AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Lauryn was the next one, and yes, she’s still here two years later. I’ve often wondered why, certain it’s not because of my sparkling personality, not because I suddenly became an easy man to support. It’s clear now she’d stayed because of the generous salary and puts up with me because of it.
I push away my half-eaten plate of pie and use all of my acting skills to return Lauryn’s questioning glance with a reassuring smile.
Lauryn | Friday night
“Ithoughtyousaidwe’d be in separate rooms. Old-fashioned parents and all…” Miles says, trailing off as he surveys the tiny renovated loft. We’re on the second floor of the miniscule guest house out back, and he’s still holding his suitcase. There’s barely room for a double bed, a nightstand, and a small desk with a wooden chair.
Usually, I can read him like a book, but I can’t tell from his current tone whether he thinks this development is a blessing or a curse, and honestly, I’m unsure myself.
“I thought so, too,” I reply, squeezing past him to close the curtains of the window that faces the house. Growing up with three sisters, you never know which prying eyes are watching. “But there are only three bedrooms in the main house. Two sisters in each growing up, and now, they’re full with their families spending the night.”
“You didn’t have your own room?”
I shake my head. “Not until I moved to the city.”
This room is a far cry from what he’s used to. It’s clean but smaller than my crappy studio apartment blocks from the office. If Miles steps even a meter forward, he’d hit his head on the low, slanted ceiling. Theaccommodationsare yet another reminder we’re from two different worlds.
He doesn’t respond, so I fill the silence. “Considering you’re the first guy I’ve ever brought home, and I’m the oldest daughter, it seems they must’ve gotten over their reservations. Either that, or they’ve given up on me and the hope I’m ever coming back.”
“What do you mean?”
I sigh and sink onto the bed, flopping onto my back and letting my slip-ons tumble to the floor. Now that we’re alone again, it feels, to me at least, like it was during the ride up. When we both seemed to let down our guard. “When I left for the city, I assured them it was only for a year. You know, to explore and experience the world beyond these two hundred acres and our one-street town.”
Miles sets down his suitcase. “And that was two years ago.”
I roll my head to face him. It was odd to see him sitting in my parents’ kitchen and even more unnerving to be relegated to the loft with only a double bed to share. But to be talking to him about this, when he’s the reason I’ve never left the firm, never returned home…it’s surreal. But also temporary. I go for the easiest excuse. The one I’ve used with my family a dozen times.
I lift a shoulder. “I like the city.”
He scoffs. Seriously. Not once in all the time I’ve known Miles has he ever so much as hinted at a scoff, but he does now. At me. And it’s charming and wholly consuming and sends an odd shiver right through me. “Could have fooled me.”
“What?” I’m too distracted by that sound and my reaction to realize he doesn’t buy my explanation.
He takes a seat on the wooden chair by the wardrobe. “Lauryn, your desk is outside my office. Like it or not, I’ve heard every complaint you’ve ever lodged with your landlord, the mass transit office, and the city council over the past two years. Not to mention the way you also tell anyone who happens by all about the issues you want addressed.”
Really? He pays that close attention to me?
My expression must reveal my skepticism because he shoots me a look and elaborates, ticking off on his fingers as he goes. “The lack of recycling and composting in your building, the request to replace the incandescent bulbs with energy-efficient LEDs at the bus stop, the charge you led to get bike racks installed last summer at heavy commuter locations in our district.”
“I did get those bike racks,” I blurt out, and his eyebrows raise.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if every person within a six-block radius knows of your success with the bike racks—and all of the other initiatives. All I’m saying is, it baffles me why you don’t consider moving home. You were giddy from the moment we passed out of the city limits and have been glowing even more than usual since we arrived.”
Glowing? Did Miles Beaufort really just describe me as glowing? Even more than usual? I could die.But not the point. He’s leaned back in his chair and crossed his ankle over his knee like he does at the office. The move is a blunt reminder I need to accept I’m not the type of woman Miles Beaufort would ever fall for, let alone marry.
An associate on the fast track to becoming partner needs a serious woman who fits into his serious life and is able to rub elbows with his stuffy, serious, affluent family without completely embarrassing him in a hundred different ways.
Sure, he agreed to this weekend getaway, which is out of character. Even so, it’s a clearly defined period of time with a distinct goal. I should ask him why he volunteered, but I’m afraid of what the answer might be. Instead, I change the subject.
“You didn’t help earlier, you know.”
“How’s that?”
“You told my dad you went into commercial law because it was the family business.”
“It’s the truth.”
“But noteveryone, even dutiful sons and daughters, follow their parents’ footsteps into the family business.”
