“Was going to take my sister and nieces out for a late lunch, but now I’m going to be distracted the entire time.”
“Fine,” I say, pretending to wave an imaginary white flag. “I was just going to ask if you’d be interested in consulting for me.”
His hand lifts to his jaw, partially covering his full mouth as his brows meet, and then he stares over my shoulder, lost in thought.
“You can think about it,” I say, sensing his hesitation. “I don’t even know what your schedule is like. Maybe you’re booked out. I don’t know.”
Stop rambling, Love…
Jude exhales and I brace myself for a “no,” which is fine. I came here with zero expectations.
“Why don’t we talk about this over dinner?” he asks. “Friday night. Seven o’clock.”
The tension between us is thick, ripe. Ready to be plucked and devoured.
“Oh, you’re smooth, Jude Warner,” I say, head tilted and finger pointed as I step backwards toward my door.
He wears the smile of an Olympic gold medalist, his hands resting in his pockets as he shrugs his shoulders.
“So that’s a yes?” he asks.
“It’s not a date,” I say.
“Okay.”
“It’s a work dinner,” I add.
“Sure.” He reaches for his door knob, eyes lit. “See you Friday.”
He disappears into his apartment, and I turn toward mine, whispering “work dinner” under my breath a half a dozen times as I head inside with sweaty palms and a swirl of butterflies in my middle, the very things I haven’t felt since I was eighteen, the things I promised myself not to feel again until I’m ready.
I lock the door behind me and press my back against it, composing my liquefied self as the space around me spins like a carousel. My head is light—the way it gets after a few too many glasses of champagne.
I’m pretty sure this is what excitement feels like, something I haven’t felt in years.
Drawing in a long, cool breath, I let it go and stride down the hall toward my bedroom to peel out of these clothes and slip into some pajamas so I can order takeout and binge watch the rest of The Crown.
I need a distraction. I need to focus on something else.
Clearly my head and my body are on two entirely different pages when it comes to my impending dinner with the guy across the hall.
Here’s hoping my heart stays the hell out of this.
Six
Jude
* * *
“You know she’s way too good for you, right?” Lo says, rocking Ellie on her hip as she stands in my kitchen.
“Yep.”
“Like … way.” She laughs through her nose, studying my outfit. “It’s weird seeing you like this.”
“Like what?”
Lo rolls her eyes. “You know. No ripped jeans or vintage Ramones t-shirts. Hair actually combed for once.”
I know I look like a schmuck with my pressed slacks and cashmere sweater and shiny Italian loafers and hair parted on the side and slicked with brill cream, but this is all part of Hunter’s master plan.
“If you want to hook Love, you have to use the right bait,” he’d said, comparing his ex-wife to a fucking fish.
“God, this place is amazing,” Lo says, carrying Ellie from the kitchen to the living room, where she hones in on the kind of view we only ever dreamed of.
“Sure beats our fourth floor walk-up.”
She smirks. “Yeah. Just a little.”
“I Venmo’d you the rent money this morning,” I said. “Next six months are covered. There’s some extra for food and Piper’s meds.”
Lo turns to me, her smart-ass expression fading. She’s tough as rocks, but I swear I see a hint of tears brimming in her eyes. She doesn’t have to say a word. I know what this means to her. After her deadbeat ex was hauled off to prison a couple years back for running drugs (unbeknownst to all of us), she found herself a twenty-three-year-old single mother with a toddler and a newborn, no job, and no way to feed them.
At the time, I’d been out of the Army for a few years, had just finished my plumbing apprenticeship, and landed a decent job at Premier Plumb and Supply in Brooklyn. As soon as Lo finally admitted to me that she was struggling and about to become evicted, I found a hole-in-the-wall two-bedroom above a pizza shop and moved them in, vowing to help her get on her feet.
Now, during the day, Lo stays home with the girls. At night she waits tables at some exclusive restaurant on 67th Street, heading into the city shortly after the girls go