Page 68 of Just a Plot Twist
“What?”
“You were smiling.” And now she’s got one gracing her face.
I take a sip of soda. It just tastes better in a glass bottle. “I’m thinking about how it’s a nice place to raise a family.”
“You mean Longdale or this house?”
I shrug. “Both.”
Her brows shoot into the air. “Yeah, if I’m lucky enough to have a family someday.” Something wistful crosses her face before she clears her throat and takes another drink. “Anyway, enough gushing about my amazing reno job. How are you?”
Her expression reads like curiosity, like she’s ready for me to spill exactly why I’m here.
But this first: “Whoever you end up with will be the lucky one,” I add.
We stare at each other, our gazes locked, and I swear, a shiver goes down and then back up my spine.
She clears her throat and licks her lips. “Thank you.” Her expression is sincere. “I… but yeah. How are you?” she asks again.
I lean back in the polished oak chair and tell my brain to stop thinking so outside the box right now—of how she was just in the shower. “I’m doing well. Happy to report that with the doggy door, Cinnamon is doing much better. And the kids got back from Connecticut in good spirits.”
“I bet it’s nice to have them back.”
“It is.” I shift in my chair. “Hey, can I ask you a question?
She hesitates before a “Yeah?”
I slide my thumbs up and down the cold glass of my bottle. “What are you doing the rest of this week?”
“Oh, just mourning the fact that I can’t go on the hike that’s planned. She plunks her drink down on the table. “The club’s doing Crag Rock! I’ve wanted to go so badly, but I admit it’s not possible this time.”
Why do I find the prospect of going on the hike without her boring?
“I might not go, either. How’s your ankle?”
“It’s improving.”
“In that case, would you feel up to joining me at Peter Schiller’s birthday party?”
“The former best friend of your father who’s secretly striking out on his own?”
Ugh. Yeah. “I need to represent Foundations there. And I want you to come with me.”
“And you wantmeto come because…?” One brow is arched, like she’s daring me to flirt. She picks up the drink again and presses the opening in the bottle to her lips.
Or maybe I’m daring myself to flirt. “Well, I had fun with you the other night.”
Her head cocks to one side. “Me, too.”
“And, if I have to go to a birthday party for a guy who is getting ready to leave my father and take clients with him, I’d love the company.”
“You may need backup.” She nods wisely.
“I always need backup.” I take a deep breath. “Things with Peter are a bit delicate. It would be good to go and observe. See what we can see. Hear what we can hear.”
“Sounds kind of fun.”
“Yeah, it does.”But only if you’re there. A sentiment I don’t add verbally.
