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THREE
MEADOW
“Excuse me, sir,” I laugh while lifting the kitten off my laptop. “Some of us have to work around here.” I kiss his little head before putting him down on the floor. We’ve only had the kittens a few days and I’m already attached. If I’m feeling this way, then Briar is full-blown in love, and I know these kittens aren’t going anywhere.
Now I’m worried this could become a habit. Our apartment isn’t tiny, but it’s not big enough to house more animals. Briar volunteers at a few shelters, and she signed up to foster if needed. This was the first round, and we’re keeping them. Neither of us have said that, but then Briar and I don’t often need words.
“Coffee,” Briar says before putting the cup next to my laptop.
“Thanks.” I take a sip and pull up my emails.
My boss told me he was going to send me the information on the new client, but I haven’t seen anything. I was hoping to get a small peek at what I might be doing, but when I checked again before I went to bed, I saw nothing. I planned to go into the office as normal in case the client decided to pull out. I know how badly Mr. Phillips wanted this client, so I hope that’s not what’s going on.
“One toaster strudel.” My sister puts a small plate next to my coffee.
“You spoil me.”
“Toaster strudels are spoiling?” She laughs, but we both know it’s more than that.
“You get up every morning with me,” I say because it’s true. She sends me off to work with a packed lunch like we’re a married couple.
“Someone has to feed you and do something with your hair.”
“My hair is fine.” I ran a brush through it before I pulled it up. I try to bat her hand away, but she pulls my ponytail out. Briar might be all over the place at times, but at her core, she’s a nurturer. She can bounce around on a whim, but she keeps close to me. To this day, I sometimes wake up with her in my bed, which was the case this morning. Along with three kittens.
“It will be fine once I fix it.” I stop trying to fight her, knowing when to pick my battles, and instead go back to checking my emails before I head into the office.
A new one came in an hour ago, and the subject line has my heart sinking. What the hell? Next to the title New Client are the words Monroe Law Firmand Associates.
“No,” I gasp and click the email.
“Why no? I thought the half-twist-up braid was your favorite.” Briar’s hands stop playing with my hair.
“No, not that. Gondal Assist’s new client.”
“Did your boss finally email you about it?”
“Yeah.” I stare at the email and realize that I don’t need an address of where to go because I know exactly where it’s located.
Briar leans forward to glance over my shoulder. “Sneaky bastards,” she hisses.
“It could be a coincidence, because I don’t think the Monroe brothers know who I work for. I’ve only been there for a week.” Before we ran into them on Friday, it had been over a month since our parents dragged us to an event and they were there.
The event was for a charity that their mom and ours are both on the board of, and Heath was in a tux. I don’t know what it was about him being in a tux, but it always got my body tingling. The one thing that helped cool me down was seeing women fawn all over him.
The Monroe brothers always attract female attention. It doesn’t matter how many times I see it happen, it still burns every damn time. I can still see that blonde in my head from Friday. I might have gone onto their firm's website and scrolled through the employees, but she wasn’t on there. I still don’t know if that’s good or bad.
“Right.” Briar snorts as she finishes my hair. “I’m not buying it. They’re up to something.”
“They might be as surprised as I am when I show up.” I pick up my toaster strudel and take a bite while debating what to do. “Do you think I should tell my boss I know them? He could put someone else on it.” If I’m honest with myself, the idea of working close to Heath scares me.
No matter how much I tell myself to hate him or that he doesn’t want me, I can’t stop myself from wanting him. It drives me insane. I might not be physically chasing after him, but emotionally I always am, and it’s hard to keep myself in check. It’s almost impossible to never give away what I’m feeling when I’m near him. In the moments when I’ve slipped up and Heath thinks I’m truly hurt, he gives me attention out of sympathy. At least that’s what it feels like.
“What would they be up to? I don’t see what game this could be.”
“I wonder if Mom and Dad asked them to watch out for us. I swear if there are men showing us any attention, they pop up and ruin it. Party killers.”
Briar is right. Last spring break, we were on the beach lying out and two guys came up to talk to us. Out of nowhere, one was hit in the back of the head with a football, and the guy’s drink spilled all over me and Briar. I’m not sure which Monroe brother threw it, but they gave a half-assed apology to the two guys, who all but ran away from us afterwards.
