Huge Deal - Lauren Layne Page 0,40
fingers moved, as though to release her, then they lingered, the pad of his thumb resting against the delicate skin of her inner wrist.
Her breath caught, and she watched his face for any sign that he registered her pulse was moving far too fast.
“So the opera was a success.”
“I liked it.”
“Liked, not loved?”
“Well, it was no ballet,” she said with a smile.
“Ah yes. The appeal of a first love.”
“Nothing like it.”
Their gazes locked and held, and Kate became uncomfortably aware that they were in the middle of the office, with her boss basically holding her hand. Only he wasn’t just her boss, he was also her sort-of-boyfriend’s brother. To say nothing of the fact that he had Claudia . . .
Kate tried to jerk her hand away. His fingers tightened for just a moment as though reluctant to let her go. Then he released her, his hand falling to his side.
“So lunch was no good, huh? Where’d you go? I’ll cross it off my list.”
“I forget the name. Some French bistro. Claudia picked it.”
Kate studied him. It wasn’t like Kennedy to forget the name of anything.
“Bad food?”
“No, the food was fine.”
“Okay, but you said you’d had better . . .”
He scratched his forehead and looked tired. “Let’s just say I prefer meals where I’m not delivering the it’s not you, it’s me speech.”
Her eyes went wide. “You and Claudia broke up?”
He shrugged.
“What happened? When the four of us had dinner, you seemed . . .”
His eyebrows lifted. “Yes? How did we seem?”
“I don’t know. Content, I guess. Well suited.”
He narrowed his gaze. “Is there a jab in there somewhere?”
“No,” she snapped, irritated. “I said you were content. Isn’t that all you want out of life?”
He stepped forward. “No, Kate. That’s not all I want out of life.”
“Well, whatever,” she said, feeing slightly breathless at the intensity on his face. “I’m sorry to hear it didn’t work out with Claudia. Was she upset?”
“More surprised, I think,” he said, staring absently down at the flowers.
“Well, it does seem like it came up suddenly. What changed?”
His gaze flicked to hers just as her desk phone rang. She let it ring once, twice, giving him a chance to answer. When he didn’t, she picked up the receiver. “Wolfe Investments, this is Kate.”
It was Sylvia Reid, one of Matt’s more high-maintenance clients, who couldn’t—or didn’t want to—grasp the fact that Matt was currently in a meeting with someone else. By the time Kate wrapped up the phone call, all but signing away her firstborn on the promise that yes, Matt would call her back as soon as possible, Kennedy had walked away, his office door closed.
Fine. It was just as well. He was in a weird mood, and she wasn’t at all sure she had the emotional energy to deal with it. And then the phone started ringing off the hook, and she literally didn’t have time to deal with it.
An hour or so later, Sabrina came sauntering into the office, all long legs, five-inch heels, and a tight-fitting gray dress that would have been forgettable on Kate but showed off Sabrina’s feminine figure to perfection.
Sabrina carried two Starbucks cups and handed one to Kate, which she took in surprise. “Isn’t this for Matt?”
“He can get his own. Plus, I’ve spent enough time in this office to know you need it more,” Sabrina said, running a finger along one of the yellow rosebuds. “Pretty. Yours?”
“Yeah, Jack sent them.” Kate took a sip of the coffee. It was an iced caramel macchiato and beyond delicious.
“Hmm,” Sabrina said thoughtfully, rubbing a petal between her fingers.
“What hmm?”
Sabrina took a sip of her coffee. “How was the opera?”
“I liked it. I mean, I’ll be honest, some of the arias, or whatever, got a little monotonous—”
“I’ll rephrase,” Sabrina interrupted. “How was the opera with Jack? How was the date itself?”
“It was nice.”
“Yeah,” Sabrina said a little sadly. “I thought so.”
“What? I said it was nice!”
“Okay, but let’s pause for a second and imagine Jack in his office right now.”
Kate merely looked at her.
Sabrina snapped her fingers in Kate’s face. “Close your eyes! Picture it.”
Kate rolled her eyes first, but then did as her friend ordered, closing her eyes and trying to imagine Jack at this very instant. It took her a second to call his face to mind. She realized she hadn’t given much thought to Jack unless he was in the same room.
“Now,” Sabrina said, “imagine one of his coworkers stops by his desk and asks about his weekend.