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“Thanks, Janet.” Holden rose, grabbing his coffee and a pile of folders in one hand and the pastry in the other. I stood, grabbing my purse and my own uneaten pastry.
“Sorry,” Holden moved to the door, using his elbow to shove it open for me — having your hands full was no excuse to abandon that Southern hospitality. “I guess they’re done early.”
“No need to apologize. I understand.” I slipped through the small opening, smiling up at him as I passed just to make sure he really believed that I wasn’t upset. “I’m just glad I got to see you at all.”
I immediately wished I could take those words back. They revealed way more about how I felt than I was comfortable with.
“I’m glad too.” He gave me one of those smiles that reached both corners of his full lips. “And not just because you brought me coffee and lunch.”
Those words stuck with me all day. I replayed them over and over again in my mind, dissecting each word individually and looking for hints about his feelings hidden in them like Easter eggs.
But no matter how hard I tried, the only conclusion I reached was that I had wasted a lot of time loving the wrong brother.
32
Aknock at my door had my head jerking up from the screen and startling so bad that the tablet I was reading on went flying off my lap.
“Just a second,” I called out, trying to untangle myself from the cocoon of blankets I was wrapped in.
Finally free, I made my way from the couch to the door, glancing around to determine how much of a mess my apartment was. Not bad, I assessed, noticing just a few dirty dishes in the sink.
“Douglas! What the hell!” I yelped, hopping over his ball, which had appeared out of nowhere. I could have sworn he was purposely trying to trip me as revenge for making him exercise. I had caught him snoozing in it earlier and had given it a little nudge with my foot to wake him up. He was clearly still bitter.
I heard the sound of the ball rolling across vinyl flooring behind me as I opened the door to reveal Holden with both hands stretched up, bracing on the top of the doorframe. He looked up at the sound of the door opening, and the corner of his mouth lifted when his eyes met mine.
“Holden, what are you doing here?” That didn’t sound right. “Not that I mind, not at all, but I thought you were at the game for the bachelor party.”
“It ended early,” he replied, his gaze landing on Douglas, who had rolled to a stop next to me. “I should have asked if it was okay to stop by.”
“It’s always okay if you stop by,” I reassured him, opening the door wider for him to come in. “Are you hungry? Thirsty?”
My own eyes were busy eating up the sight of Holden in faded, fitted jeans and a cotton T-shirt with the team logo on it.
Would it be inappropriate to ask him to put on a baseball hat backward for a picture? Probably. Might be worth never being able to look him in the eyes again, though. And I bet I could sell those pictures online, too, and make a tidy sum. Max had sold pictures of her feet once and she’d made a small fortune until it got too weird even for her.
“A glass of water would be great, thanks,” he replied, glancing over his shoulder at Douglas, who was trailing him into the living area.
Water? Oh right! I’d asked if he wanted anything to drink. I shut the door and hustled into the kitchen, hoping it wasn’t too obvious that I had lingered in the doorway staring at his butt in those jeans. The Lord must have created them just for him.
“How was the party?” I asked, reaching into the cupboard to search for a glass that didn’t come from a restaurant or sporting event.Note to self: Invest in more adult dishware.
“Fine. It was a good game and Macon’s friends are tolerable.”
“Wow, they’re tolerable? Remind me not to ask you to write me a letter of recommendation.” I filled his glass from the pitcher in the fridge and made my way to the couch.
“You’re more than tolerable.” Holden’s voice was laced with what I wanted to believe was affection, but might have just been exhaustion. He still looked so tired. I knew he’d been working seventy-hour weeks — picking up Macon’s slack — and this was the first time we’d seen each other since I’d dropped off coffee and lunch. The daily texts we exchanged had quickly become my favorite moments of the day, but sitting here next to Holden, I realized what a poor substitute they were for the real thing.
“Thank you?” I set the glass on the coffee table and sat next to him, tucking my legs under me to face him. “You seem exhausted, Holden.”
He scrubbed his hands down his face, then reached for the glass of water and took a drink. He set the glass back on the table, resting his elbows on his knees.
“I am completely burned out.” He sighed, an uncharacteristic move from this man who didn’t ever seem ruffled. “I keep telling myself that I just have to make it one more week until this wedding, but I don’t see things improving after the honeymoon.”
“You’re going to tell the partners that you’re taking the city solicitor position after the wedding, though, right? That’s still the plan?”
He nodded, eyes still on the coffee table like it held the secret to surviving the next week somewhere on its worn, scratched surface.
“That’s still the plan, but I’ll have to transition Macon into his new position, get him up to speed on all our clients. Ethically, I can’t just leave our clients in the middle of their cases without making sure Macon can handle them.” He picked up my tablet, brow lowering as his eyes scanned the screen. “What are you reading?”
