Page 38 of Mistletoe and Malice
Out of all the questions he might’ve asked her, she hadn’t expected that one. “Graham? What about him?”
“I’ve been with you for a week now, and as far as I’ve seen, you’ve only been together once. Under the circumstances, I’d think he’d stick a little closer.”
“Why’s that?”
“If it were my lady’s life being threatened, I sure would. I wouldn’t leave her to deal with it alone. It doesn’t seem like a hot and heavy romance to me.”
His lady? But of course he had a lady. A man like Colton could probably have his pick.
“Because it’s not. Not even close.”
He faced her again. “But you’re dating?”
She shrugged. “That’s what he calls it.”
“What do you call it?”
She rose from her desk chair and plopped down on the couch. Tucking one leg under her, she grabbed a throw pillow and held it across her stomach. “We’re friends. We’ve never talked about being exclusive and, to be honest, I never saw us going that direction.”
He took a seat at the other end of the sofa, the pink and periwinkle blue floral fabric a complete juxtaposition to the raw masculinity of the man. “Maybe you should make him aware of that.”
“I know. I’ve never treated him as more than a friend, so I’m not sure why …” She shook her head.
“He wants more? That’s easy to see. He could do a lot worse.”
She threw him a sardonic grin. “You say the most charming things, Mr. Blankenship.”
He shrugged. “I’m a charming guy. Can’t help it.”
“You might want to try.” She laughed, and her pulse skipped when he joined her. He really should laugh more. His entire countenance softened from that granite visage whenever helaughed. “Graham and I met the summer between our junior and senior years of high school. A month-long student trip through Europe. I had a boyfriend on that trip, but Graham kept after me and after me. He and my boyfriend actually came to blows one night in Vienna. He kind of cooled it after that but kept writing to me throughout the next year.”
“Kind of a rush, wasn’t it? Two boys fighting over you?”
“I was mortified. About capped them both right there. Didn’t speak to either of them for two days. Graham and I kept in touch throughout college and both ended up in Boston for grad school—me at Harvard, he at BC—then came to work here in Houston. He’s a lawyer, too, but he’s in international corporate law. Big money. And he travels a lot. He was engaged to be married, but it fell apart about a year ago. He called, we started spending time together, he cried on my shoulder a lot, and I guess he got so used to being around that now he considers it a relationship, of sorts.”
“Of sorts.”
“I don’t think of him like that, like someone I could have a future with. I’ve been trying to find a way to tell him we need to step back, but there hasn’t been a good opportunity. And now with the holidays and all, well, I really don’t want to hurt him.”
“Keeping him hanging will be worse. Take my word for it.”
She cocked her head. “Sounds like you have experience with this sort of thing.”
“Once. I wasn’t involved in a serious relationship and had a friend in the same boat. I guess this was a year ago now. She was a co-worker, someone I could talk to, someone I could go to events with and not feel out of place with all the other couples. She eventually expressed she wanted more out of the relationship, and I had to tell her I didn’t feel the same. And that was the end of the friendship. I see her in the office from time to time, but it’s awkward.”
“Yeah. I’d hate to lose Graham’s friendship. Although, I can see how our lives are heading in different directions. He’s very into the Houston society scene, and I’m not. I’m comfortable there because that’s what I grew up in, but my parents also instilled in us a great appreciation for people who don’t live in this world. We all worked in the company in high school and during summers in college. Starting with the mailroom, answering phones, or manning the copy machine.”
“So, that’s where your work ethic comes from. In the week I’ve been with you, I’ve seen how hard you work. And you’re always onmycase about downtime.”
He threw her a wink, and her insides tumbled all over themselves. She was thirty years old, for crying out loud. Shouldn’t she have grown out of this twittery stuff by now?
Smiling, she shrugged. “I have my downtime too. And my friends. Especially my girls. We went to the same private school, but Frances and Barbara were scholarship students. From the first day Barbara showed up in fifth grade, we were inseparable. Our different backgrounds never mattered to us.”
“I have to admit, I used to think high society people were snobs. No offense. I’ve worked for a few who definitely fit that bill. But after sitting with you and the others at the table on Monday, it dawned on me I had always consideredmyselfas better because I could get by without all that money. Which makesmethe snob. In a weird way.”
“I think there are snobs in every social tier. I’ve run into people at the shelter who are snobs. They have nothing, and they’re almost hostile to those of us trying to help them. But it’s their way of holding on to their dignity. Their way of saying ‘I don’t need to be taken care of. I’m capable.’ And we do our best to convince them that’s true. They are capable. We’re just trying to give them one less thing to worry about so they can go on to better things.”
He smiled at her. “You should have been a psychologist. You have an uncanny ability to understand people.”
