“No, I’m okay. Not the worst thing I’ve had happen to my head.”
“What’s that?” I leaned against the counter, admiring how her bright-red sweater was tucked into her black skirt. It flared at her hips, and I really wanted to touch her curves, run my hands along them and see how she’d react. Shit. I thought I’d tamed my attraction, or at least got a hold on it, but that blew the fuck up.
She giggled, and my mood improved by a million percent. She tugged at one of her ears, this time lined with red jewels that resembled flowers, and she blushed. “I tend to get involved when I’m around plants. If I’m busy trimming or cutting them, I can forget my surroundings. One time, I was tending to seedlings under a table, and I stood up so fast, forgetting there was a huge oak table on top of me, that I gave myself a concussion.”
“Nora,” I said, frowning at the thought of her lying unconscious in a greenhouse.
“I know, my parents ripped into me.”
“Christ.” I wiped a hand over my face, and in that ten seconds, Nora leaned over the counter with her face set in a hard frown. She had one of the envelopes just out of reach, ANTHONY CARTER in big black letters, and my lungs contracted.No.
“Oh, you get Anthony’s mail for him while he’s gone?” she asked, her voice no crisper or interested than usual. She could’ve been asking about the weather, and I took the easy lie she handed to me on a platter.
“Exactly.”
“Mm.” She pushed the letter back into the pile and glanced up at me with a goofy grin. I expected her to ask about Anthony again, and I tensed.
“Fritz, I cannot get over how you look in the suit and tie. You are so handsome, like a fancy lumberjack.”
“Uh, thanks,” I said, my damn ears heating. I took care of myself and was just vain enough to know I was attractive without being a total asshole, but her weird, Nora-like compliment seemed to make my insides hum.
“I’m so used to you in baggy shirts or shorts. This is nice.” She smiled, her eyes closing slightly as she sighed and set the ice pack on the counter, and then stood to her full height.
Tell her you have plans.
Go out and do something to distract yourself from her.
“There’s a Cubs game on tonight if you don’t have plans.” I shrugged, hoping it looked natural and not at all desperate because that’s how I felt. Desperate. Pathetic. Trying to hang out with a woman who not only wanted to marry so she could get her inheritance, but also a woman who assumed I was a chauffeur. I picked up the ice pack and put it on my head.
Perhaps the collision knocked my brain loose.
“Cubs. Chicago Cubs.” She got a hazy look in her eyes, like she was going through her entire mind searching for the answer. Then she tapped her finger against her temple. “Baseball.”
“Atta girl.”
She beamed at me and eyed the couch. “I can stay? Are you sure? Don’t feel obligated. I take up way too much of your time. You should be with friends or lady friends or something. Not—Well, you said we are friends, right?”
“We’re friends, Nora.” I sighed, my chest feeling tight at her worried expression. “We agreed on that already.”
She swallowed, and something flashed across her face. A look. One I couldn’t decipher. It was dark and sad, but it didn’t last long. “You, uh, aren’t hanging out with me because…it’s your job?”
“Fuck no,” I said, way too fast, but I didn’t regret it. My sudden answer pleased her a lot, and the storm cloud disappeared from her face just as fast as it arrived. She was worried I was hanging out with her because I had to? Jesus, did she not realize I was a mess?
No. Probably not.
Good. Okay, cool.
“Yeah. Let’s watch baseball!” She put her hand in the air and cheered, and I couldn’t stop myself from snorting. Her mouth parted, and she pointed a finger at me. “You just snorted.”
“Yeah, because you’re a fucking dork.”
“But that sound was horrible,” she said, laughter bubbling out of her.
I shook my head, undoing my tie and tossing it on the back of a barstool, then undoing the top button of my shirt.
Nora sucked in a breath.
It thrilled me to no end to see her physically react to me.
