Page 69 of More Than Words

LJ: I’m so happy you’re doing this.

Isobel: I’m scared shitless, but I also don’t want to give this up yet.

LJ: And you shouldn’t have to. Pull up your big girl panties and go ask that hottie for a sperm deposit.

Isobel: Such a romantic.

She sent back a middle finger emoji, and I resumed my way across the lobby, pausing as another text came through.

LJ: Grant sent me the link. He asked me if I knew about your boyfriend.

Pausing, I sat down on a bench and tried to calm my racing heart. The last thing I wanted to think about right now was Grant.

Isobel: What did you tell him?

LJ: That if he wanted to know, you’d have told him. And that the hunky guy in the video was more than happy to give you everything he refused to.

Isobel: Should I message him?

LJ: Fuck him and that skinny bitch yoga instructor. What he did to you is in the past. All you need to worry about now is riding your hung stallion until he puts a bun in your oven.

Isobel: That was way too many idioms in one sentence.

LJ: You know what I mean. Go get your cavity filled.

Isobel: You’re almost as bad as Dickhead.

LJ: Maybe that’s why you like him.

My body was on autopilot as I headed toward where Adrian and I planned to meet, slowing down to watch him leaning against the side of the building, waiting for me. He truly was a beautiful man, and some part of me ached to confess everything I felt for him, but I wasn’t ready to lose him.

I also wasn’t letting myself dwell on the fact my ex-husband only reached out when he was worried about me moving on. Well, fuck him. He didn’t deserve any real estate in my brain. He’d made his decision, and I was making mine.

“Hey.” He smiled, pushing off the wall to reach for my hand. He didn’t give two fucks about the office rumor mill and took every opportunity to touch me while we weren’t actively working. The copy room tryst sadly hadn’t been repeated. Stolen brushes of fingers and secret smiles had been the only physical contact between us once we got to our floor every day.

“Sorry if I made us late,” I apologized, starting to walk toward the restaurant with his thumb tracing the back of my hand the entire way.

“You know Sloane doesn’t care if we take a long lunch break as long as we don’t fall behind on our work.”

“She knows about us,” I confessed, not wanting to keep too many secrets from him.

“I figured. She kept glancing back and forth between us during the meeting last week. I think I might have been too obvious when I complimented your willingness to be a team player during collaborative efforts between departments.”

“You’ve been obvious for a while,” I teased. “But I think it was probably the way I blushed when you stared at me across the table after bragging about me in front of all the other department heads.”

“You know I love it when you blush.” His gaze was affectionate as he looked over at me, my cheeks heating, which caused him to smile wider. “Just like that. Although, I like it even more when you’re wearing a lot less clothing.”

“Quit. We’re in public.”

“No one gives a shit, Is. I don’t care who knows I want you. You’re all I think about. You have to know that.”

We arrived at the restaurant before I could respond, but his words strengthened my resolve to talk to him about my plans and his place in them.

My leg bounced under the table as we went through the motions of ordering. When the server finally left to turn in our orders, I exhaled slowly, preparing to ask him if he wanted to consider being involved beyond just dating. This decision wasn’t one I could take lightly, but he’d continually surprised me, and automatically dismissing him as an option because of his previous behavior wouldn’t be fair.

While I tried to formulate my thoughts, his phone buzzed on the table and he looked down, eyes widening at the notification on his screen.

“Something wrong?”

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