“Pauline.” Jack greeted her, a faint smile that looked absolutely wicked curved around his lips.
“Hey.” She didn’t look at him when she said it. Just continued to stare at her coffee like it was the most fascinating thing in the world.
The silence that followed was excruciating—like watching two magnets repel each other in slow motion.
Michael cleared his throat. “I need to grab something from my office. Jack, want to help?”
It was a terrible excuse. Everyone knew it. But Jack took it anyway, following Michael out of the room with one last glance at Pauline that she completely ignored.
The second they were gone, I turned to her. “Okay. What was that?”
“What was what?”
“Don’t play dumb. That.” I gestured toward where they’d disappeared. “You and Jack acting like being in the same room causes you physical pain.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She took a long sip of coffee.
“Pauly.” I waited. Patience had never been my strong suit, but I could tell pushing would get me nowhere.
“We should plan a girls’ trip,” Pauline said suddenly, way too brightly, changing the subject with all the subtlety of a freight train. “You and me. Somewhere tropical with terrible drinks and good music.”
“Nice deflection.”
“I’m serious. You’ve been cooped up in this penthouse for over a week. You need sunshine and beaches and?—”
“Pauline.”
She sighed. Set down her coffee. “There’s nothing going on between me and your brother.”
“That’s not what it looked like.”
“Well, that’s what it is. Nothing. Absolutely nothing.” She stood up, grabbed her purse. “I should go actually. I just remembered I have a thing.”
“What thing?”
“A thing. A very important thing.” She was already heading for the door.
I followed her. “You just got here.”
“And now I’m leaving. We’ll do lunch next week, okay?” She kissed my cheek, squeezed my hand. “Love you. Call me if you need anything.”
She was out the door before I could argue.
I stood there staring at the closed door, trying to process what had just happened. Trying to figure out why my best friend had fled my apartment like it was on fire the second my brother showed up.
Footsteps behind me. Jack appeared in the hallway, saw the closed door, and immediately tensed like a guard dog hearing a suspicious noise.
“She left?” His voice where something resembling disappointment.
“About thirty seconds ago.”
He was moving before I finished the sentence. Grabbed his jacket, headed for the door.
“Jack—”
“I’ll be back.” He didn’t look at me when he said it. Just left, the door closing hard behind him.
I stood there in the sudden quiet, completely baffled.
