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But I can’tintentionallyset him up for that kind of heartbreak.
He’s got to come first.
Resting a hand over his tiny back, I hold him to me for another minute before reaching for my phone.
Finding the email from the agency, I reply, asking them to start setting up interviews. And then I start scrolling back through two and a half weeks of texts.
Chapter 11
Axel
Road trips over Thanksgiving aren’t something I’ve ever given much thought to. It’s part of the job, and while I haven’t been able to spend the holiday with my family in years, I’ve spent it with my team. Happily.
This year it’s different.
This year, I couldn’t stop thinking about all the holidays ahead for Otto, and Nora spending this one alone with him. I had a catered meal delivered for her and even asked Anders to drop by and hang out for an hour or two.
Which practically killed me. And yeah, the asshole totally made sure to wave at the living room camera we had installed so I can see what’s happening through my phone. He gave me a thumbs-up before pulling her in for a full-frontal hug. Not entry-level. Two arms, and if I’m not mistaken, the fucker smelled her hair.
Not cool.
Whatwascool? Nora’s eye roll accompanied by a shoulder pat/push away that all but screamedwhatever. This girl is not falling victim to my brother’s player moves.
But yeah, I wished I was there.
We video chat at least once a day, and we’ve started texting more too. Sometimes it’s a phone call. Not just about Otto, though the picture she sent of him this morning was fucking adorable. But about jobs she’s applying for and which cities are my favorite to play in. What’s going on with her siblings back home and how excited the little ones are to see her at Christmas. How she learned that eggplant isn’t her thing and how I learned escargot isn’t mine.
We’re friends. Only,friendsdoesn’t seem quite enough.
I have tons of friends, but I don’t have this kind of connection with any of them. Maybe it’s because of the emotion and intensity of the last few weeks, Otto bonding us in ways we wouldn’t have otherwise bonded. I don’t know, but I don’t feel the same urgency to talk to anyone else the way I do Nora. To find out what’s happening in her day and hear her laugh when I share whatever stupid shit the guys are getting up to in the locker room. To count down the time until it’s just the three of us back in the apartment and I’m ordering some dinner in or she’s teasing me about my ego, a beast only fatherhood could tame.
I hate that it took five months for us to reconnect, but the truth is, it might have been for the best. Hell, five months ago, I wouldn’t have stopped until I had her in my bed… a scenario I work really hard not to visualize in torturous, explicit detail too often.
And how long would that have lasted? Considering my less-than-stellar record with romance, I’m guessingnot very. Chances are, I would have lost her, and, even if we’d somehow ended up in this same place with her saving me and Otto, there’d always be a past between us getting in the way.
So, it’s a good thing we don’t have that.
Especially because being the kind of connected, bonded, extra-good friends we are now totally justifies the way I’m thinking about her almost as much as I am Otto. That I’m dying to unload from this plane so I can get home while both of them are still there.
It takes me longer than I’d like, but I’m finally letting myself into the apartment when—
“Oomph!Whoa, Nora?” My arm instinctively wraps around the warm, soft woman who’s launched herself at me and is currently pressing a kiss to my jaw and squeezing my neck, her thick curls teasing my nose.
Apples.
“Thank you, thank you! And also, Otto is sleeping. But mostly, thank you!”
I drop my suit coat and gear as I bring my other arm around her, securing my hold on her and this moment a little longer. Walking us into the kitchen, I grin. “You’re welcome. For whatever I did.”
And I mean it. Jesus, this feels good. Totally a hug that friends of our caliber are entitled to.
“I just got off the phone with Sam Farrow,” she says, beaming at me, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything prettier than that wide smile.
“Ahh, Sam called you.” I was hoping he would. He owns a successful residential contracting operation in the city, and with the way his business is growing, I thought he might have room for someone with Nora’s drive.
“He asked me to come in on Monday for an interview. His office manager needs a hip replacement, and she’s going to be out three months. So, he’s looking for someone to help and train for a few weeks before and then to stay to help her get caught up after. He knows I don’t have much traditional experience but said you told him about what I did for Diane.”
She shakes her head and lets out a laugh, so free and pure, I feel it straight through the center of my chest.
