Page 30 of Almost Home
Her gaze found mine again, and I tried to read what hid behind her now shuttered expression.
Was she scared of me? Or… interested? People had different reactions to knowing a person was in special operations, even if they had no idea just howspecialit was. That information could be everything from an aphrodisiac to a diagnosis, depending on the person receiving the information.
And despite her openness and many tells, I couldn’t get her temp on this. Something twisted in my gut at the thought that she’d take either reaction.
“Of course. Now, you’ve seen the plans and estimates on how many clients we need to bring on in the next few months?”
Sarah responded, and they proceeded with the discussion as I observed them both, wondering what she would think if she knew how I’d spent my time the last twenty years. Wondering why I cared what she thought since she couldn’t possibly have had much interest—never mind her apology—or she would’ve ended the silence between us long before we’d collided here.
CHAPTERFOURTEEN
Wilder
Hours later, after we’d finished our meetings and driven around a bit, Bruce kicked his feet up on my apartment’s shabby coffee table and crossed his arms.
“Well, the place islovely, as expected.”
I shook my head. He knew what he’d get when he accepted the offer to crash with me for his visit. He didn’t necessarily need to penny pinch, but he wanted a nice house for him and Kiley, and he was going to need to make a strong offer if his taste was anything like what it was in North Carolina.
“I thought you might finally hang some pictures, maybe paint an accent wall—something.”
“Why would I do that?” I asked, checking the screen for our pizza delivery. Still a few minutes out.
Bruce tucked his hands behind his head and leaned back. “Oh, I don’t know. Because you’re back in your hometown?”
“I’m not staying in this place. I’ll be moving into my house as soon as it’s built.” He knew this.
“Mkay. Yeah. Is this the house you’re going to be buildingyourself?”
I handed him a beer and took a seat in the chair across from him. “Yes.”
“And if I remember right, they’re pouring foundation and framing it out in a few weeks, and after that, you’re going to doeverything else.”
“Not everything, but most of it.”
“And you have a brother who routinely remodels homes and rents them, and you haven’t spoken to him about this.”
This jerk thought he knew everything. He’d been busy before I left town, and I had, too. He didn’t know everything. “No. In fact, he recommended the contractor who’s pouring the foundation and doing the framing. He’s trying to talk me into having them do more, but I want to be busy.”
Bruce gave me one of his dead-eyed stares as though he thought it’d move me. I wasn’t some Sergeant waiting to have my ass handed to me by the great and mighty Shark.
Heaving a great sigh, he leaned forward. “I’m not even going to debate you about this because you know how I feel. What I really want to talk about is—”
“Don’t.”
And at the same time I said that, he, inevitably, said, “Sarah James.”
Our gazes locked in a short battle before I had to look away from his smug face. “Nothing to talk about.”
“Sure, sure. That’s why I could practicallytastethe tension between you after I explained our experience.”
“No idea what that was about.”
He whipped out his phone and tapped out a text as he spoke. “I think you know that’s a load.”
“I don’t.”
“You do.”
