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I knew everything AJ said was true, but what in the hell were we going to do to stop the marketplace sale from happening and the pilot from following orders?
Chapter Fifteen
I couldn’t believe we were having brunch together the Sunday after Becca and Travis’s party. Had the bar been lowered so far, that when a guy followed through on a promise it was actually impressive to me? Or was it because it was AJ? The elusive and albeit mysterious hottie from college. It didn’t matter. I still tingled all over. My lips felt bruised and raw. I could have kissed him through breakfast and not cared that I was hungry. He satisfied a different kind of craving I had.
AJ smiled. “Do you think this coffee is better than the stuff I used to make at Buzz Spot?” he teased. He looked especially sexy this morning with the aviator sunglasses pressed against h
is nose. It wasn’t unbearably hot yet.
I laughed. “Maybe a little bit.” I smirked, already loving how quickly we fell into flirting.
It was close to 3am by the time we made it to my apartment last night. Neither one of us seemed ready for the night to be over, or at least to go in different directions. Sleep in different beds. Wake up alone. Untangle our bodies. It was an unspoken decision when he climbed in bed with me.
The waiter returned to our table with our orders. My eyes went wide when I saw how beautiful the display was. This was one of those brunch spots where presentation almost meant more than the meal. The chef was more apt to be an artist than a cook.
“This looks amazing. I’m almost afraid to touch it.”
AJ grinned. “I’m starving. I could eat anything right now. No food is that pretty.”
I broke off a piece of bacon, tempted to feed him across the table, I was giddy and equally shocked at how I had suddenly become one of those girls. Incredibly smitten and enamored by my date.
“Tell me about your family.” AJ cut into an omelet.
I blinked. “My family?”
“Yeah. Where are they? Do you have brothers? Sisters? Anyone here in town? Tell me all the stuff I should have remembered about you.”
It hadn’t been long enough that I still didn’t have to bite my lip to fight off the sting of tears. I cleared my throat, and pressed my palms into the linen napkin against my thighs.
I reached for the fresh cup of coffee. It was always easier if I didn’t make eye contact. I focused on the cream swirling in the coffee.
“I have a mom in Raleigh and my sister. She’s in high school.” I took a sip and swallowed. “My dad died last year.”
“Oh shit. I’m sorry, Sydney.”
I cleared my throat. “Thank you. It’s…it was unexpected.”
“I bet.” He stared at me across the table. “What happened? You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. I didn’t know what I was asking. Bad habit of asking too many questions.”
“It’s all right. I’m ok. Really.” I paused. “He was out running in our neighborhood, like he did every single day.” I could picture him in the shorts that Kelly and I always told him were a complete embarrassment to us and Mom. They had stripes on the side and were an obnoxious orange color. “Anyway, he collapsed while he was running. One of the neighbors found him on the sidewalk, but by the time they called an ambulance it was too late. There wasn’t anything they could do there or at the hospital.”
“God, that’s terrible.”
“Thanks.” I smiled weakly. I hated how talking about my family brought darkness wherever I went. There wasn’t a happy and graceful way to get out of it. “My sister has one year of high school left, and I don’t know what my mom is going to do once she graduates. It’s going to be a rough year next year.”
“Does that mean you’re thinking of moving back to North Carolina?” he asked.
“No. Not really. It’s not a bad drive on the weekends if Mom needs me. She’s fine financially. We all are. My dad had us covered.”
I didn’t want to divulge just how large my inheritance was. I wouldn’t have to work again if I didn’t want to, but at twenty-four I wasn’t ready to live a retired privileged life. There was normalcy in keeping my job at DataCorp. Even if it did bore me to tears most days. I used my money in other ways. Over-the-top vacations. Label-only clothes and shoes. Expensive tickets. I didn’t flash it around or flaunt it to anyone. It was a secret I kept that only those with an eye for money would see.
“But I’m adopted,” I blurted.
“What?”
Once I started telling AJ my story, I kept going. “Yeah. My parents adopted me as an infant. So they are my parents, but I have another family out there somewhere.”
“Is your sister adopted too?”
