Page 267 of The Maxwell Brothers
"Will do. And one more thing." His voice changed again. It was almost businesslike when he spoke of Luke, but now it was an octave lower with a hint of trouble. I had no business liking it, but I did.
"Oh no, no, no."
"Why not?" he asked.
"Because yourthingstend to throw me off-balance, and I’mjustabout to head into work."
“I see.”
I waited for him to tell me anyway. To my astonishment, he didn’t.
“You’re really going to leave me in the dark, huh?”
“I’m respecting your wishes, Liz.” His voice was taunting now. My stomach somersaulted. And did he have to sound so sinful when he saidLiz? It turned my brain to mush.
“I take it back.”
“You’ll see what I mean when you get home. After all, the last thing I want is for you to be off-balance and have another work accident. I won’t be there to bandage you today.”
I felt warm all over at the thought of him taking care of me.
“I’ve really got to go. Drive safe.”
“Will do.”
Guess who had a one-track mind for the rest of the shift? Yep, me. I was only half paying attention to my tasks, but I wasextra careful when setting up the chafing dishes at the party we catered. It was an assorted snack bar of sorts for a CEO who was leaving the company.
I loved it when Richard’s Catering needed me, because the parties we catered were all over town. It gave me a chance to get to know Chicago better.
We were on LaSalle Street today. It was the second time we’d catered a party in this office building, so it wasn’t anything new. That meant I had time for a bit more daydreaming about whatever was waiting for me at home.
At three o’clock on the dot, I was ready to go load all the empty dishes in Richard’s truck. It was raining heavily, but not even that was enough to dampen my enthusiasm.
Since I biked a lot, I still hadn’t learned my way around Chicago on public transportation.
There was quite a bit of walking from the station to the house, but I didn’t mind.
The rain intensified when I got off the bus. I nearly bumped into the old lady in front of me, who’d stopped to open her umbrella. I didn’t have one, so I broke into a run. I was wearing a jacket that was supposed to be water repellent, but somehow I still got completely soaked in minutes. I didn’t slow my pace until I turned onto my street. My right foot felt numb from the cold. Glancing down, I groaned, having stepped right into a puddle.
“Oh, come on.”Damn this day.
I hurried home, unlocking the front gate quickly and then jogging to my door. I couldn’t wait to get out of these wet things.
Right there on my doorstep were two boxes, covered with a plastic tarp. Damn, the man was thorough.
Just like that, my face transformed into a grin. I forgot all about my soaked clothes and took the boxes inside, putting them directly on the kitchen counter. Removing my wet jacket,I noticed my shirt was drenched as well. It clung to me, making me feel even colder than I was, but I was too excited to open the boxes to do anything else.
The one that was partially opened contained my earbuds.
My fingers were trembling while I opened the second one. It was a box of Swiss truffle chocolates. They were my favorites—but how would he know that? Helen was the only one who knew, because she’d introduced me to them.
I snapped a picture and immediately sent it to Rose.
Liz: Declan got me this.
To my astonishment, my sister called me.
"Holy shit,” she exclaimed.
