the slot in the partition.
“Dex, I can make it up on my own.”
“I don’t mind.” He opened the door and stepped out. “Let’s go.”
My apartment was messy and not exactly ready for visitors, but he would probably just drop me off at the front door. We walked into the building and took the stairs to my floor before we headed down the hallway. He was in his signature hoodie and jeans.
“Now that I’m working like this again, not sure if I can stay in Brooklyn. I’m dreading that long drive home.” He walked beside me, his hands in the front pockets of his jeans. “Guess my mom was right…she’s always right.”
I stopped in front of my door and got it unlocked. “Well, maybe this is the right time to tell you that your parents got you an apartment here in Manhattan.” The door swung inward on its own, and I stepped inside to put my purse down.
He stared at me with narrowed eyes, like he wasn’t sure if he’d heard me correctly. “They did what now?”
“And it’s furnished and ready to go. I was just waiting for the right time to tell you.”
He stepped into my apartment and pulled his hands out of his pockets. “I guess that doesn’t surprise me.” He rubbed the back of his neck, his eyes distant as his mind processed what I said. “Send me the bill tomorrow. That way, I know how much I owe them. With me working again, I should be able to pay them back in a reasonable amount of time.”
I thought it was sweet that his parents swooped in and took care of their son within a heartbeat, and I also thought it was sweet that Dex never took advantage of them and insisted on standing on his own two feet, even after he lost everything. I was so curious to know what happened in his divorce, but I refused to ask him something so personal. I did look online to see if there was something there, but I couldn’t find a single article. His family must have pulled some strings to remove them, and maybe everyone had signed NDAs to not publicly discuss the divorce. “Yeah.”
He slid his hands back into his pockets, then turned to the door. “Well, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“You want me to reschedule you tomorrow? Have you come into the lab at a later time?”
He turned back to me. “No, don’t worry about it. I’ve got a lot of stuff to do.” He turned away again.
“Dex.”
He turned back to me again, his hand on the door, his eyes lidded because he was so clearly tired.
“I know this is a weird thing to say, but I’m really proud of you.”
His lips curled up in a gentle smile. “It’s not a weird thing to say at all.”
I got to his office at Kline Clinic and put a cup of coffee on his desk along with a breakfast sandwich. His desk was messy with the papers he’d left behind the last time he was there, so I grabbed everything to organize.
He walked in a moment later, right on time, dressed in jeans and a long-sleeved sweater. His jaw was cleanly shaved and his short hair was styled, so he didn’t just roll out of bed and take the subway here. He was a whole new man just by looking at him. There was a hint of exhaustion in his eyes, but it was masked by the excitement he felt to be there. He gave me a quick glance-over before he approached the desk. “Morning.”
“Morning.” I smiled, feeling that thrill every time I saw him, like I was in the presence of true greatness.
He moved to the coffee on the desk and grabbed it. “Is this for me?”
I nodded.
He took a drink then licked his lips. “Thanks. I didn’t have a chance this morning. Chose to keep sleeping.”
“That was a good choice because I can always get that for you.” I was so eager to please him, so eager to bring him joy. It wasn’t because I wanted to keep my job or get a raise, but because it was such a pleasure to make his life better. “When you move in to your new place, I can have it ready for you before you even wake up, and you can enjoy it on the drive.”
He took another drink. “Now I’m starting to feel like the Queen of England.”
More like the King of Hearts. I pulled out a piece