Page 61 of The Confidentiality Clause
“So now I’m a dog?”
“If the muzzle fits.”
He laughs. “If I am one, I guess I should watch out. Your boyfriend might try to force me into a costume.”
I go to smack his shoulder, but he catches my wrist. He gives me a look that asks, “What now?”
With a frustrated growl, I try to hit him with my other hand, but he catches that one too.
“Let me go, you jerk,” I grumble while he shakes his head, a smile still on his lips.
“You stole my sunglasses and then attempted to assault me. I think I’m entitled to a little punishment.”
“What did you have in mind?”
His eyes dip to my mouth so quickly that I question whether it happened at all.
“Tell me what really went wrong on your date.”
I try to pull my hands out of his. “While we’re like this?”
“Yes. That’s your punishment. Take it, or I think of something worse.”
“Let me go, or get a stiletto to the shin,” I counter through gritted teeth.
“Fine.” He laughs and lets me go. I ignore the fact that I immediately wish I would have stayed where I was.
“I think something is wrong with me,” I say and lean against the car next to him.
“That much is true,” he says. I roll my eyes and bump into his shoulder. “But what do you mean?”
“Cohen is a doctor who runs marathons for fun and travels to vineyards for vacation.”
“So?”
“So, I should like him. It shouldn’t weird me out that he was taking charge and making plans for the future–”
“What kind of plans?” Brock cuts me off.
“To go on vacation together. To train for, and then run, a marathon. I think there was something about him meeting Sutton and me meeting his grandparents? I don’t know,” I groan.
“Sounds a little fast.”
“Yeah, but shouldn’t I want that?” I sigh. “It’s actually all Sutton’s fault. She got in my head about this wholesparknonsense. When I didn’t feel anything right away for Cohen, I probably wrote him off too soon. Either that, or I’m broken. Maybe both.”
“You’re not broken.” Brock wraps an arm around me. I lean into his side. The familiar, clean scent of his cologne soothes me, as does the strong warmth of his body.
“Then why can’t I find the one?” I murmur.
“Maybe it’s just not the right time yet. The love of your life could be in a terrible relationship right now and has to get out of it first. Or maybe he’s living in France waiting for you to walk past his bakery and make him change the trajectory of his life. Think of Shaw and Sutton. They knew each other foryears, but it was never the right time, until it finally was. Now, they’re disgustingly happy.”
I smile and tilt my head to look up at him. “I didn’t know you were such a romantic.”
He grins down at me, his caramel eyes sparkling in the fading sunlight. “You don’t know everything about me.”
No, but I’d like to.The thought makes my breath hitch, and our proximity has my heartbeat increasing to concerning rates. It wouldn’t take much for us to kiss right now. If Brock tipped his head ever so slightly forward…
I shift my gaze back to the ground where his black dress shoes are planted next to my heels. It occurs to me how much we look like a couple. It’s not hard to match when wearing black, but we look like we just got done with a date.
