Page 32 of The Wrong One

I listened to the rest of his speech with a nagging feeling. I felt guilty for kissing Izzy. I felt like I should come clean and confess my sins, but I also didn’t want to say anything because I didn’t want to risk him getting pissed and doing something drastic. He could be very jumpy when it came to his sister. I was still confused as to why he hadn’t jumped on a plane to kick Patrick’s ass. I assumed he was glad the guy was gone and was just going to leave it alone.

“It’s good,” I said. “You nailed the highlights. Izzy is still working on putting together an informational packet for you to hand out. It’ll have the details spelled out in Lehman’s terms without giving away any proprietary information.”

“How’s that going?” he asked.

My stomach dropped. “What?”

“How is Izzy working out?” he asked. “Is she picking up on the job?”

My mouth was dry. I liked my lips and nodded. “Yeah. She’s smart. She’s a quick learner. She’s been a big help.”

He grinned. “I knew it. You were trying to tell me not to hire her.”

“I was just making sure you guys didn’t fight,” I muttered.

Or that I didn’t end up wanting to crawl into bed with his little sister. Even now, sitting in his house I was thinking about the kiss. Not necessarily the little intimate details of the kiss, because I’d already done that a hundred times. I was thinking about how I wanted to kiss her the next time. I was thinking about what it would be like to kiss her until we were ripping off each other’s clothes and falling into the nearest bed.

“We’re not going to fight,” he said. “We disagree and argue, but it’s not a fight. I know what’s best for her. I know she’s all grown up and I have to let her spread her wings, but in this, I know I’m right. She needs solid ground to rebuild her life. She needs a support system.”

“I agree.” I nodded. “You’re giving her that.”

“We are,” he said. “We’re giving her that. I did see her earlier today in the office. She looked happy. She said she loves the work and you’ve been really great. So, thanks for that. Thank you for not being a dick. I know you weren’t thrilled about the idea, but you’re doing something nice for her.”

“She’s a good friend,” I replied. “Of course, I’ll do something nice for her. It was not about that.”

“I know,” he said.

We were talking a bit when Lily came into the living room, yawning and rubbing her eyes.

“Are you done with your game?” Ramsey asked her.

She climbed onto the couch and sat beside him, resting her head on his arm. “Yep. I made a farm with goats and chickens. It took forever to build their barns. I fed them and put them to bed.”

“You have a farm?” I asked her.

“It’s my new game,” she answered with another yawn.

“I think it’s time for bed,” Ramsey told her. “You look beat. You’ve got dance in the morning. You need to be rested.”

I got up from the chair and leaned down to pick her up. “Come on, I’ll get you to bed. Your dad has to get to work.”

“I do?” Ramsey asked.

“You need polish up your closing on that speech,” I told him. “Come on, little bug.”

“Goodnight,” Ramsey said and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead.

I scooped Lily up and threw her over my shoulder. She squeezed and laughed as I carried her upstairs to her bedroom. “Could you have more stairs?”

“We do,” she answered.

“You’re going to have to get an elevator,” I said. I put her down. “Grab your jammies and brush your teeth.”

“Are you staying the night?” she asked.

“No.” I smiled. “I’m just doing some work with your dad. I’m going to go home soon. I’m beat.”

She took her pajamas into the bathroom. I pulled back her pink blanket and moved some of the stuffed animals to the foot of the bed. I knew she wanted them on the bed. They had to sleep with her. The bathroom door opened, and she came out in her pink jammies.

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