Page 37 of Binding Their Hearts

The scrunch of Brett’s face projected mulish obstinance. “I’m just saying—”

“You have a timing problem. I am prepared to wait for the right buyer.” A light sigh and a gentle shrug completed Henry’s impression of unconcern. “Or we might retain lawyers to come to an agreement—though they charge rather hefty fees. By the hour. And, as I said, I do have another appointment to get to.”

Scowling, Brett took to his phone, scrolling and pinching and zooming—were those blueprints? With a casual glance, he couldn’t be certain. The screen went dark, and Brett jammed the phone in his pocket. “Two hundred grand over asking, but you’re out in forty-five days. On the first of December, the place is mine.”

“I’m delighted we could come to an agreement. I’ll have my agent send over the paperwork.” He shook Brett’s hand after all and showed himself out. He’d parked a block ahead, in the first open space.

Forty-five days. For a traditional closing, that left him two weeks to find the perfect home. Otherwise, he’d best settle on a temporary rental from which they might continue the hunt. Either way, he would be shepherding Alice and Jay through packing up the household and moving while also planning a wedding, arranging sittings for his new flock of commission clients, supporting Jay through the emotional swings of therapy and Alice through the exhausting demands of her promotion, assisting Alice with her surprise for Jay and Jay with his surprise for Alice while not entirely giving away his own surprises for them, and, not to be forgotten, contriving in some organic way to help Will and Emma see the happiness they might bring each other.

A brisk wind cut through the streets despite the day’s relative warmth. He waited for a break in traffic, then slipped into the driver’s seat and shut the door against the chill. The grocery list lay in the catchall tray. Sighing, he pulled the seat belt across his torso and clicked it into place.

A person could, on occasion, attempt too much. Troublesome, when a single missed detail might send the entire affair sprawling. But corralling the chaos was his responsibility.

Spying his reflection in the rearview as he prepared to merge, he noted the tightness around his eyes. “No room for errors, now.”

With the bag of groceries in one arm, Henry hustled into the lobby. On Wednesdays in particular, he endeavored to be home to greet Jay and assess any immediate post-therapy needs, but the line at the fish counter had stolen away the cushion in his schedule. As he curved toward the stairs, familiar wheat-blond hair flashed through the glass of the mail vestibule and changed his course. Alice arriving home on time would be a first since her promotion and might portend an evening of heightened emotional needs.

The glass door swung inward, propelled by her pale, slim hand. “—kind of you, but I have a standing dinner reservation.”

“Indeed”—at Henry’s voice, she lifted her head, and her shoulders relaxed—“he’s standing before you with dinner in his arms.” A glance behind her revealed their neighbor, he of the prolific complaints who remained under the impression that Alice was available. Coming home on time must have set her in the man’s path, though not for much longer. Could he ethically amuse himself—he could, he well and truly could. Henry tipped his head and narrowed his eyes at Alice; his clever girl would recognize the commanding note in his voice. “Though he would rather have you in his arms, dearest.”

Striding forward, she raised an eyebrow even as a wicked grin played across her lips. “Who am I to deny you?”

As she slid her arms around his waist in greeting, he splayed his hand against her lower back in a possessive move only a fool could mistake. He pressed her toward him, and she obligingly gasped before she dropped her head back, hair swaying, a sultry smile firmly in place. She might not know his reasons, but she knew the game.

He taunted her with not quite a kiss, her mouth open and searching as he nibbled her lips. At her pouty whine, he pounced. She pursued with equal fervor, their kiss heated and delving. He drew back before he lost himself and his purpose. “Do forgive me; the news is simply so exciting that once I saw you, I couldn’t resist.”

“There’s news?” A slight daze thickened Alice’s voice. Had they been alone, he would have spun her around and slipped his fingers between her legs. “About what?”

“I’ve sold the apartment.”

Her eyes widened, instantly clearing as she blinked. For real? she mouthed, her back to their neighbor.

He ran a reassuring caress up her spine. “I knew you’d be delighted, and here you are, speechless.”

Several steps behind her, their neighbor stood in his ill-fitting suit with his bundle of junk mail tucked against his chest. “Sold?”

“Greg, what a happy coincidence. I did want to inform you. A shame we won’t have more chances to get to know one another as neighbors. Just a few weeks now.” He brought out his broadest smile, the one he used to bid farewell to guests lingering too late at gallery shows. “I hope you don’t mind noise. The construction could go on for months, I’m told.”

“Months?” The dim lighting turned Greg’s skin sallow, and the horrified droop of his mouth and shoulders provoked more satisfaction than they really ought to. But the man had spied on him and Jay in the laundry room and thought to turn his supposed knowledge into a romantic advantage with Alice. He owed Henry recompense, petty though it was.

“Yes, it takes time, all that dusty demolition and hammering in new walls to reconfigure the space. A few water and electrical shut-offs here and there, nothing too onerous, I’m sure.” He couldn’t focus on Alice’s curious amusement, not if he wanted to maintain the jolly composure he meant to project. He mined the booming playfulness Will might use to deliver a fuck you without uttering a single vulgarity. “But afterward you’ll have four new studio apartments on the floor—so many wonderful students to meet. Perhaps you could throw them a floor party.”

Yes, that had done it. Greg clearly recognized the utter hell that would descend on the third floor in the months to come. The crumpled mail in his grip had paid the price for the knowledge.

“Excuse us, I need to get these things into the refrigerator.” Henry wrapped his arm around Alice and guided her to the stairs. “How was your day, my dear?”

“Not nearly as exciting as yours, I think.” As they rounded the first landing, she peered down over the railing. “He’s not following.” Her voice had dropped to a whisper. “Were you serious about the apartment?”

“Once we’re inside,” he murmured. “I’ll tell you and Jay together.”

“The look on his face when we left, though.” Her cheeks rounded, and she bit down on her lip; what might have been a giggle emerged as stuttering puffs of air. “I shouldn’t laugh, but…”

“The schadenfreude was well earned in this case. I happened to learn today that he’s been making false complaints to the building owner.”

“About us?” Her eyes blazed, and he kept a firm hold on her shoulders lest she descend to confront him. She let out a low growl. “I hope his new neighbors crank the death metal at three in the morning.”

One could always hope.

---