“Jamie,” I said, my head tilting to one side. “Hey. Jamie. James.Jamie.”
He looked up, his brows raised as if to sayyeah? What’s up? Nothing suspicious here, his lips pressed together into a tight line that still wasn’t quite enough to mask his small, hopeful smile.
“No,” I said, my eyes widening. “Really?”
He was still for a long moment before giving me a minute nod. “Butdon’t,” he said, looking up at me with shining eyes, “sayanything. It’s still early. We just learned this week.”
“Your secret’s safe with me,” I assured him, then sat back in my chair, blinking. “Fuck. Jamie. Fuck.”
He huffed out a laugh. “Thanks.”
“I’m so happy for you, James,” I said, still blinking stupidly. My eyes stung. “And Edie, of course. Congratulations. Seriously,” I held up my glass, and he clinked his against it. “Ababy.”
His head bobbed toward his chest in silent acknowledgement, as if he were scared to say it out loud. I got it. He and I had been uncles to Ryan’s daughter Maddie for a decade now, but going fromUncle JamietoDad… Shit, andIwould be an uncle again. I could still remember when Maddie was born, how small she’d been. I’d been scared when Ryan asked if I wanted to hold her. Now it was James’s turn.
I took a sip of my old fashioned, warmth tingling along my veins.
And then…
A faint, creeping prickle of guilt.
Because Iwashappy for James and Edie.
But there, in the dark parts of my brain, where I couldn’t quite dislodge it, was another thought:he’ll have someone to inherit the business, then. Good for him. Just like he probably wanted. Just like Grandfather would have wanted.
I took another quick sip of my drink to wash the flavor of envy from the back of my throat. I had never wanted to inherit Verity Publishing. I had never been interested in the family business; that had always been James. James, the good student. James, the smart one, the reader. James, the one who Grandfather had been so hard on after our parents’ death. Had insisted so much of.
No, I hadn’t wanted that.
So why was I feeling like this? My smile felt forced, and the old fashioned too sweet in my stomach.
What’s myproblem?
“Hey,” I said, sitting forward in my chair. “You know, Ryan’s not coming tonight, Barrett may or may not show later… You should go.”
James looked at me, one eyebrow raised.
“Are you kicking me out?”
“No, no,” I said. “But you should go be with Edie. We can miss one Bankworth night.” I smiled ruefully. “You’ll certainly be missing a lot more of them in, say… eight months? There are a lot of late nights coming your way, but none of them spent drinking with your little brother. I should get used to flying solo.”
He rubbed a hand over his face. “God, I’m not looking forward tothat. I’m too old to be staying up all night.”
“Stock up on sleep now,” I said. “Go home.”
“That’s not how that works,” James said, but he was smiling now. He took one last sip of his cocktail. “Well, my driver will be happy to have an early night, at the very least,” he said. Success. “Are you going to stay?”
“Here? By myself?” I laughed. “No. I’ll let Barrett know we’ve left.”
“Then let me give you a ride to your place.”
I nodded. It would keep me from retreating to the office. “Thanks.”
It wasn’t until James had already dropped me off and I pulled my laptop from my bag to check my emails one last time–a paperback book falling out as I did so–that I remembered the romance I was supposed to pass along to him for Edie. I stared at it as it lay splayed on the floor of my apartment. A colorful illustration of a man and woman, arms thrown around each other, was splashed across the cover.Edie got a copy from Sam, she’s the author’s agent,Flora had said. It was Flora’s style, for sure. Edie’s. The two of them were romantics.
But it was hard to imagine Sam wanting anything to do with a book like this. True love, and happily ever afters. Weddings and babies.
I flipped it over. It wasn’t really my style, either.
