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“He’s not nearly as good-looking as I am.” An achingly familiar voice comes from the open doorway behind us.
Seriously? Did Rook overhear yet another awkward conversation that I’m a part of?
“Hey, boss.” Posey raises her hand in greeting. “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and in my eye, Milo is a smidge better looking than you.”
Not in my eye.
A hearty laugh fills the room as footsteps sound behind me. “Noted, Posey.”
“Hi, Rook,” Telford joins in the chorus of greeting Rook.
I steel myself to do the same just as I catch sight of him rounding me.
Seeing Telford in a suit earlier filled me with pride, but seeing Rook in a navy suit with a white button-down shirt that’s open at the collar hits me in a very different way.
“Carrie.” That’s all he says as his gaze rakes over me.
I’m suddenly grateful to be wearing the blue short-sleeved sweater I put on this morning. It’s thick enough that he can’t see that my nipples have hardened into peaks underneath it.
“Hi, Rook,” I manage to say in an even tone.
“Hi.” He flashes me a megawatt smile, and my heart skips a beat.
“I thought you had dinner plans.” Posey steals his attention away from me.
“I do.” He glances at her briefly before his gaze is back on me. “With my brother, as a matter of fact.”
“With Milo?” Posey asks with a nervous giggle. “Don’t tell him I think he’s hot, Rook.”
He doesn’t flinch. His eyes stay locked on mine as he responds to her with words that feel destined for me. “Your secret is safe with me.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Rook
I walk into the restaurant fifteen minutes late to find my brother immersed in a conversation with a woman with long black hair at the bar.
Leave it to Miles to find a way to entertain himself while he waited for me.
I debated telling him that Posey is crushing on him, but she doesn’t need the heartache that comes with dating a guy like him.
I love my brother, but he’s still stuck in the cycle I was in before Kirby was born.
Chesca and I weren’t exclusive until she told me she was pregnant. Up to that point, I sampled the best of what this city had to offer. I spent a lot of time with different women, searching for something I have yet to find.
Even when Chesca gave birth to my daughter, I didn’t experience the bond with her that I thought I would. I cared for her. I was fond of her, but I never loved her.
I catch my brother’s eye as I inform the hostess I’m meeting him for dinner. I dine here enough that the staff knows me by name.
“Go ahead, Rook.” She gestures toward Miles. “I’ll have a scotch brought to your table. If you can tear Miles away from his friend, your regular table is waiting for you.”
That’s just another perk that comes with spending a hell of a lot of money to have the best steak in this city prepared to perfection, just for me.
“There’s my brother.” Milo pushes to his feet as I near him.
The woman he’s with glances my way. She looks vaguely familiar, but I can’t place her.
“It’s good to see you,” she says like she knows me. “How have you been, Rook?”
