Page 23 of Sweet Twins For My Brother's Best Friend

“I’m helping with expanding his fitness center business,” I tell her mildly. “So I talk to him a bit, yes.”

A pause passes between us, so I add out of a sense of loyalty, “He’s very successful. Yes, I talk to him a lot, actually. He’s great.”

The words spill out of me. I open my mouth to say more, then clamp it closed.

Something flashes in her eyes, and her smile changes into a smirk. “Do I detect a little crush, Amanda?”

“Hannah.”

That stupid hand flies to her stupid forehead again. “Right, sorry. Anna.” She nods as though she’s solidifying it.

I shake the pack of pens in my hand. “Well, I’ve gotta go, just came to get these.”Why am I explaining myself?

“Okay, nice to see you!” she calls, her voice disappearing into the air as I walk as slowly as I can out of the aisle.

Once Julie’s head is hidden behind the shelves in the foreground, I pick up my pace and speed walk to the register. I’m practically jogging when I reach the automatic doors, and the clerks hollers at me to pay for the pack of pens I’m still holding.

I throw them onto a table of book recommendations a foot away and hurry out the door before running to my car.

Breathing heavily in my driver’s seat, I turn the key and hear the bumpy humming of my old car’s engine.

Pulling out of the parking lot, I try to slow my heartbeat by breathing out through my mouth in a slow pace, feeling my lungs empty.

What is wrong with me? Why did she get to me like that? Do I tell Chris? Does he know?

I rush home to throw myself in work so that I can stop thinking about Julie. Forget work/home life boundaries.

Lucy greets me like I’ve been gone for weeks, and I squat down on my heels to envelop her in a hug. She frantically tries to lick my face while I hug her around the neck, forcing her to lick my hair instead.

I open the folder Chris gave me with his financial statements so that I can input the information into his client portal. I scan the documents in one by one when one catches my eye. I snatch if off the glass surface and look at it more closely.

A discrepancy between the projected profits of the last quarter and the actual profits isn’t too strange, but the last few quarters have had eerily similar discrepancies.

Hesitating for only a moment, I call Chris. It’s been a few days since our awkward moment, and it’s still in my mind, but I have a duty to tell him.

He answers in a disjointed voice, his breathing up and down. “Hello?”

“Hey, Chris. Sorry to call, but I noticed something unusual about the financials you gave me.”

“Hannah?”

“Yes? Who else would be calling you about financial documents?” I roll my eyes and Lucy walks up to me to soothe me. I pet her head when she rests it heavily on my thigh.

“Sorry, it’s just. How did you get my number?”

“You included it in the first email you sent me.”

“So you agree that our relationship is too personal to restrict to emails.” His voice is smug, and I almost feel bad that I have bad news for him.

“No, Chris, I definitely don’t agree, but this is kind of urgent, if you don’t mind shutting down the asshole attitude for a minute and being serious.”

“Oh. Well, why don’t you come over? I’ll text you the address.”

“You can just come—” I realize he’s already hung up, the phone silent in my hand.

Chapter Ten

Christopher

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