“You need to do your time in each section to be sure. There’s no rush, Ky. I know it feels like there is, but don’t be in such a rush to grow up.”
She glared at him, her dark brows drawing together. “Iamgrown up.”
He smiled at her, gave her a side hug. “You’d be surprised how much who you are changes between twenty and thirty.”
Kyra poked him in the belly. “You’re right. I don’t want to rush becoming boring like you.”
He gave her a gentle mock shove toward the doorway. “Time to go.”
“Blah, blah, blah,” Kyra returned, putting the cap back on her water to take with her. “If I end up in the hospital with a butternut squash reaction, I’m blaming you.”
It wouldn’t even be a thought if their mother changed the menu now and then, but she liked consistency and making her husbandhappy. Kyra grabbed her boots on the way to the door. Will grabbed his keys and a thin leather jacket.
“I’ll take the risk.”
She kissed his cheek and walked down the stairs to his circular driveway where she’d parked her Mercedes.
“Have fun on your date,” she called, closing the door before he could reply.
He chuckled, walked to his own Mercedes, a dark-blue sports model. He didn’t feel the need to rush life forward like Kyra and wasn’t ready for kids like Maddie, and he didn’t really care about image like his parents. Will was content making work his focus, though it occurred to him that maybe he ought to make more time for social outings that had nothing to do with his family or job.
He’d wanted to pick Lexi up, maybe go for a drive, grab something to eat before they went to confront her past. Today had sort of snowballed into an adventure. Maybe he was a little like Kyra. He had no idea where tonight would lead but he’d known, with a certainty he usually only felt for business, that he needed to see Lexi again.
Anticipation hummed in his veins and he knew part of that was basic attraction because she was gorgeous. But there was more. The way she had every intention of getting better at her job but wasn’t willing to admit to old friends she worked there. It made him curious. There was nothing wrong with waitressing, and she seemed to have a strong work ethic, so what was it that made her sit down with him? He didn’t think it was an image thing in the same way his mother liked them all to have a matching color scheme at holiday events. It went deeper. And he wanted to dig into the layers beneath the woman.
She was different from any of the other women he’d dated and certainly not a woman his mother would have set him up with. Will chuckled as he drove. Maybethatwas her appeal.
Six
The list of stupid decisions was getting infinitely longer as the day went on. Sitting down at Will’s table, not telling the truth, pretending she was with Will, leaving work early—she hadn’t even cashed out and now her pay would be docked a couple of hours—agreeing to go out with a man who was far too sexy for her to make smart decisions around. And now she was here. Lexi stared at the bottle of wine she rested against the steering wheel. She couldn’t show up with nothing even if Will brought something. Especially if he brought something. She’d bought the most expensive cheap bottle she could find. And was seriously contemplating taking a swig. When was the last time she’d even been to a party?
Flashbacks of high school flitted through her head. She didn’t want to be a Bruce Springsteen song but she truly felt like her glory days were long gone. Life had passed at a molasses-like pace for a while after her dad died. She’d slipped under the surface of her own life only to drown in the depths of her dad’s debt—which her mom had known nothing about—and her mother’s profound sadness. By the time Lexi emerged from the weight of all of that, someone had pushed the fast-forward button. Everything spiraled at an alarming speed and most days, Lexi was still trying to catch up. She’d tried to keep the companygoing at first but when it became clear she couldn’t, one of her dad’s employees agreed to pay off the business debt in exchange for the business. She’d had no choice, and it meant they’d kept the house.
Which means you’re entitled to some slips and slides.
The path was clearing, there was an actual chance of her becoming her own person again. But not tonight. Tonight, she’d do what she did best: pretend everything was okay. That she was okay.
Her lips pursed, moved back and forth. No one would notice if she opened the bottle. She didn’t usually need liquid courage but she wasn’t sure she had it in her to put on another show. This afternoon’s had drained her. Would they have even invited her if they’d realized shewastheir waitress? Would they have had the same level of excitement? If she walked through that door tonight, she had to keep up with a charade she shouldn’t have started. Lexi just wanted to be herself. Or at least, figure out who her self was now.
Her phone buzzed, making her jump.
The Man You Share Everything With
Are you contemplating life or opening that bottle of wine?
Her head snapped up, her gaze locking with Will’s. Mortification swamped her. Had he seen her talking to herself?
He stood at her driver’s-side door, knees bent, grinning at her. That little dimple in his left cheek popped and his dark eyes sparkled with mischief. God. He was gorgeous. Or maybe his smile was just so great, it transformed him. No escaping now. Unless she told him to jump in and drove them up to the bluff where she’d hung out with Jackie and Becca when they were younger. She and Will could polish off the wine under the stars.Sounds almost romantic.
She didn’t particularly need romance. Definitely didn’t need thehappily-ever-after her mom craved from her books, the kind she’d lost with no warning. No, Lexi didn’t know who the hell she’d turned out to be but she knew she didn’t want to love someone so much it would tear her apart if something happened.Stop worrying about the past and the future. He’s gorgeous, funny, sweet, and could be anywhere else he wanted tonight but he chose to be with you.Maybe pretending wouldn’t be so bad if she got to laugh and have fun with Will. No strings. Just a break from regularly scheduled programing.
Tugging her purse over her head, shoving her phone inside, she gripped the neck of the bottle in one hand, keys in the other, and got out of the car.
She leaned against the door, shivering in the night air, drinking him in. Spending time with him, despite the circumstances, would not be a hardship. Will stared at her. He’d dressed in seemingly ironed jeans—a sight she’d never seen before—and a gray buttondown that somehow looked casual, sophisticated, and sexy AF. Yes, she’d saidAFin her head. His thin leather bomber jacket looked soft and expensive. Judging from the neighborhood, he’d fit right in at the party.
“Hi,” he said. Just that, paired with his half smile, amused gaze, and that damn shirt, was enough to make her wonder what she was really getting herself into.
“Hi.”
