Page 122 of Attached At Heart
They both said I didn’t need to come today, but I’d been helping Natalie deal with her custody situation since I’d movedto the East Coast, and I wanted to see it through. Noah had been so busy with becoming a parent lately that he was less familiar with the workings of the bullshit that Natalie had been going through, but he’d connected us with the lawyer we were meeting with today and wanted to be here.
“There’s my favorite married brother,” Noah called as I walked up.
I rolled my eyes. “I’m your only married brother,” I grunted despite the fuzzy feeling I got whenever I received the reminder I was married to Delaney.
“I haven’t gotten over it, to be honest,” Natalie said with a grin. “That you actually tied the knot. How was the honeymoon? I want to hear all about it!”
“Woah, woah, Nat.” Noah raised a brow, putting up his hands to indicate she should slow the fuck down. “I don’t know if we want to hearallabout it.”
“No.” A smirk slipped onto my lips, unbidden. “You probably don’t.”
The sound of Delaney moaning my name echoed in my ears, and my body tightened in response.
Suddenly, I wished I was at home. Preferably, at home eating my wife out on the kitchen table like I did last night.
Natalie looked unimpressed. “We talked about this, Blake. Don’t forget todateyour wife, too. Women want more than sex.”
That comment snapped me out of it. “I took her on a date first,” I said defensively, but my stomach still turned at what she’d said. I didn’t like the implication or the thought that my relationship with Delaney had been reduced to sex. I knew, at my core, that wasn’t the case, but it still had me itching to take the next step with her and soon.
I wanted to ask her on a date. One that was completely transparent and not at all fake. And I wanted to do it soon.
Natalie sighed. “Well, that’s good, at least. I’m so happy to see you married, and I want it to stay that way.”
“I want the same thing,” I grunted. She had no fucking idea how badly I wanted that. “In fact, this married man misses his wife, so let’s get in there and do this thing.”
Natalie’s face fell, and internally, I berated myself. I knew what her next words were going to be before she even responded.
“You don’t have to come with, Blake. I’m good. And I have Noah, too.”
“I can handle smart people things sometimes, you know,” Noah said, a single brow cocked.
“I know you can,” I assured him because even though he’d said it with sarcasm, there was a bit of doubt lurking in the depths of his eyes. “But I want to be here. Just because I’m married doesn’t mean I don’t have time for my family, too.”
Natalie sighed. “Okay, let’s go,” she said before quietly murmuring, “Thank you.”
I grabbed her hand and squeezed it before we followed Noah into the building, up the elevator, and to the entrance of the Gardner Law offices.
A man with a blinding smile and a sharp suit met us by the receptionist.
“Cameron Bryant,” he said, his voice smooth and deep. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Blake London,” I replied. “Same to you. Thanks so much for meeting with us.”
I shook his hand before he turned to Natalie, and I couldn’t remember ever seeing my sister—highly trained trauma surgeon Dr. London—blushat shaking a man’s hand before, but I swore that was what happened when she introduced herself. Cameron’s dimples indented in response, like he noticed, and I decided it was good I was staying for this meeting. Noah seemedto clock the exchange, too, his eyes darting between Cameron and Natalie.
Once introductions had been exchanged, Cameron led us into the labyrinth of offices in the law firm. But we didn’t get very far before we were cut short by the appearance of a tall man with deep auburn hair.
“Not even going to stop to say hi, huh?” Julian drawled, leaning in the doorway of his office. Beside him, a plaque that saidThe Briggseshung on the wall beside the door, and I knew the moment Noah noticed it because a laugh burst through his lips.
“Do they honestly let you two share an office?” he choked through his laughter.
“Sure do,” Julian said smugly.
Noah shook his head, pointing to the plaque on the wall. “Did you have to put in a special order for that?”
“Of course he did,” Julian’s wife, Juniper, cut in from the office. She walked up to stand beside Julian in the doorway and then smiled at Noah and me in acknowledgment before turning to Natalie to introduce herself. “Juniper Briggs. It’s so lovely to meet you. I’ve heard a plethora of nice things about you from Gemma.”
Julian’s grin broadened at her introduction. It had only been about six months since Julian and Juniper’s wedding, which I remembered vividly despite not being in attendance. I’d called my brother that day to find him miserable as he got ready for his best friend’s nuptials. Noah didn’t know how to come to terms with the fact that he was in love with that same friend’s sister, and somehow, I’d managed to convince him to get his head out of his ass and take the fucking plunge.
