Alex cleared his throat. “Wait. You’reTopher Brodie. You own half of New York.” His eyes bounced between me and Topher like he was trying to do the math and getting all the wrong answers. “You two are dating?”
Hold on.Owns half of New York? I looked again, suddenly clocking the designer shoes, the crisp shirt, the watch that probably cost more than my student loans.
Well. That explained the limo.
I caught the look on Alex’s face—stunned, jealous, and a little desperate—and, honestly? That sealed it.
I felt Topher’s hand brush against mine, and this time, I looped my arm through his.
To my surprise, he didn’t flinch. He tightened his hold just slightly, like we’d rehearsed it.
“Yes, my boyfriend,” I said, adding an extra scoop of saccharine to my voice and batting my lashes like I was auditioning for a Hallmark movie.
Topher’s posture relaxed just a hair. He gave me the tiniest nod, almost like a thank you.
I leaned into him, aiming for graceful and effortless... and accidentally jabbed him in the ribs with my elbow.
Topher flinched, then subtly tried to shift away, but that only made it worse. My hair caught on one of his jacket buttons. Fantastic.
I winced, trying to untangle myself without yanking out a chunk of hair or blowing our cover. All while smiling like nothing was wrong.
Thankfully, no one seemed to notice our accidental slapstick routine. Alex and the nurse had turned their attention to Topher’s mom, who was chatting away like this was the most heartwarming thing she’d ever seen.
Then, just when I thought things couldn’t get weirder, Topher leaned in again, his voice warm and confident. “Honey, is that my laptop?”
Honey.
My heart did a little somersault.
I looked down at the laptop I’d been babysitting all morning and nodded, trying not to look like I’d just been tased. “Uh, yeah. Thought you might need it.”
He smiled and gave my arm a squeeze that sent a jolt through my chest.
“Thanks, babe.”
Babe.My heart zoomed again. At this rate, I’d need medical attention too.
As I was trying to process what was happening, my attention was pulled to Alex as he reached the door. He paused and turned back, his tone the confident, reassuring doctor that I knew so well. “Mrs. Brodie, Topher, I want you to know that the surgery that Dr. Julius is planning to remove the tumor is one he’s performed many times, and I’m very confident it will be successful. You’ll be home recovering in no time, just like we talked about.”
Alex’s eyes flicked back to me, narrowing with a suspicious look that seemed to linger. Topher must have sensed it, too, because he pulled me closer, tightening his grip around my shoulder in a gesture that felt both protective and possessive. Alex’s jaw tightened ever so slightly, then he turned on his heel and left the room, the door closing behind him with a soft but decisive click.
Mrs. Brodie wasted no time. Her eyes sparkled with excitement. “So, how did you two meet? I’m dying to know the story.”
Topher and I exchanged a quick, panicked glance, both of us scrambling for a story that made sense.
“At the airport,” I blurted out just as Topher said, “In a car accident.”
We quickly tried to recover.
“Actually, it was both!” My forced laughter felt strained. “We were at the airport, and, um, there was a bit of a fender bender in the drop-off zone.”
“Yeah,” Topher added, nodding. “She rear-ended my limo.”
I whipped around to face him, my eyes narrowing. “Rear-ended? More like your driver backed into me!”
Topher raised an eyebrow, amusement flickering in his eyes. “Backed into you? You were practically parked in our blind spot, trying to squeeze into a space that didn’t exist.”
I smiled sweetly, but I wasn’t about to let him off the hook. “Oh, please. Your driver was so focused on getting you to your next destination that he didn’t even check his mirrors. He nearly turned my car into a speed bump!”
