Page 28

When she got into the kitchen, Aiden leaned against the fridge, scrolling on his phone. He looked up at her and lifted his coffee cup in greeting. At some point he had put on a shirt, the dark gray material hugging his arms and chest in a way that left nothing to the imagination. Janae cut her eyes away and set her mug on the counter so she could use the same hand to pour.

“Do you need the creamer?” Aiden asked, his voice pitched low.

Janae swallowed hard and nodded. “That would be great. Thanks.” Their fingers brushed when he passed it to her. The contact was brief, but it still left her skin singing.

“Was that him?” Braeden’s voice boomed in her ear and Janae nearly dropped the phone. “He sounds sexy as sin.”

Janae forced herself to smile and ignore her as she poured the creamer into her mug, handing it back to Aiden. Their fingers didn’t brush this time, and Janae had to push down her feeling of disappointment. She rushed back into the living room before Braeden said something else that was unnecessary.

“I’m going to assume the answer is yes because you’re quiet.”

“I was quiet because I didn’t want to talk about the guy when I was standing right beside him,” Janae hissed. “That would be bad manners.”

“Oh, please. He’s heard himself. I’m sure he knows he sounds like he gets women wet on the regular. Or men. Whatever floats his boat and tickles his pickle.”

“Braeden, I swear,” Janae said with a groan.

Braeden didn’t let up. “I’m just saying. This sounds like the start of a particularly good Lifetime movie between the ‘down on her luck’ heroine and the emotionally wounded handyman who lives next door. I’d watch the hell out of that.”

“He’s not emotionally wounded,” Janae countered. She froze when Aiden walked out of the kitchen, moving back down the hallway.

“You got quiet again. You must be looking at him right now.” Braeden laughed when Janae hissed at her to shut up. “Does he have a nice ass? So many men never think about that, but a flat ass on any gender is a bit of a turn off to me.”

Janae sighed. “Please just shut up and go to work. I need to shower and do the same.”

“Joke’s on you, sis, I’ve been at work for hours now,” Braeden replied. “Just be careful. I have my own lawyer on retainer, but I don’t want to have to use him to get me off on a murder charge if I don’t have to. I’m already dealing with your idiot of an ex thinking he can call me and sweet talk me into convincing you not to divorce his ass.”

“He did what?” Janae couldn’t help the way her voice went shrill. “When did he call you?”

Braeden hummed. “Like two days ago maybe. Said he wanted me to talk some sense into you. Never mind the fact that you asked for this divorce two years ago and he’s been dragging his ugly ass feet about it.”

Janae could feel a headache starting to form and she dragged her fingers over her forehead. “I gave in to his last demand for splitting the assets and the studio, so why is he calling you now? You’re not even my lawyer for fuck’s sake.”

“You know all that man has is audacity. I hope his dick game was good, sis, because otherwise we need to have some serious conversations.”

Janae groaned and shook her head. “Then we can have those conversations in a couple weeks when you get here.”

Braeden was silent for a moment before she sighed. “You’ve always been too damn nice, I swear.”

“I prefer to call it strategic.”

“Well, whatever it is,” Braeden continued, “the man doesn’t deserve it, and I’d like it to go on record that I would love nothing more than to hit him with my car.”

Despite her frustration, Janae giggled. “Noted. Go back to work so I can shower.”

“Yeah, yeah. Go teach the bright young minds of tomorrow and I’ll call you later. Love you.”

“Love you too.” Janae ended the call before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. Her hand shook slightly as she dropped the phone to her lap, but she tried not to think about why.

“Everything okay?”

When she opened her eyes, Aiden was standing in the hallway, his body wrapped in a leather jacket she hadn’t seen before. The dark brown material looked worn and buttery soft, accentuating his sand-hued skin.

She nodded and lifted the phone slightly. “Yeah, I’m good. Just sister drama as she fills me in on the gossip from her job. The usual.”

“Ah,” Aiden said simply before gesturing to the foyer. “I’m headed out now. When I get back tonight, I have some paint swatches I want you to look at for the extra bathroom, if that’s okay?”

“That sounds perfect.”