Page 65 of The Hookup
“For me?”
“Wait there,” she ordered, and rushed out, leaving him standing there, curious.
She returned moments later, slightly breathless, clutching a shiny gift bag. “Don’t get angry,” she said, handing it to him. “It’s Christmas, and … you know …”
He felt like a douche taking it, knowing that he hadn’t bought anything for her, that he hadn’t had the foresight to think about it. Actually, that was a lie. He’d walked past Victoria’s Secret last week, and had seen something he knew she would look great in. But he had walked past, and dismissed the idea.
He opened the box. Inside were two key-shaped cufflinks. “Keys?” he asked, looking puzzled.
“They’re not the keys to my heart,” she said, pre-empting him, “So don’t go getting moody or anything. But they only had dice, and cars, and globes, and I figured you’d have all of those.”
“These are cool,” he said, looking at her, smiling. “You shouldn’t have.”
“I wanted to.”
“Thank you, but I feel like a bag of shit because I didn’t get you—”
“It’s okay,” she said, shaking her head. “I don’t give to get.
“I don’t have keys, you’re right.”
She stood there looking at him like a puppy dog with shiny eyes. “Savannah’s pregnant,” she announced.
“I heard.” He’d found out days earlier, when one of his waitresses had mentioned it to him.
“She says she was pregnant when they got married.”
“I’m not surprised Tobias wanted to move fast,” he answered, slowly, feeling uneasy with the way Kay was looking at him, as if she was checking his reaction.
“That’s what she said. Isn’t it sweet that he wants to have a child with her so soon?”
Marriage and baby talk didn’t interest him, and he didn’t want her to think that they were on the road to that journey, not now, not anytime ever.
“Nice for them.”
“A new baby,” she cooed, “Someone for Jacob to play with.”
“Nice for Jacob.” He put the gift box on his desk, not wanting to stand around talking about these things.
“I should get back,” she replied, obviously noticing that the atmosphere between them had suddenly chilled a few degrees. “My team will be wondering what’s happened to me.”
Chapter 22
She was glad to have escaped from New York. Going home to see her mom over the Christmas break had been lovely, but as the days passed, and she settled back into the fabric of her life before she had ventured to the Big Apple, she realized many things had changed. Or rather, she had changed.
Within a day, she felt out of place, out of touch, and restless, especially when her mother couldn’t help but gush over Savannah’s pregnancy. It made it difficult being around her, because there was only so many times Kay could say again that she hadn’t yet met anyone, that her career consumed her, and that she wasn’t interested in men, and,yes,she would get her priorities right, one day.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, meeting up with some of her high school friends didn’t fare any better. Most of them were already married and had settled down. A couple of them already had more than one child. One had recently become engaged, which left only Kay as the only one not in a relationship. At least, that’s what she told them, otherwise, she would be lying.
Listening to her friends exchanging baby tips and the best recipes for bread, she felt out of place and out of touch. She was restless—as if she had an itch all over her body. She felt out of place even at home. Her mother, glad to have company, seemed to want to be around her all the time, never allowing her time alone with her thoughts. It wasn’t nice to think it, but she soon felt claustrophobic and, after a couple of days trying to relax at home, walking around the edges of conversations she wanted to avoid, she returned to New York earlier than planned.
But the restlessness continued, and she couldn’t figure out what it was.
There had been no correspondence between her and Luke, but he had told her that he was in Miami and LA on business, looking at potential sites. She wondered if Marie had gone with him.
She found herself people watching more than ever, but seeing couples holding hands as they strolled along Fifth Avenue, or sitting in coffee shops and restaurants, laughing and talking—was like a knife to her belly.
She had none of this.
