Page 111 of Threaded Lies

“We’ve both been under a lot of pressure for various reasons and I thought it would be nice to have dinner together. To rewind a bit and take it back to how this should have started instead of how it actually did.”

“I like our story.” Is that whatever this is? Our story? I guess so.

“It’s unconventional, yes. But I like it too.”

“I don’t even know what to say.” The man gave me Clayton Seaburn. That night in New York was out of this world and over-the-top, but right now he’s giving me something that is so much more. It feels so much more.

Him. Time with him. Out of the bed, out of the office and free of distractions.

“Tell me you’ll have dinner with me.”

“Yes. Of course.” Who in the world would say no to that request?

“Thank you.”

There is rustling on the other end of the connection as he opens whatever it is he’s eating. Not doubt it’s something wonderful as he sits on the tarmac in the jet, but what he sent me is wonderful too.

“So you’re at your gran’s house?” he asks. “Why?”

“Yes. I’m still sorting through all of her things.” A needle in a haystack. “Organizing. Throwing some things away and saving others. It’s just taken me longer than expected.”

“Memories have a way of creeping up on you like that.”

“They do.”

“Any more dreams about her?” he asks and has me stopping the fork midway to my mouth and smiling.

“No.”

“Ever since you said that—that you have dreams about her—I’ve caught myself wishing I’d have one with my brother. Silly, but…”

“Not silly at all.”

We fall silent for a beat, and I pretend it’s because we’re chewing but I know it’s so much more than that. Again, Holden is showing me tiny bits of himself without me asking and for some reason, I know that’s huge.

“Your gran. She meant the world to you, didn’t she?”

“She did. So much of who I am is because of her.”

“Tell me about her. I want to know more.”

FORTY-FOUR

Rowan

“Why here? Why tonight?” I ask.

Holden is so gorgeous it hurts to look at him sometimes. Especially on nights like tonight.

It’s not because of the upscale restaurant a few towns over with the fancy menu or the fact that he was able to bypass the three-month wait to get a table. Far from it. It’s more because the establishment has a handsomely paid, very discreet staff that will allow Holden and me to have one of those rare instances where we can be in public together and not have to hide how we feel about each other.

And how is it that I feel?

I’ve fallen for him.

Plain. Simple. As real as real can be. I have serious feelings for Holden Knight, and I don’t have the foggiest clue what to do about them.

There is so much internal and external conflict that there doesn’t seem to be a chance in hell that this could work … and yet feelings are feelings. I’ve fought against them for so long and now I don’t know how to fight against them anymore.