Once my omelet’s done, I take my plate to the island and pull up a stool, digging in ravenously. I really should have grabbed a snack when my shift ended last night; sixteen hours is way too long to go without food. I should know better.
I’m just finishing off my meal when Blake enters the kitchen. I’m assuming he was down in the basement working on his latest venture. He’s officially retired—you can do that in your forties when you’re a billionaire—but earlier this year he started a project with his son, Jamie. It’s some kind of robotics thing that I don’t understand even a little bit. I never got Blake’s tech brain and every time he tries to explain that kind of stuff to me I have to fight to stop my eyes from glazing over.
“Morning, sweetheart,” he says with a bright smile.
“Hey, darling,” I say dryly.
He gives me a playful punch to the arm before sidling up to Owen and kissing his cheek.
I’ll admit that when Blake first told me he and Owen were together, I was a little…concerned. For one thing, as far as I knew Blake had never shown any interest in men before. For another, there’s a nineteen-year age gap. And for a third, Blake’s a billionaire and Owen was only a couple years out of college and still paying off student loans. I honestly didn’t know what to think. It didn’t take long for me to be reassured, however. The fact is, I’ve never seen my brother as happy as he’s been since he and Owen got together, and that’s a point that’s been firmlyreiterated over the past few weeks while I’ve been living with them.
But as happy as I am for Blake, I can’t help feeling a small pang of envy. I thought I had that—the perfect partner, the soulmate, the other piece of me. But now I’m not entirely sure I ever did. I know I loved Valerie—my ex-wife—and I know she loved me. But soulmates are supposed to grow and change together, aren’t they? They’re not supposed to grow apart.
I place my plate in the dishwasher and wash out the omelet pan, returning it to the drawer I found it in. “Alright, I’m heading out for a run.”
Blake glances up from where he’s been indulging Leia with admiration of her coloring. “High Line?”
I shrug. “I guess.”
There’s an entrance to the High Line not too far from Blake and Owen’s, which makes it a convenient running circuit with no traffic to hold up momentum.
“You want company?” he asks.
“Sure, if you want.” I offer a wry smirk. “I guess you need to work off all that sugar and processed food. It’s starting to show around the middle.”
Blake just stares at me in confusion, while Owen looks affronted. “Blake is just as sexy now as when we got together.”
I screw my face up. “Um, no. My brother is notsexy.”
“What’s “sexy”?” Leia asks curiously.
4
“I can’t believeyou just slinked away like that,” Star says into the call, clearly pissed off.
“I didn’t slink,” I protest, rushing to catch up to the crowd of pedestrians crossing Seventh Avenue.
“There was definite slinkage,” she insists.
I give a wry shake of my head. “Look, I’m sorry I didn’t say goodbye. It was barely three am and I had to get to the plane.”
“It’s a private plane, Jasper. It would have waited for you.”
Damn, she’s using my full name. She really must be pissed.
“It already did wait,” I inform her. “It was ready at eleven.”
“Oh. Well, I guess I should be glad you didn’t leave at eleven,” she sighs.
“Yes, you should.” She doesn’t have to know I didn’t learn about the jet until hours later.
“So, what’s the big rush?”
“Piper wants to talk to me,” I explain. “She said it has to be face to face.”
“Ohh…so will you be coming back after you’ve spoken to her?” Star presses, sounding hopeful.
“No…”
