“So,” he says, walking slowly into the living room. “How can I help?” He sets my bag down by the sofa.
I suck in a breath and turn to face him. My heart stutters in my chest at the way the dim light highlights the planes of his face. The way his shirt stretches over his chest when he moves.
“I know it’s a lot to ask, but I need a place to stay.” I bite my lip, blinking up at him. “For…probably at least a few weeks.” Probably longer than that, but I don’t think the specifics will help me here.
“You can have your old room for as long as you need.” He says it as though it’s the simplest thing in the world, and yet again, Jacob Brooks is saving me in ways he doesn’t understand.
He steps closer, his eyes talking a slow walk down my body. I don’t look away. I don’t fidget or shift on my feet. I let him look.
I want him to look, if I’m honest. Not that I think…well. Anything, really, beyond the fact that he’s gorgeous and obviously nothing will ever happen between us for many, many reasons.
“You’ll need new clothes,” he says. “Toiletries, shoes.”
“Oh, well, I did bring a few things,” I say, gesturing a bit pathetically to my sodden bag.
He steps closer, an unreadable expression on his face. “You showed up on my doorstep asking for help. So let me help.” He swallows, his gaze trailing down my throat. “Let me take care of you.”
I need a t-shirt that says “Don’t pamper me, I might come.” Honestly. I have to bite back a little moan at his words.
I am so getting kicked out before my apartment’s fixed.
Three
Camryn
Of course, this is the moment my stomach chooses to let out the loudest rumble of all time. Seriously, it sounds like I’m hiding a bear under my hoodie.
“Are you hungry?” he asks slowly, the skin around his eyes crinkling slightly.
“Oh, did you hear that?” I ask, feigning ignorance.
“I think people on the other side of Lake Ontario heard that.”
My face heats but l laugh. “I’m starving.”
“Come on. Let’s find something for you to eat.” He tips his head in the direction of the kitchen, and I follow him like a happy little puppy.
The kitchen is exactly as I remember it. Gleaming floors, polished marble countertops, sleek dark wood cabinets, and more enormous windows that look out onto the city.
Jacob opens the fridge and starts rustling around while I walk aimlessly to the windows. Everything looks so small, so close from all the way up here, as if I could reach out and touch a skyscraper kilometers away. I suddenly feel weary, the stress ofthe night crashing down on me, and I sink into one of the steel and leather chairs around the glass-topped table.
I look over to see Jacob rolling his sleeves up, revealing corded forearms that make me press my thighs together. A lock of hair falls forward onto his forehead as he begins slicing cheese.
“So. Tell me everything,” he says easily as he works. “How have the past four years been for you?”
I lean back in the chair, enjoying the view. “Good. Great, honestly. I graduated from from York University last year with a degree in business, and now I’m at the Rotman School doing my MBA.” He stops slicing and looks up at me.
“You’re at Rotman?” He sounds impressed. I like impressing him.
I grin and nod. “I am. The apartment I’m currently living in is graduate student housing through the university. Which is why I don’t exactly have money for a hotel or anything. Poor student and all.”
He waves away my comment with his knife. “You can stay here as long as you need, Camryn. We might not technically be family anymore, but I meant it when I said I’d always be here for you.”
“I appreciate that.” I shrug. “I just…it’s been four years. I would’ve understood if things had changed.” For all I knew, he could’ve been married, had a young family. I’d never read anything like that online or in the society pages, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t have happened.
I glance around, looking for signs that anyone other than him lives here.
He gets out a can of tomato soup, pours it into a saucepan and sets it on the stove to simmer. “How’s…” He clears his throat and focuses on buttering the bread in front of him. “How’s your mother?”
