He laughed. “That’s why I’ve been up here a lot lately.”
“Do you enjoy the work?”
“Yeah. More than I ever thought I would. I’m proud of everything we’ve done so far. We started in my garage. I always thought I’d like starting up a new company every few years and then selling it like my dad, but I don’t know. I’ve really loved running the business. The day to day stuff. Getting new clients. Getting to know all the employees. I guess I’m not sure where to go from here when I always figured I’d sell and move on. I wasn’t expecting to love the business so much.”
“Did your parents have any advice?”
“They’d be all over this company if I’d let them,” he said almost bitterly. “But”—he nudged my shoulder—“thanks to a date I went on a while back with a brazen woman who kissed me within an hour of meeting her, I decided not to involve them in this business.”
Warmth spread across my body at his words, even as I palmed my forehead into my hand. “I’ve regretted that moment for the past three years. Telling you that when I had no idea what I was talking about.”
He raised his eyebrows in mild surprise. “Yeah, you did.”
I scoffed. “I knew nothing about business when I gave you that advice. I’m sorry.”
“Well, your advice is probably the reason I’m actually enjoying what I’m doing.” When I could only look at him in shock, he continued. “I hadn’t realized how much I’d been depending on my parents to back me up. I’d had at least three other companies or money-making ideas I let them help me with, and they all fell through. That kind of borrowing gets complicated, mixing business and family like that. But I always thought it would be stupid to go through a bank when my parents were more than happy to lend support. My dad was always itching to give me his two cents. But you were right. The businesses always felt like theirs, not mine. Like I needed their approval or had to run things by them all the time. After talking to you that night, I told Ryan and Mike I wanted to try it all on our own. It took longer, but the end result was so much better than it would have been.” He nudged me. “So thank you.”
I took a bite while a warm glow filtered through me at his words.
“Can I ask you something?” he asked.
“No.”
“I’ll eat a piece of broccoli,” he baited.
I should have been heading back to work. It was close to ten. I’d pay for this extra time in the morning, but for some reason, I couldn’t find it in me to end the night. A small part of my soul seemed to be able to breathe for the first time in months. Maybe years. So I’d bargain away more time at the cost of a question.
“Just one piece?” I asked.
His nose wrinkled. “I think that’s more than fair.”
“Two pieces. Final offer.”
Before I could blink, he reached across me and stabbed a piece of broccoli on his fork and began chewing. With some alarm, I held the container away from him, trying to block his access to the second piece, but he cheated, holding my arm and pulling me closer toward him before acquiring his second piece. At the sudden close proximity, I gave up the broccoli. Within seconds, his mouth was empty.
“I’m starting to think you actually like broccoli and I just got played.”
“I hate broccoli. That’s how bad I wanted to get an answer to this question.”
I sank lower in my seat. “What is it?”
“Why were you crying in the men’s bathroom a few weeks ago?”
I should have left while I had the chance. My eyes moved over to the skyline. The sun had set, making the city come alive in glowing lights, street noise, and moving cars that looked like ants down below. The yellow lights on top of the building left a cozy campfire-like glow to the rooftop. The five-minute dinner break I’d promised myself was on track to turn into hours.
“Nora,” Duke whispered. I turned to face him and was startled by the way his eyes trailed gently across my face. “It’s just me.”
It’s just me.Those simple words blasted a sweet awareness throughout my body that I wasn’t sure what to do with. His words spoke of friendship. Of kindness. Of…trust. Which terrified me more than any other sensation. But to not speak at all would end our night on a weird note. Not only that but it would end our night. Period.
“I’d had a string of bad luck,” I said. “That was me dealing with it.”
“Meaning?” he prodded, lounging in his chair, his long legs stretched out in front of him.
“It probably won’t make sense without some backstory, and I’m not sure we have time for that.”
“We have time.”
I wondered what to tell him. How much to tell him. There was so much to unpack at the root, and even though I would much rather cut it off at the head than meander through the years, something about the easy way he leaned back in his seat, his hands resting on his stomach and his full attention on me, spoke peace to my cautious heart. He wasn’t my boss in this moment. He was my friend, Duke. I cleared my throat.
