AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What request?”
Callie’s jaw went slack, her eyes widening as she realized I had no fucking clue what she was talking about.
“Zeke…” She approached me, her brow creasing deeper with every step.
“Tell me.”My palms flattened on my desk, fighting to keep myself from reeling back.
“Last week, Kenzie asked if I could help her draft and send a visitation request to her ex’s lawyer for a supervised meeting with her son.” Callie gulped and clutched the envelope to her chest. “She told me you knew about Jake—I asked if she’d told you about her son, and she said yes.”
“I did know about him,” I said, my voice rough. “She didn’t tell me about wanting to request a visitation or that she’d asked you to do it.”
I shouldn’t be angry. I had no right to be angry. I mean, she had asked my paralegal to send this request without my knowledge, but Callie was also her friend.
Was this because of what happened on the porch? Because I almost kissed her that she didn’t trust me? Fuck.
I pinched the bridge of my nose and exhaled slowly. I swore she’d wanted the same. The way she’d leaned into me. The way her eyes had darkened and then hooded. I swore it wasn’t just the thunderstorm shooting electricity into the atmosphere.
“I’m sorry.” Callie winced. “I shouldn’t have asked—I didn’t realize—”
“Why doesn’t she trust me?”
She grimaced. “I don’t think it has to do with you.”
I wished I could believe her.
“I’ll take it.” I nodded to the envelope.
I was going to make this right. If I’d overstepped… if I’d said or done something that made her feel like she couldn’t ask for my help, I was going to find out and fix it. I could live with the torture of seeing her every day, of having to hide how much I wanted her, but I couldn’t live with the idea that I’d done something to hurt her.
“Zeke…”
I extended my hand. “Please, Callie.”
I’d tried not to push—not to pry for weeks now. Even after Kenzie borrowed my law books. Even after she’d told me her son’s name. But this… using my PA to request visitation rights without my knowledge… if that didn’t give me a right to know what was going on, I didn’t know what did.
* * *
The last Fridayof the month was movie night at Blooms—something that had slipped my mind until I got there and heard the TV blaring from behind the closed living room doors.
My fingers drummed on the letter, itching to call Kenzie from the room to talk to her.Don’t be an idiot.
I stalked down the hallway before I ignored my own warning, closed myself in my office, and turned on the light.
I stopped short for a second, absorbing the space. It wasn’t like I hadn’t been here earlier today for my meeting with Kenzie, but when I was here with her, my focus was only on her. What she was saying. What I was saying.What I wasn’t saying. What I shouldn’t be thinking.But without the distraction of her presence, I saw all the changes that I’d missed.
Within two weeks, it was clear someone else was spending more time at this desk than me. Everything was organized. Post-its tagged papers and ideas in an array of colors. And there was a vase of freshly picked flowers on the corner of the desk. I still thought of it as my office, but it had Kenzie’s touch written all over it.
Just like so many other aspects of my life.
I sank into the chair and stared at the envelope, wishing I could see inside to its contents.
Her ex. Stan.
I’d wondered who had her son while she was here. Of course, the father was my first assumption, but Kenzie wasn’t married, so then I’d wondered if the father was even in the picture, and if he wasn’t, what were the other options? Grandparents. Siblings. Foster care. I shuddered. On the one hand, I should’ve been glad Jake was with his dad. Instead, the baser emotions of jealousy and protectiveness overwhelmed my brain.
Why were they not together? Had he done something to her? Harmed her? There’d been nothing about abuse in her file. Had he left her because of the drugs? Or had she gotten hooked on the drugs because of him?
Not knowing made me agitated. Needing to know drove me insane.
