Lina was so relieved when they were finished and Kirby walked out of the room. Brenda grabbed up her large leather purse from the hook on the wall and followed Lina to the checkout desk, whispering, “I don’t like him. And am I wrong in thinking he has feelings for you?”
Ashley looked up from her computer and smiled in a bland way, as if she wasn’t hanging on Brenda’s every word.
Lina cleared her throat to indicate they shouldn’t be talking about Kirby at the reception desk, and Brenda covered her mouth, realizing they had an audience. Ashley wasn’t the only receptionist at the desk. The last thing Lina needed was gossip flying around the office.
Before Lina turned to go back to work, Brenda reached out and touched her arm. “Dillon’s probably already told you, but we’re having a family dinner on Sunday night. You’ll be there, won’t you?”
Lina avoided Ashley’s gaze. “I’d love that. I’ll talk to Dillon about it.”
***
Dillon recognized Lina’s knock on his front door, even though he’d only heard it once before. He looked down at his t-shirt and sweatpants, what he’d thrown on after a shower. Oh well. Lina wouldn’t care. He opened up to a smiling Lina, who stepped right in and passed him up to go plop herself onto the couch. Trent was working at the kitchen table, still in his suit and tie, but he looked up and smiled. “Hey, Dillon’s girlfriend.”
“Hey, work-a-holic. How goes things?”
“Oh, the usual. Made some rich people very happy, which of course makes me very rich.”
“Very rich?” Lina looked around the apartment.
“Okay, it makes my bosses rich. But eventually, it will make me lots of money, too.”
It was as if she’d always been there, challenging Trent on his obnoxious bragging, making herself comfortable on their couch. Unnerving, but also kind of cool.
Trent looked over at Dillon with a questioning look, and Dillon realized he’d been standing there the whole time like he was the unsure guest. He moved to sit next to Lina on the couch and laced his fingers with hers. He was doing a good job of being casual about it until she took her other hand and traced it up his arm, slowing as she reached the vein over his bicep. Her fingers were smooth and warm. He could have sworn he stopped breathing.
Trent groaned. “Come on, you two. Get a room. Oh, that’s right, Lina has a thing for biceps. If you have any hot friends into skinny lawyers, let me know.”
Lina laughed. “Sure will.”
Dillon chanced a glance at her and wished he hadn’t. She looked like a satisfied cat the way she looked him over. Which made him the mouse. With his brother watching, Dillon had to go along with anything she did. She probably thought he couldn’t handle her flirting. Well, he could.
“How was work?” he asked, taking her hand from off his arm and pressing his lips to the pads of her fingers.
Her eyes never left his. “Great. Your mom came in today.”
“She did?” Dillon put her hand down, suddenly understanding why Lina might want to mess with him. She’d been balancing their lie in front of all her coworkers, something she definitely never signed up for. “How did that go?”
“Brenda has three cavities. She’ll be in next week to get those filled. Also, she asked if we were coming to dinner on Sunday night.”
Dillon studied Lina’s face, trying to gauge how she wanted him to answer. He couldn’t read her. “I thought you had that thing…”
This was where Lina was supposed to insert her excuse as to why she couldn’t go to dinner with his family. Kip and Heather had flown back to Seattle late last night, still together, and according to Kip, stronger than ever. Mission accomplished. Kip owed him big time.
And yet, Lina was staring at him, looking kind of annoyed. At least, he thought he’d seen annoyance. It was gone in a flash, and she was back to looking unconcerned. “Yep, I have that thing on Sunday night. You’ll have to go without me. Well, I should go.” She stood and picked up her purse, heading for the door.
Yep, she was definitely mad at him, but Dillon wasn’t sure why. Was she upset about being asked to yet another family thing, or was she mad that he gave her a way out of it? He scrambled to his feet to open the door and walk out with her. He was in his socks, but he followed her back to her apartment anyway.
“I’m sorry this has spiraled into such a complicated mess,” he said.
Lina turned to look at him. She started to say something and then sighed. “Let’s talk about this later. My mouth is feeling very impulsive right now.”
“That’s a thing?” he couldn’t help asking.
“Of course it’s a thing.” She bent down and straightened the welcome mat outside her door and then pulled out her keys from her purse. “Thanks for walking me back.”
After she waved and shut the door on him, he walked back feeling like an idiot. There was a part of this puzzle his brain wasn’t quite catching.
***
