * *
Michael tipped back his beer as Deke stood in the middle of his living room.
“Allison, Chris, Eddie, Fiona, Inez, Junie, Leon, Lisa, Lindy, Nick, Paul, Ruthie, Sylvester, Toni, and Tom.” He took a bow. “And my youngest sister is pregnant again, so player to be named later.”
“You did that alphabetically.” Vanessa was smiling again, and Michael was surprised at how relieved he was at that. She’d been so down he’d worried he wouldn’t be able to pull her out of it.
“I can list all of my nieces and nephews in several different ways.” Deke grinned as he sat back down. “Including birth order and troublesome ratings. Having this big a family, at least one of them is going to jail at some point. I would say Ruthie, but she’s so smart she’ll be able to cover up her crimes. I’m going with Sylvester. He’s a dumbass, and why my sister thought naming a kid after a cartoon cat was a good idea, I have no idea.”
Deke and Boomer had kept Vanessa laughing all through dinner. They’d obviously brought her out of the dark place she’d been in.