Page 4 of Just Between Us

“Hey,” I whispered.

She stopped writing long enough to shoot me a shy smile. “Hey. I thought you weren’t coming tonight.”

Her voice sounded tight. I studied her face, noting the puffy circles under her eyes. My jaw clenched and my gaze slid to Gary, guessing him to be the source of her distress. The guy was a certifiable asshole; I took a particular delight in taking him down a peg or two any chance I got.

“Wouldn’t miss it,” I said, settling into my seat.

The heady scent of honeysuckle that clung to Nora kept my ire at bay. Her eyebrows knitted as she strained to hear Bill Ogden’s low, rumbly voice over the ancient baseboard heaters. The tip of her tongue poked out as she scribbled onto the clipboard balanced on her lap. She leaned forward and listed toward me, the fabric of her sweater resting on my arm.

“Sorry,” she muttered, her eyes flitting to her sweater and then up at me. Her cheeks went red as she leaned away. Disappointment flooded me.

“It’s fine.”

The meeting took another twenty minutes to wrap up; twenty grueling minutes that had my stomach in knots and my palms sweaty. As Gary banged his ridiculous oak gavel on the folding table, ending the meeting, Nora bounced up and darted away before I could stop her.

Understandable. Technically, she was still on the clock.

“You decided to grace us with your presence?” Lexi asked, hands on her hips and eyebrow raised.

“Wouldn’t miss it. Best business advice I get some months,” I said with a grin.

She rolled her eyes. “I don’t know why you bother. Unless you plan on sharing some of that sweet investment capital with the rest of us.”

I shook my head. “Afraid not.”

She shrugged. “How about a tattoo, then?”

“That might be something I’m interested in.”

Lexi and I chatted while the other business owners crowded the snack table, double-fisting pastries and coffee, their attention on Nora. Despite Gary’s general unpleasantness, he’d made the right choice in hiring her. She had a way of drawing people to her, effortlessly guiding the conversation as the evening wore on.

It’d been what had drawn me to her all those years ago, when we first met. After chasing a ball out of bounds during a rivalry high school basketball game, I’d tumbled into her and knocked both of us to the ground. Seconds later, her brothers pulled me off her, and her youngest brother, Cal, punched me in the face.

The entire interaction took seconds. I hadn’t even registered who she was. She found me after the game. She snuck out of the gym, checking my black eye and apologizing so sincerely that I fell under her spell completely and stayed under it for the next ten years.

I walked Lexi to the door, wishing her a good night and returning to find that City Hall had emptied of everyone except Gary.

“Andy, just the man I wanted to talk to.” Gary walked across the room and smacked me on the shoulder. “I was in Manchester this past week and saw your new gym. Beautiful work.”

“Thanks. I actually came back to se—”

“Now, imagine my disappointment when I found out you aren’t hiring local contractors.”

I barely suppressed a grimace. “Well, they are local—to Manchester.”

“You know what I mean.” Gary shook his head, his gray hair molded to his skull, refusing to budge. “I meanlocal.Franklin Notch. Pierce. I take jobs as far away as the coast, and you’ll need a reliable contractor for all these new gyms you’re opening.”

“I appreciate that, but we’ve chosen a group that specializes in fitness centers.”

“You think I can’t handle fitness centers? Don’t you remember who retrofitted your first property?”

At the time, Gary had been the only contractor I could afford. Over the years, I’d learned much more about layout and flow, renovating the gym until very little remained from the first remodel.

“I’ll keep that in mind, Gary.” I gave him a reassuring pat on the arm and angled back toward the door, poised to escape while I could.

Nora had left while I’d been talking to Lexi, which meant another month before I could ask her out.

Great.

---