I swatted Brook on the ass. He knew damn well it’d become one of my favorite pastimes. That’s why I purposely chose to write my note into an unused notebook. For whatever reason, Brook never read from a book that wasn’t ragged and well-loved. Someday he might see the words I’d written this morning as the sun rose, and they’d be a reminder that what he felt for me wasn’t one-sided.
Brook turned his head and kissed my cheek, stiffening when the french doors leading out to the patio opened. “That man has the world’s worst timing.”
“While it’s refreshing to see that the two of you are getting along, I have to wonder if it’s occurred to either of you that this is neither the time nor the place for such displays,” James scolded as he ambled through the lobby. “Dane, are you ready for lunch?”
“Sure. Give me just a minute.” James disappeared into his office off the lobby. I turned to Brook, needing a bit of reassurance from him. Now that I was getting ready to talk business with my uncle, it was imperative that I know Brook would be with me tonight, and I told him as much.
I’d expected Brook to tell me he’d be up as soon as the last guest was checked in, so his response nearly knocked me on my ass. “We’ll have to see. I have to leave when you guys get back. There are some family matters I need to deal with.”
Why was this the first I was hearing about something going on with his family? Or had he told me, and I’d been so wrapped up in my own daytime drama that I hadn’t paid attention? The latter was far more plausible. I quickly schooled my features, determined to come across as unaffected. “Sure. I mean, maybe it would be best….”
Brook pressed his lips to mine, cutting off whatever I’d been about to say. When he pulled away, he held my face in his hands. “Dane, I’m not saying I won’t be there, but I do have to go home first. Grandpa hasn’t been doing well, even if he won’t admit it to me. I want to check on him, see if I can get him to let me make a doctor’s appointment. The last thing I need is him having any sort of emergency. The hospital here sucks, which means they’d transfer him to Myrtle Beach at the very least.”
“Would you like some company?” The offer was out of my mouth before I could second-guess myself. The only family of someone I’d been fucking that I’d ever met was Grady’s parents, and then only because I met them before we were together. Meeting parents, or grandparents in this case, gave a level of commitment I’d never been willing to make. Until now. “Never mind. You probably don’t want—”
The little shit shut me up for the second time in a minute. “I’d love it. He’s asked after you, but I wasn’t sure you’d want to hang out with him. It’s bound to be a boring night, listening to him bitch at the television.”
“If it’s where you’re going to be, there’s nothing I’d like to do more.”
