“Zach forced that Thayer board member he was working on into a cushy retirement.”
I nodded, cocking a hip against the counter and folding my arms. “That didn’t take long at all.”
“It didn’t,” he agreed, but his eyes stayed on mine for another beat before he looked around again, then paused, sighed, and brought his gaze back to mine. “Are you okay?”
I frowned. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
He shrugged. “You seem distracted.”
I scoffed, but the sound rang hollow even to my own ears. If I was honest,distracteddidn’t begin to cover it. Jane had been a constant presence in my head since the courthouse. Since dinner. Since I’d watched her disappear behind that brownstone door and hadn’t heard from her since.
I couldn’t work without thinking about her. Couldn’t sleep without remembering how she challenged me instead of shrinking. The way she looked at me like she saw straight through the businessman to whoever the hell lived inside.
The only thing that had made the total radio silence bearable was the fact that the gala was tomorrow night. We’d been on the same page that we needed to attend together, which meant that I would be seeing her again in less than twenty-four hours.
Even so, it was ridiculous how much I’d been thinking about her, even catching myself wondering what she was going to wear.Why am I thinking about that? It’s not like I care.
“Distracted, huh?” Nate arched an eyebrow at me. “You’re sure that’s all it is? Because you don’t seem like yourself at all, bro. Not enjoying your honeymoon?”
“I’ll be fine.” I forced myself to uncross my arms and waved him off, suddenly unable to remember what I usually did with my hands. To give them something to do so he’d stop asking about me, I headed over to the cabinet and pulled out two glasses. “There’s just a lot going on.”
“Yeah, sure.” He watched me pour us each two fingers of scotch and took the glass I handed over, but didn’t bring it to his lips. “What are your plans with Jane for tonight?”
I glanced at him. “What do you mean?”
His brow furrowed. “What doyoumean?”
“She’s busy,” I said automatically. “I’m busy. Why would we have plans?”
Nate took a long sip of his scotch, his eyes narrowing on mine. “Isn’t she your wife?”
“Yes.”
“And I don’t see her here.”
“That’s because she doesn’t live here,” I said, perhaps a beat too fast. “Yet.”
The word lingered in the air between us, implying expectation. A future. But I wasn’t sure it would ever come to pass. I was so conflicted about what to do next that I just wasn’t doing anything. Not my usual style at all, but this was starting to feel so much more complicated than necessary.
My brother picked up on that little conundrum without skipping a beat. “So we’re just… not going to see or speak to her?”
“I’m sure we’ll cross paths,” I said.
“When?”
“At the gala.”
He stared at me. “That’s tomorrow.”
“Yes.”
“So nothing tonight?”
“I told you, we’re both busy.” I exhaled slowly. “I don’t need to hover over her.”
“That’s not what I’m suggesting.”
“What are you suggesting, then?”
