Page 61 of The Scent of Happiness

She was halfway through chapter two when Theo knocked on her door.

“Hey there.” She swept the door open wide to let him in.

Theo’s hair was wet from a shower and he was dressed in jeans and a gray t-shirt with a fleece jacket over it, but he looked as handsome as he did in a suit. He took a single step into her kitchen while she stood in place, one hand still on the doorknob, letting in all the cool night air.

Brooke wasn’t sure if she was supposed to go for a hug, or a kiss, or maybe neither of those things. What was the proper greeting for someone who gave you the best night of your life and then high-tailed it out of your house at the crack of dawn? Someone you weren’t supposed to be seeing at all?

She closed the door. “Are you parked out front?”

“Yes,” he said. “I’m only staying a minute. Did you get my texts? I sent three of them.”

“What? Oh, no.” Brooke patted her pocket. Her phone wasn’t there. She spotted it on the table and snatched it up. She’d heard the notification while she was shopping, but she’d been in the cereal aisle, dizzy with choice, wanting four kinds but knowing she should only buy two. When the phone beeped a second time, just as she was putting a box of Cinnamon Crunch in her cart, she’d slapped the “do not disturb” option. And then, of course, she’d forgotten to look at it later. Dammit.

She’d also missed a text from Emma and one from her cousin. She started reading through them, realized what she was doing, and stuck the phone in her pocket. “Sorry. Hi. You’re here for those things, right? The contract and—”

“Nope. I’m here to cut my soap.” Theo tilted his head toward the lemon yellow loaf on the countertop. “That’s the next step, right? Twenty-four hours later you cut it into bars.”

“You need to wait longer for this recipe. It’s got more olive oil in it, which makes it a softer bar. Depending on the water discount and the weather, you can cut it in as little as two days, but it might take up to—” Brooke clamped her lips shut to stop herself. “Darn it, don’t derail me like that.”

“But it’s so interesting.” Theo stepped closer and brought his arms to her waist. “I never know where your thoughts are going to go.”

“Neither do I, until the words are out of my mouth.” Brooke couldn’t help smiling. “You’re not here to cut up soap.”

“No, I’m not.” His hands flowed up and down her back, making her heart race and her nerve endings come alive. “I’m here because I couldn’t stay away.”

His lips brushed hers, softly at first, and then their mouths met more insistently as Brooke clung to the back of his jacket and felt a flare of lust as strong as she’d felt last night. His arms securely around her felt absolutely right, even though it couldn’t be.

“I’ve been thinking about you all day,” Theo said when they broke their second kiss.

“I’m sorry I didn’t text back. I was getting groceries. Did you eat? I have real food now, not just cereal.”

“I’m good. I grabbed a bite on my way to the gym.”

“And, and, and!” Brooke flitted over to her tote bag and took out an oversized envelope that contained a copy of the legal contract and the photocopied pages from her journal. She handed it over with a flourish. “Everything is there, including a check. I’m sorry my journal is so messy. I want to recopy it into something decent, but I can’t seem to find the time.”

“Your new lawyer will figure it out. That’s what I came to talk to you about. I explained the situation to my mentor.”

“How’d he take it?”

Theo held the envelope loosely, tapping it against his leg as he spoke. “He wasn’t thrilled, but I got my way.”

“So, problem solved?”

“I’m going to continue to work for you. My firm can’t stop me from doing that.”

“But you just said…”

“This is my plan.” He squeezed her hand. “On the books, in all legal filings, Stephen will be representing you. But it will still be me. I’ll write everything. I’ll file everything. Nobody will see what’s going on behind the scenes. It’s all paperwork. My strategy is to draw this out so long that Dixie loses interest. She’ll have to keep paying her attorneys. You get me for free. Sooner or later—long before this ever sees the inside of a courtroom—she’ll see that she’s spent more than it’s worth.”

Brooke closed her library book and straightened some packaging materials on the table. Ordinarily, she loved a good work-around. Making it up as she went along was her comfort zone. But one thing bothered her about his plan. “Do you think Dixie will lose interest?”

“Or run out of money. Sooner or later, she’ll drop it.”

“And if she doesn’t?”

“Then we’ll figure out something else. Trust me.” Theo pulled out a chair for her and knelt before it as she sat. He put his hands on her knees. “In the meantime, I want to be with you. I want to know everything about you. I want to learn what makes you happy, and then do whatever that is.”

Brooke widened her legs, letting him into her space. He knew what to say to convince her, and she trusted him to try to do the right thing, but sneaking around sounded shady. She glanced toward the back wall of her apartment, thinking of her parents’ house on the other side of it. “And we can’t tell anyone?”