He didn’t release my arm.Instead, I found myself standing outside the office, watching Vance lock the door.
Where did he get the key from?
“Have you had any more issues with your ex-husband?”
He growled the last word out as if it had offended him.
“No, nothing.Everything is A-okay.”
I gave him a thumbs-up with my free hand.God, I’m such a loser.My social skills are seriously rusty.
“Good.Tell me if you do.He’s only supposed to communicate with you through his lawyer.”
That was impossible since we saw each other when he picked up the kids.But I didn’t tell Vance that.
We entered the diner, Vance’s hand dropping from my arm and settling on my lower back.Claudine, the owner, greeted us with a smile.“Hi, Mae.Who’s your friend?”
“My lawyer, Vance.”
Vance nodded at her, and I pointedly ignored her raised brows.There was nothing wrong with having lunch with your lawyer.
She waved a hand at the busy diner.“Sit anywhere you want.I’ll be right over with some menus.”
Vance led me to a booth in the back, then waited for me to slide in before following.I shuffled over a little more.Being too close to him wasn’t conducive to me pretending to be a functioning human being.
Oh, who was I kidding?I would never reach the stage of “normal.”And what was normal anyway?But I didn’t need any more sweaty palms or stuttered words.
Claudine dropped the menus off, and I ordered an iced tea, Vance coffee.
He glanced at the lunch options, then put the laminated menu down.His gaze moved up, and my body jolted from having his whole attention.He really was a thing of beauty.Despite his gruffness, he made me feel seen.Made me think he genuinely cared about what I had to say.
And for someone who’d been fading into the background for years, being seen was everything.
“When’s your first open house?”
I cringed at the reminder that I’d been forced to sell my home.“This weekend.But so far, we’ve had more setbacks than gains at getting it ready.But it is what it is.”
He leaned forward, his attention never leaving me.“I can give you the number of one of my friends who’s a realtor in New York.He can talk you through the best way to go about this.”
“Sure.Thanks.Even though you should warn him that I’m pretty much a lost cause.Unless he knows how to get permanent marker off the wall and six years’ worth of kids’ stuff put away in closets that are already overflowing.”
I shuddered at the thought of how much I’d still have to get rid of.The apartment was tiny.I’d have to reduce our things by over half.
“Toothpaste.”
I must have looked at him in confusion—which was indeed my current state—because he elaborated.“It’ll get the permanent marker off the wall.”When the confusion remained, he explained how he knew something only a person with kids would know.“My three younger sisters lived with me for a while.And despite being old enough to know better, they thought writing on their bedroom walls was a good idea.”He shrugged, one corner of his mouth lifting in a half smile.“And you could rent a storage unit to get rid of most of the stuff in the house.”
There was no way I’d tell him I couldn’t afford the cost of a storage unit.
I was saved from answering by Claudine stopping at the table to take our orders.
Her eyes kept drifting to Vance even when she was talking to me.I couldn’t blame her.He was nice to look at.But the stab of jealousy that hit me when he smiled at her was so unexpected that she had to ask me a few times what I wanted.
Staring at me with raised brows, she popped her gum, her teased-out bleached blonde hair held out of her face with a headband.Today’s color was red, matching her lipstick.“Do you need more time?”
Vance looked at me, ever the gentleman.
Shaking off my confusing feelings and locking them away to never be dealt with again, I finally placed my order.“Can I get the pancakes, please?”
