Page 65 of Love Off-Limits
“What are you so smiley about?” Perry asked.
I startled at his words, my phone flying out of my hands and dropping onto my desk. I pressed a palm to my chest. “You scared me.”
“Sorry. But what is it?” He waved his hand in the general direction of my face. “What’s with the weird grin?”
“I was not grinning.”
“Yes, you were. And you were biting your lip and your eyes were all...” He came fully into the room and sat down in the chair opposite my desk. “Wait, are you texting a guy?”
“No,” I said a little too quickly. “Of course not. I’m...” I reached for the discarded catering menu. “Working.”
“Right.”
“You’ve beenworkinga lot lately,” he said, air quotes around theworking.“It seems like every time I see you, you’ve got your phone in your hand.”
That wasn’t exactly a fair assessment. I used my phone all day long for work. Talking to clients. Checking in with vendors. Messaging Calista about the nine million details she handled for every event. “We’re lucky technology makes it easy for us to accomplish so much on our phones,” I said, not wanting to cave to his criticism. I’d been working my tail off six, sometimes seven days a week. Yes, I’d been texting Tyler a lot. But my work hadn’t suffered for it. And I wouldn’t let Perry back me into a corner and judge me for it.
Still, that he’d insinuated the judgment at all...it was the very reason I’d hesitated to start something with Tyler in the first place. It seemed like Perry was determined to see me a certain way, no matter how hard I worked.
“Is it Tyler?” Perry asked, gesturing to my phone. “Is that who you’re texting?”
“If I say yes, are you going to keep being judgy? Mom told me you’ve been talking about him.”
He shrugged. “I don’t have a problem with the guy. I just don’t understand why he’s here.”
“He has his reasons,” I said. “And they aren’t nefarious, so you really should just lay off the guy. Stonebrook isn’t such a terrible place for someone to land when they’re feeling a little bit lost, is it?”
Something shifted in Perry’s expression, his eyes flooding with understanding. “No, you’re right. It’s...it’s good for that.”
My heart squeezed. Perry maybe knew a thing or two about feeling lost.
“What about you?” I asked, hoping he’d bite and let me change the subject. “Any luck with the woman you met the other day? The sister of the bride?”
Even with Kelly adding her efforts to Operation: Find Perry a Date, so far, all we’d done was strike out.
“Nah. I wasn’t really feeling it.”
“But she was so obviously into you. And she was gorgeous.”
“When you know, you know.”
“Perry!” I groaned. “You have to put yourself out there if you truly want to meet someone.”
He leaned back in his chair. “That’s just it. I don’t want to meet someone.Youwant me to meet someone. And I guess now Kelly is in on it too. But I’m perfectly content on my own.” He dropped his gaze to his lap and leaned back in his chair. “At least for now.”
I sighed. I couldn’t push him into something he wasn’t ready for, no matter how much it suited my purposes.
I leaned forward and propped my elbows on my desk. “Can I ask you a question?”
Perry nodded. “Sure.”
“Don’t get the wrong idea. I’m not pushing for anything. I’m just curious.”
“Okay.”
“Did you read my business proposal for the restaurant?” A wave of vulnerability nearly overwhelmed me the second the words were out of my mouth. “I mean, it’s totally fine if you didn’t. With the timing of Dad’s stroke and everything, I—”
“I read it,” Perry said, silencing my unnecessary excuses. “More than once, actually.”
