Page 39 of Honor

His hand jumps to his mouth to suppress a laugh.

“It’s not funny.” My words hold no weight because I can’t help but chuckle, too.

“Paint me a picture.” He glances at my hair. “What exactly happened?”

“She needed to get her good dishes down from one of the upper cabinets in her kitchen, so she asked me to stop by to help.”

“Look at you being the best grandson she never had.”

“Shut up.” I run a hand over my hair to smooth it back into place.

“I still don’t get how you got her lipstick all over your face when you were getting dishes out of a cupboard.”

“She didn’t wait for me to get there, so by the time I walked in, she was up on a mini ladder trying to do the job herself.”

“You just walked into her apartment?”

I dive a hand into the pocket of my pants to jingle my keys. “I have a key.”

He doesn’t seem the least bit surprised by that. In fact, he ignores that admission and continues pressing me on how the hell I ended up with lipstick on my face.

“Did you get up on the ladder with her, Reid?”

I shoot him a look. “She got down. I got up. I got the dishes. She went in to kiss my cheek. She tripped over one of the legs of the ladder and fell into me.”

I expect him to laugh, but his expression turns serious. “Is she all right?”

“I caught her.”

He finally cracks a smile. “With your face?”

“My tie,” I admit. “It didn’t fare well either. It was covered with lipstick. I didn’t realize until I got back here.”

His gaze drops to the open collar of my shirt. “Damn. Look at that. Reid Hunt without a tie is a rare sight.”

I’d laugh along with him, but he’s right. I rarely leave home without the complete corporate look in place. For as long as I can remember, my goal was to wear a suit and tie every day. Since work sucks up the majority of my time, and I’m often meeting clients on the weekends or in the evenings, I dress the part all the time.

“Does this mean you’re headed to Italy to replace the tie?”

I motion for him to step back so I can leave the washroom. “No. Evie ran over to Berdine to grab a replacement.”

He nods. “Of course she did.”

“That means what?” I ask as I settle into my office chair.

“It means I’m not surprised that you sent her to do that for you.” Standing next to my desk, he glances at his watch. “What else are you making her do for you today?”

I avoid answering by posing the same question to him. “What are you making Natasha do for you today?”

“Not run personal errands for me.”

I open the cover of my laptop and scan the screen. “I’ve got work to do, so get lost.”

“I will as soon as you tell me what’s going on with Randall.” He walks toward the visitor chairs facing my desk but he doesn’t take a seat. “Have you asked about Azelius yet?”

“Not yet,” I answer succinctly, not bothering to add that I haven’t talked to Randall since he asked me to be his best man. I’m planning on changing that today. “I’m calling him later to set up a time to meet for a drink.”

That appeases Vance enough that he starts toward my office door. “That deal would be a good one for us, Reid.”

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