Page 27 of Accidentally Mine
“Still,” I said.“Your father knew you.But you know nothing about me.”
The waitress brought a coffee carafe, filled his cup, and warmed mine.He thanked her and leaned across the table.“I know you’re in trouble.And I know you think you can’t get out of it.But there’s always a way.”
I blinked.Was I so transparent?“Not this time.”
He didn’t press me on the subject.Instead, we talked a little more about his company in Brookline, his hobbies.He had a sister named Claudia, who he obviously loved.During each pause in conversation, he asked me a personal question, but I’d quickly find a way to change the subject back over to him.
By the time we were finished, I’d learned he was an avid sportsman who loved the Bruins, who grew up lower-middle class in Woburn, and went to MIT on a freaking full-ride archery scholarship.Who even knew those existed?
What felt like only a few minutes later, I looked down and realized it was almost one.I wanted to stay longer, but I still had to stop at Whole Foods to fill Aunt Marie’s fridge.
“Oh, my gosh!”I closed my laptop and shoved it into my bag.“I’m sorry.I really have to go.I promised my aunt I’d go food shopping before lunch.”
“Let me drive you,” he said.“To the store.”
“What?”I looked out the window to see if he had managed to find a parking spot outside.There was barely any parking in Boston.“You drove here?”
He nodded, stood, and reached over, lifting my heavy bag off my shoulder.“Lugging bundles home on the T is not for the faint of heart.I’ve been there.”
I could see in the set of his jaw that protesting would be futile.I didn’t have it in me.Plus, my body and even my brain were screaming,yes please, more!Okay, my body was a tad louder than my brain.
Even as I was telling myself to run, I found myself walking with him out to a shiny black sporty Cadillac, where it turned out that he hadn’t actually driven here.Someone else had.
I frowned.I should’ve been happy, because he was right, lugging bundles home on the Tdidsuck.And having a big strong man with me felt like another level of insulation from evil, way more protection than my overly large fuzzy cardigan.But Anthony liked the glitz and glam, and he had been all about stretch limos.All about expensive and fast cars and throwing his money around.None of it had ever impressed me in the least, except maybe at first.
Now?It just made me wary.
Despite his humble upbringings, Brent didn’t seem like he was trying to impress me.He opened the door to the XTS himself and motioned me in.“Hey, old man,” he said to the driver still seated behind the wheel.“We’ve got to go to a supermarket.”He climbed in and looked at me expectantly.“Where do you want to go?Whole Foods?”
I nodded.
The man behind the steering wheel was also wearing a suit and had a full head of silver hair, cut in a way that reminded me of a much younger man.He tipped an imaginary cap at Brent.“Whole Foods, coming right up.”
Brent leaned back and grinned over at me.“Ernest, this is Roselynn.Roselynn, this is Ernest.Myvalet.”
The way he said it brought an unexpected smile to my lips.
Ernest, who had sparkling blue eyes and salt-and-pepper stubble, turned in his seat and gave me a toothy grin.“Or his whipping boy.Whatever he chooses.He signs my checks.”
Brent smiled and drummed his fingers on his knee as I mouthed, “You have avalet?”
I was surprised when pink creeped up on his cheeks.“Well.I suppose it sounds classier than the other options,” he said.“Ernest has been with me since the beginning.I guess you could call him my right-hand man.”
“Whipping boy,” Ernest said from the front as he pulled out into traffic.
I smiled.“Wicked nice car.You travel this way often?”
He looked around as if seeing it for the first time, pulling on his collar.“Actually, I’m not fond of driving.”
I smiled at that.I’dhateddriving, ever since that day.Once I arrived at Long Grove, a town I’d thought I could successfully hide away in, I’d sold my old Subaru for scrap and gotten an apartment that was in walking distance to all the downtown stores.On the rare occasion I needed to go anywhere, I Ubered.I blinked back thoughts of the accident and its aftermath as we slowly made our way through the busy city streets.
In the middle of the day, Whole Foods wasn’t crowded.After I climbed out of the car, I began to have second thoughts.“Don’t you have to get to your office?”
He exited behind me and slammed the door.“I think I told you, I’m the boss.I can do whatever I want.”
“Really?Are you sure?I mean, I can make it home fine from here.”
He put a hand on my forearm, stopping me in my tracks.Why did every place he touched on my body feel so strangely branded?“Roselynn, your stubbornness is charming, but you’re even more charming when you say yes.And, for the record, I’m just as stubborn as you.So say yes and let me help you, or they might sell out of organic cheese puffs before we make it out of the parking lot.”
