His brow pulled low. “Like what?”
“Like.” She lifted her palm in a gesture at him. “Like ordering me lunch on my first day. And hugging me like that. And letting me ugly cry in front of you. Over a guy who’s your best friend.”
He flashed her a half-grin. “Well, most of that could be excused as being a gentleman.”
“Yeah, but it’s not just that, B.” She flipped her hand at the door. “I’m not stupid. I already had one man insult my intelligence today. I don’t need another one.”
Brennan’s face turned serious. “I don’t think you’re stupid.” He lifted his index finger and hovered it between their faces. “And you’re right. It’s not just that. I am likethiswith you because you’re now part of this little record label family, and it’s abundantly clear that you don’t feel like you fit yet.” He slipped his hands in his pockets. “I want to be somebody you can depend on and trust. I want to be your friend, L. Because right now, I think you could really use one.”
Liza’s emotions threatened to lurch up her throat, but she managed to shake them off. “I think you’re right.”
Brennan gestured at himself. “I have no ulterior motives here, L. I just have this tendency to try to save people. Exhibit A:Connor.” He crossed his arms over his chest and chuckled. “A bit of saving was necessary in his case. Regardless, my point is that trying to take care of people is almost like a personality flaw of mine. So don’t take it personal.”
She smiled. “I wasn’t. I actually just agreed with you.”
“And I was just underscoring.” Hands still in his pockets, Brennan took a step forward and dropped a kiss on her forehead. “Now. I’m going to take you to lunch.”
She wrapped her arms around herself and eyed him. “Why are you going to take me to lunch?”
Brennantsked. “Because I’m yourfriend. And you were in here shaking like you’re having some kind of hypoglycemic episode, and I have a personality flaw that makes me obsess over taking care of people, so oblige me.” He smiled and lifted his arm, offering her the crook of his elbow.
She smirked as she slipped her hand around his elbow and allowed him to lead her out of the bathroom and back through the house. “Well, B. I still don’t know you all that well yet, but you definitely seem like a friend anyone would be glad to have.”
* * *
Connor marched backup the steps and into the label house a couple of hours later when he was sufficientlylesspissed off. Upon entering, his gaze landed first on Liza where she sat at her desk. She glanced at him briefly, but then turned her face away, turned it lower, and inched her chair closer to the desk as though trying to hide from him behind the screen of her laptop.
“You,” Jimmy’s voice cut through air on the opposite side of the room. “Come with me.”
Jimmy pushed up from his desk and shuffled out of the room, hooking a left around a corner that led to the recording studio. Connor silently followed him, and after turning the corner to the hall, he noticed Brennan slip into the hall behind them. The three men filed into the recording studio, and Jimmy shut the door.
He swiped the Saints hat off Connor’s head and then smacked his chest with it. “What in the fresh hell is your problem, son? I don’t care how long you’ve been here, youcannotact like that. Youcan’ttreat Liza like that.” He scoffed. “What is the matter with you?”
Connor took his hat from Jimmy, rolling its bill between his suddenly clammy palms, and he wished he knew what was the matter with him. Although hedidknow because the problem was simple; Connor was an asshole who was pissed at himself because he’d failed at everything that ever mattered to him, andnowhe couldn’t control himself. Liza constantly being there was an ever-present reminder of not only that failure, but also of the fact that for years, he’d been wrong about thinking he’d totally gotten over her.
In fact, he wasn’t over herat all.
All those feelings that flooded him the moment he first saw her years ago were still there, and still as powerful as they had been.
Connor put the hat on, pulling the bill low. “I don’t have a problem. I was just trying to make sure we don’t compromise the integrity of the label’s reputation and—”
“Bullshit.” Jimmy crossed his arms over his chest. “I’d bet my left nut you got a chip on your shoulder because you came onto her, and she shot you down. And your ego’s so damn big you’d sabotage all the potential success we’re going to have from making these changes just so you can feel like you’ve got the upper hand with her now.”
“I didn’t hit on—”
Jimmy poked Connor in the chest. “Pull your shit together, soldier. Quit acting on behalf of your drumstick and do your damn job. And be agentleman. It won’t kill you.” He pointed his thumb at Brennan as he headed toward the door. “Maybe take a lesson from Riley here about that.”
Connor cut an incredulous glance at Jimmy before turning his face and removing his hat. Hewasa gentleman. His parents had ensured that. His parents had also loved Liza. His mom in particular had been beside herself with excitement when Connor mentioned he was bringing a girl home with him during his visit, because Connor had never introduced them to a girl before. The fact that he’d done so shortly before getting discharged had set off wedding bells in his mom’s mind. She’d been visibly disappointed when, instead of bringing Liza back permanently and with a ring on her finger, Connor came home with Morales and promptly lost his shit.
“You gonna give me gentleman lessons, Riley?” Connor asked with no small amount of snark after Jimmy slipped out of the studio.
Brennan was standing on the opposite side of the studio, hands in his pockets while he wore a sober expression. “She was crying in the bathroom, Sarge. Like…badcrying.”
A shard of pain and guilt sliced through Connor’s chest, but he merely shrugged. “She’s always been kind of a crybaby, Riley. If she’s happy, she cries. If she’s frustrated, she cries. If she’s angry, she cries. It’s just how she is.”
“This wasn’t like that,” Brennan countered. “I’ve known emotional women who do that, but this wasn’t that. This was like…war widow grief. That’s exactly what it looked like.” He paused as he glanced at the door to the studio, then crossed the room and lowered his voice. “She still loves you.”
Connor’s eyes widened, and his stomach did an undeniable backflip. “She said that to you?”
