“I just want the record to state that I figured this out on my own.”
“Shut up, Fritz,” Grace said, resting her head on my chest as Gilly’s rested on hers.
We were a pretzel of arms and embraces, and despite the drama with our mom, with my indecision about my life, and the issue with Nora…life was good. Better than good. Things would be okay. I just had a feeling.
Three days later,I walked into the apartment unit dressed in the same thing I always wore—fitted black pants, a button-down gray shirt, and a black tie. My hair was styled the same, and my shoes were scuff-free. The only difference was the exhilarating way my heart beat in my chest. It was official.
I fronted Peter one hundred thousand dollars to start a business. We signed the papers, and we’d meet again in two weeks. It’d work, or it wouldn’t, but my skin seemed to buzz with a new feeling. Anticipation. Without even thinking, I knocked on Nora’s door, and the familiar sounds of her audiobooks filtered through.
What a beautiful nut.
“Oh, hey,” she said, opening the door and dragging her gaze up and down my body. “Wowza. You in a tie is a good look.” She reached out and trailed her finger up the tie and pulled on it, bringing me closer.
She grinned up at me, the light hitting the purple gems in her ear today, and just seeing the warmth and trust in her eyes evaporated the negative feeling I’d carried around since getting that email. I hadn’t avoided her the past three days, I’d just…kept my distance. She was working on her presentation, and I’d met with Peter.
“I missed you,” she said, blushing a bit as she leaned closer to me. She hesitated before pressing her warm lips against mine, and the second they touched, my body roared to life. I gripped the back of her head and kissed her back. A slow tangle of tongues and teeth, soft moans, and hungry touches.
“Me too,” I said against her mouth, pushing us inside her place. She clawed at my chest and shoulders, arching her body against mine and flooding me with her heat. Part of me wanted to strip this baggy T-shirt and shorts right off her and lose myself in her body. The other part needed to knowwhyshe was still emailing Anthony.
A small third part wanted to call my mom and yell at her for setting up a meeting, but I pushed all thoughts of mymomout of my mind. Nora was right here in front of me with wet lips. I dragged my lips from her mouth to her neck, nibbling the skin there and inhaling her floral, earthy scent. I’d definitely miss the way she smelled when this ended. Like nature at its finest, a campsite after a rain shower.
“You want some food? I learned how to make a mean macaroni.” She winked, and I was done for. A winking,confidentNora was my own catered-to-me version of Kryptonite. Even in hersave the whalesT-shirt and with hundreds of plants around us.
“Look at you go. Yes, feed me, woman.” I reluctantly sat at her kitchen table and stared at the plants in the living room. They were slightly larger than when she first got them, and a large poster hung uneven on the wall with the watering and trimming schedule. Would her kids take turns watering plants? Our chores were sweeping the stable or cleaning the china. Nora’s would definitely have to plant.
Why thehellwas I thinking about kids? It had to be Grace’s recent news.
I pulled on the collar of my dress shirt and loosened my tie. The summer heat must be getting to me. “Work going well?”
“Yes. I’m almost ready to present to the board about a new direction they could all go. I have nine days to get ready. It’s…hm.” She chewed on her bottom lip as she stared at me for a beat. “I feel like I could do real work here, and I know my parents had a role in getting this position—”
“Had a role? That’s why you got it,” I said, clarifying while hoping I didn’t sound like a dick.
“True,” she said, smiling and tapping her fingers on the counter as she leaned against it. “I just feel like I’mfinallyearning a little respect. I’m learning a lot from them.”
“The foundation has some great people to learn from.”
Nora got out a box of noodles and a block of cheese. Wait, was she going to make it with real cheese and not from the box? Whoa. Settle down, Chef. With her back to me, her shirt rode up a hair when she reached for a grater, and after checking out her ass, I had to ask about the grater.
“Nora, you literally microwaved foil a month ago. How in the hell did you get a grater? That’s like level three and you’re on two.”
She pursed her lips and pointed the device at me like a weapon. “I researched, thank you very much. I’m a quick learner. In fact, I have a question for you since you’ve been around the Carters for so long.”
Shit. My throat tightened, and I eyed her thermostat. It had to be ninety degrees in her unit. Maybe I should get it fixed or looked at. “What’s your question?” I croaked out.
“How long have you worked for them? Do you do more than just chauffeur? I feel like you do.” Her tone wasn’t suspicious or accusatory. I tried searching for a hidden meaning or a trick in her words.
Did she find out who I was and wanted to play a game? No, that wasn’t Nora. I cleared my throat. “I’ve been around a while to know a lot about how things work.”
“Do you always want to work for them?”
“No,” I said, one million percent truthful. “I think it’ll be nice to always help out or be available, but I don’t want the foundation to be my career.”
“Yes, but if it’s worth anything, I think you could do more for them. You’re kind and intelligent and witty as hell. They talk warmly about you when I bring up your name.” Nora smiled, not having a single clue that I was dying inside.
This was too close. Way too close to the truth. My stomach soured, and my palms sweat buckets. Literal buckets. I wiped them on my pants and took off my tie. If she was talking about me to other people there, they could totally spill everything. Ruin it all before I had a chance to explain. Which I would. Tuesday night. After the presentation. When I hoped she’d understand and forgive me because thisthingbetween us wasn’t temporary for me.
“Fritz?” she said, her voice softer than before. She frowned and walked up to me, running her dirt-stained fingers through my hair. “Hey, you got all quiet on me.”
