“Ah.” Nate sipped the coffee and sat, too. “I guess when you’re self-employed you can do that.”
“He could be missing appointments, I don’t know.” The corners of Krissa’s mouth turned down. “But if he is, he’ll just have to deal with it.”
“Yup.” Silence expanded in the bright kitchen.
“I’m sorry you walked into this. You’re probably wondering what’s going on.”
Hell, yeah. But he wasn’t going to pry. Derek was his best buddy, and he’d always liked and respected Krissa. If they were having problems, that was their business. Best to just stay out of it.
“Things have been a little stressfullately.” Her top teeth sank into her lush lower lip. “I’m sorry. You probably don’t need this when you have problems of your own to deal with.”
He shrugged, sipped his coffee. Its heat stung, and he held the liquid in his mouth for a few seconds before swallowing. “I’m sorry, too. I guess I picked a bad time to barge in on you. You probably don’t need someone else hanging around right now.”
“It’s fine,” she said quickly. “I know Derek wanted you to come here too, to recover. We’d do anything to help you, you know that.”
“What about you?”
Her dark brows drew together. “What do you mean?”
“Is there anything I can do to help you guys?”
Their eyes met and held. He shifted on his stool. Felt exposed.
“No,” Krissa said at last. Her eyes dropped. “There’s nothing you can do.”
“Okay. Just remember, though. Anything. You two are my best friends.”
“I know.” He watched pain and sorrow shift across her face.
“You’re both up already?”
They both turned at the sound of Derek’s raspy voice in the door of the kitchen. He was dressed in a pair of boxer shorts riding low on his hipbones. His blond hair stuck up in all directions and he rubbed his face as he yawned.
“Already? It’s nine-thirty. You’re usually at the office by seven.” Krissa slipped off her stool and walked over to the coffeemaker. She poured a cup and walked to Derek, handed it to him.
Their eyes met as he accepted the mug from her. Nate watched the two of them as they communicated wordlessly. Derek slid his hand around the back of Krissa’s neck, under her hair, and pulled her toward him. Slowly, she pressed her face into the side of his neck and Derek laid his cheek on top of her head and closed his eyes. They stood that way for a longmoment.
Nate wanted to look away. But his eyes remained fastened on them. The intimacy of the moment made something clench down low inside him.
“I’m sorry,” Derek whispered.
Krissa drew back, nodded and stepped away. Her glance skittered over to Nate, then away. “I’m going to take a shower.”
Nate studied everything in the kitchen while Derek set his coffee on the counter and took a seat on a stool.
“Where were you last night?”
Derek sighed. “Out getting wasted. Wasn’t it obvious?”
“It was obvious you smelled like perfume when you walked in. Perfume and the stink of booze.” Nate squinted at his friend from behind the dark glasses. “Were you with another woman?”
Chapter 4
“Jesus, Nate. What kind of question is that?” Derek rubbed his face.
“It’s a good question. Answer it.”
Derek shook his head. “Don’t be ridiculous. Of course I wasn’t.”
