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Chapter Twenty
Brian looked taken aback to see me walk into his office on Friday morning. “What? What are you doing here? I thought you had the day off for your home inspection.”
I had to fight my grin and not blurt out my plan. “I realized I didn’t need to be there. My realtor will go to represent me and give me a copy of the report in case we have any repairs to make. Matter of fact, I brought in donuts today for everyone. I want to get back to doing that on Fridays.”
So what if half the office had made a New Year’s resolution to lose weight? I hadn’t. If anything, my resolution was to stop beating myself up for every little indulgence and focus on being healthy instead. You know…starting tomorrow after I had a glazed donut or two.
“How are you feeling, by the way? Only a few more weeks till you’re a married man.”
He smiled, more eager to tie the knot than any guy I’d ever known. But then his expression changed. “Uh, I’m good. But you don’t need to be in the office. Why don’t you take the day?”
I put my hands on my hips, unable to resist giving him a hard time. “Is it a problem for me to be here?”
“No, but you’re welcome to take the time off anyhow. I’m sure you have a lot to do for the garage sale.”
Yep. Tonight I hoped to seduce Mark, and tomorrow I was selling off virtually every piece of furniture in my home. All that I was keeping were the things from Tristan’s room or anything with sentimental value. Simply put: it was time to rid myself of the memories. Time to close that chapter.
“My mom and I already tagged everything. And I don’t enjoy spending time at the house if I can help it. Why? Are you trying to get rid of me?”
His face started to turn red, which said a lot. Brian wasn’t the type to embarrass or frazzle easily. “I’m not. It’s just that—”
We both glanced up when Sasha came through his halfway-open office door, her eyes on me while she fought a grin. “Hey. I heard Mark is here with Josh. Have you seen him yet?”
I turned my faux-narrowed gaze on Brian. “Is that why you wanted me to go home?”
He had the decency to wince. “I’d told him you wouldn’t be in the office today and—”
“So he figured it would be safe to come in? You planned this with him?”
“Juliette, it’s not like that. He wanted to surprise you.”
I drew myself up to my full five-foot-two frame and turned toward Sasha. “Are they in the large conference room?” It was the one with all of the glass. He would be able to see me walk by in the hall, fitting directly into my plan.
She nodded. “Yep.”
Brian was starting to sweat it. “You can’t go in there right now. He and Josh are meeting with someone.”
“Oh, I’m not. I’m simply going to walk by on my way to get a donut from the kitchen.” Glancing down at my hunter-green sweater dress paired with knee high boots, I was thankful Sasha and I had gone shopping. I was looking exceptionally put together today.
“You’re not planning on doing anything crazy, are you?” Brian asked with trepidation.
I lifted a brow, happy to tease him a bit more. “Yes, I figured I’d start chucking donuts at the glass, causing them to stick and then slither down slowly. Meanwhile, I’d blare eighties music from my phone on top volume until he notices me.”
Brian raised a brow. “That was scarily vivid. The problem is I know you well enough to believe there’s a ten percent chance you’ll actually do that. Then again, if it were my sister, the likelihood would be more like fifty percent, so I guess I should be grateful.”
“If you’re taking suggestions for music, I vote for Whitesnake,” Sasha quipped. “Ooh, or Poison. And don’t waste the chocolate donuts; those are my favorite. Use the glazed ones.”
“But I love the glazed ones.”
“Hm, maybe the jelly-filled ones then. Those can go.”
Brian shook his head, exasperated with the two of us discussing which donuts should be sacrificed. Turning to Sasha, he lamented, “You’re only feeding the crazy, honey.”
Because there was real fear in his expression, I couldn’t help it. I burst out laughing.
Sasha was quick to follow.
“Okay, either you two are certifiable, or I’m totally missing something here.” His glance bounced between the two of us.
