Page 5 of Loving You

She took a tentative step into the living room, eyes darting around and taking in different details—the painting above the fireplace, the TV mounted on the wall, the barstools set up at the counter in front of me. “I guess I thought it’d be some kind of stale, empty bachelor pad. Though, Sammy always said you slept in a coffin in the office at Walker’s.”

I filled a glass with water for myself. “Ice?”

She blinked, those big blue eyes stunning as always. “Uh, sure. Did you want to set up at the island?”

She meant for work, of course. For the meeting we should’ve finished an hour ago. For the meeting she’d uncharacteristically failed to show at. I’d waited, though, finally abandoning our plan after Sammy chatted with me for over a half hour, and she still hadn’t arrived.

I’d come home to get lunch and have a moment to myself before returning to work, but April insisted I send her my address, and so, here we were.

Weshouldjump right in and get this over with, but something was off. The April slowly winding her way around my space, taking in each book on the shelves flanking the TV with care and more than a little surprise, was not the woman I’d come to know.

Because of this, and paired with her peculiar demeanor upon arrival, I decided to delay beginning the meeting and see if I might help her get more comfortable and shake off whatever this oddness was.

“Sure. I’m going to get us some snacks.”

Her humor-tinged huff had me glancing up to see a small smile. The sight hit me between the ribs for some reason, so I ducked my head and focused on pulling together some food for us. “You have a problem with snacks?”

“Definitely not. I just never imagined you would be such a good host.”

The words on the tip of my tongue would shift things, potentially in the wrong direction. In fact, they were the kind of words April would’ve flung out without a thought.

So you’ve imagined me?

Alas, I was me, not her, and didn’t need to provoke her like that, even if part of me felt I needed to do something to get her normal spark back.

“You seem to have a fairly low opinion of me,” I said, hoping the words came with the tint of humor I was aiming for. I knew she didn’t like me, and she’d said outright that she thought I was a boring workaholic drone, so there was no chance she’d be bothered by the statement.

But her silence made me check, and the troubled expression on her lovely face sent a jolt of concern through me.

She shook her head. “I’m sorry. It’s been a weird day. I don’t mean to sound critical. Thanks for letting me come here so we can get this done. My schedule this week is packed, and I don’t know when else I could’ve fit it in.”

The openness shocked me as much as it disarmed me. April and I didn’t share vulnerabilities—even simple things like having an odd day. We’d kept our meetings and emails to business, both of us preferring to get to the point and move on.

I may not have held a particularly high opinion of her in terms of her dating life and social dynamic, but I had the utmost respect for her work ethic and professional abilities.

In fact, if I ignored the fact that she was everything Ididn’twant in a romantic partner and that she certainly had no interest in me, I might find myself very interested in her.

Maybe more than ever, in this moment.

But then I would be a fucking idiot because I had no time for ridiculous thoughts like this.

Refocusing, I said, “I’m sorry the day has been odd. I’m happy we could make this work.” I slid a large plate of bright-green grapes, a wedge of brie, and crackers onto the kitchen island.

Her eyes widened, and she grinned, though just barely. “You are quite the host, Mr. Walker.”

Something sparked in my gut at her pleased tone and the way she said my last name, but I ignored it. “I just happen to know you function best when you’re well-fed.”

She raised a brow as she stepped up to the island and let the bag over her shoulder slip down to rest on the chair before picking a grape off the vine. “And how do you know that?”

I wouldn’t admit I’d overheard her talking about losing her ability to function when she gothangryat one of the many girls’ lunches she and my sisters-in-law had at the brewery. “You’re human.”

She chewed a grape, her eyes smiling at me before she swallowed. “Well, true enough. Turns out, so are you.” She winked.

The womanwinked at me.And damn if it wasn’t charming as hell.

But before I could summon a response from the recesses of my glamoured brain, she pressed her hands into the marble island and put her work face on. “Shall we get to business?”

Though she’d gotten a little of that April sass back, she still had a tightness in the set of her shoulders andsomethingI couldn’t pin down and couldn’t shake, which meant she needed another minute before we dove in.

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