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“There may be some possibilities here. I’m sending my résumé where I can and I plan to hit the pavement first thing Monday morning.” Her tone sounds upbeat, but it doesn’t match the forlorn expression on her face as she closes the paper.
“You know you don’t have to rush on my account. You’re welcome here as long as you want or need.” I take her hand in mine, squeezing it.
“I appreciate that, but I want to get my own place as soon as possible. I don’t want Lori getting any ideas about us living together.” She sighs. “I’m sure I’ll be getting an earful at lunch today about staying with you instead of her. I know her feelings are hurt that I didn’t tell her about Christopher right away, but she’s always hated him. I didn’t want to hear the inevitable told you so.”
“I get that.” I give her a sympathetic smile. “If I’m being completely honest, I’m glad I won’t be Lori and Cat’s sole focus now,” I add with a laugh.
“Gee, thanks,” she deadpans, frowning. “That reminds me, Lori was asking about Brenden. She said Cat was coming to hang out with the kids today while you go on a date with him?” She raises her brow, a small smirk tilting one side of her mouth.
Shushing her, I motion for her to keep it down and look over my shoulder. The last thing I need right now is for Maddison to hear about Brenden. “It’s not a date,” I whisper-shout.
“All right,” she concedes, holding up her hands, that smirk still painting her lips. “You have to admit, it’s a little strange he calls you every night to ask about your day. I won’t even bring up how you two looked dancing together the other night.”
My body heats from the memory of Brenden’s mouth mere inches from mine, his hands holding me tight. If Julianna hadn’t caused such a commotion, I’m not certain how things would have gone.
“First of all, you wouldn’t have anything to say about the phone calls if he were a female. As for the dancing, I won’t be defending that again unless you want to talk about what happened with that guy,” I challenge.
Julianna has been giving me hell about Brenden since Zane’s, but she’s remained tight-lipped about the men that approached our table. The only thing she would tell me is that she used to know them when she was younger. There’s obviously something she’s hiding from me. She argued with the older one, resulting in him storming out of the bar with the other guy following behind him. She was visually shaken by the encounter but swore everything was fine.
“I’ve already explained this. You totally misread the situation. He was an old friend, no big deal.” With a dismissive wave of her hand, she changes the subject back to me. “What are you guys doing today?”
“I don’t know.” My eyes fall to my coffee to avoid seeing the reaction on her face.
“What do you mean you don’t know?”
“He said it’s a surprise.” My answer is no more than a quiet mumble, my gaze remaining focused on my cup as I slowly spin it around.
The silence that follows comes as a surprise, and I look back up at Julianna. The smile on her face is so big it nearly spans her entire face.
“What?” I demand, shifting uncomfortably under her stare.
“You hate surprises.” She lifts her eyebrows.
“I’m well aware of that,” I huff, the knot in my stomach tightening. “I’m trying to stop controlling everything and live in the moment.” I repeat Brenden’s words to her, rolling my eyes despite the smile that breaks free.
“That’s good. What brought this on?”
I worry my bottom lip and shrug. Brenden is most definitely responsible for pushing me out of my comfort zone. His love for life is infectious, but I’m not sure admitting that is a good idea.
“Well, it doesn’t really matter what or who encouraged this change,” she says. “I’m just happy to see you in a better place.”
There’s no denying I’m happier and healthier than I was three months ago. And I can’t avoid the fact that Brenden has played a big part in getting me here.
Brenden
“Are you going to tell me where we’re going?” Lizzy asks, speaking for the first time since we got in my truck.
She hasn’t stopped fidgeting—shifting in her seat, pulling on her seat belt, continuously changing the radio station. I was expecting her to be nervous, though. She’s the type of person who likes to have everything all planned out. But, you can’t overanalyze something when it’s a surprise.
“You’ll see soon enough,” I scoff, pulling her hand back as it reaches for the radio again.
“How did you get me to agree to this?” The sudden change in her tone causes me to take my eyes off the road long enough to get a look at her.
Her arms are crossed over her chest, her gaze narrowed. Truth is, I don’t think she knew what she was saying when she agreed to come with me today. At the time, her body was doing the talking for her, and I let it. Because I’m selfish and want this time with her.
“I think you may’ve been a little distracted.”
She groans in frustration, running a hand through her long hair. “Don’t you think it’s unkind to take advantage of someone when they’re distracted?”
