Page 77 of Rookie Move
“Um, what?” Georgia wasn’t sure she’d heard correctly.
Becca laughed. “You don’t have to soundsoshocked. I just figured you’d be spending all kinds of time with Leo now. And it made me realize I needed to get out more. So I let my sister fix me up with one of her coworkers. We’re all going to a comedy club in Chelsea.”
“Wow. Have a great time.”
“I plan to. Get your butt home, though, because—dumplings. And I’m leaving another little surprise for you on the sofa.”
“What is it?”
“Just come home.” Becca hung up on her.
Motivated by dumplings, Georgia shut her computer down and finally left the empty office building. She hurried across the cobblestones and into her apartment building, then jogged up the stairs. She unlocked the door and pushed it open. “Hi, honey, I’m home!”
“Awesome,” a voice answered. But it did not belong to Becca.
Georgia’s heart did a backflip with a double twist. She peered around the corner to find Leo relaxing on the sofa in tight jeans and a form-fitting thermal shirt, drinking a beer. “Well hello there,” she said, suddenly shy.
His smile was so warm that some of the strangeness ofthe moment evaporated. “I rang your buzzer about a half hour ago, and Becca told me to just come up.”
You can ring my buzzer anytime. Georgia’s eyes got a little stuck on the long, muscular legs propped onto her coffee table. “No plans tonight?” she asked.
“Oh, I have a few,” he said, his brown eyes flashing. “But you should eat your dinner before it gets cold. Becca left it in the kitchen.”
Georgia’s tummy fluttered as she scurried off to find the Thai food that Becca had left her. There was a note on the bag.I won’t be home until midnight.
Everyone had big ideas for her evening.
She made a plate for herself and carried it into the living room, taking the spot beside Leo.
“Nice apartment,” he said.
“It’s cozy. That’s Brooklyn for ‘small.’”
“The brick fireplace is neat, though. Santa can visit you.”
Georgia offered her plate to Leo, but he shook his head. “I went to Grimaldi’s with Silas. He said I needed initiation into the Brooklyn pizza cult.”
“Nice. You can lord it over DJ, too.”
Leo grinned. “My brother, the pizza snob. Can’t believe you two have kept in touch. That’s cool.”
“I love that kid,” Georgia admitted.
Georgia took a bite of her first dumpling, and it got quiet between them. There had been many times during the past six years when she’d imagined how nice it would be to have Leo sitting beside her on the sofa. Now that he was actually here, she didn’t know what to say. The silence felt heavy, and it gave her a twinge of nerves. Maybe there was only so much separation a relationship could bear before it collapsed under its own weight.
“This is a spectacularly ugly couch,” Leo offered.
Smiling at him, Georgia relaxed by a couple degrees. “We call it the Beast. No uglier upholstery has ever been sighted this side of the Rockies. But it’s comfortable as hell.”
He lifted his eyebrows suggestively. “I’ll bet.”
Georgia felt her neck get hot. “Can I put on a movie?”
“Sure. Anything you want.” He put a hand on her knee.
“Even a chick flick?” she teased.
Her knee received a squeeze. “I really miss you, Gigi. If you’re going to let me crash your Friday night, you can put onMy Little Ponyfor all I care.”
