Jilted Jock - Rebecca Jenshak Page 0,30

offering and then me.

“You look nice. Really nice. New dress?”

I stifled a laugh. I’d bought this dress for an event I’d attended with him, but that had been years ago so I could hardly hold it against him for not remembering.

“No.” I ran a hand down my side. “Just had it tucked away in the back of the closet.”

He stared a bit longer – a look I recognized on his face. I’d dated him for long enough I knew when he liked what he saw. He caught himself and sat down, smiled stiffly, and dug into the bag for his bagel. “Thanks for this. My weekend was crap. Charlotte and I worked a fundraiser at her kids’ school and then Tatum had two friends stay the night. I woke up in the middle of the night to giggling and found them trying to make breakfast downstairs. Real French pastries.” He shook his head but there was a happiness about the way he said it. A contentedness. Harry had begun dating a single mum shortly after we broke up. He was happy. A happy we’d never been.

“Sounds eventful.”

“What about you? Did Richard come into town this weekend?”

“He did.” I clasped my hands in front of me. “Actually, since we’re on the topic, I wanted to ask if I could have Friday off to go to New York.”

He nodded as he chewed. “You know the office schedule better than anyone. Just make sure Bobbi has a heads up on anything that needs to be taken care of. Two weekends in a month, huh? Pretty soon you’re going to be telling me you’re moving up there.” He gave a little laugh and when I didn’t join in, he stilled and put down the bagel. “Christ, I thought this might happen, but I’d hoped not. When are you going?”

“I have an interview Friday. I won’t leave you in a lurch, you know that. Even if this interview goes well, I’ll make sure someone else is trained before I leave.”

“I hate to see you go, but I get it.”

“Thank you, Harry. I really appreciate everything you’ve done for me.”

“Likewise. You’re the best employee this office has seen in as long as I’ve been here. You outgrew us a long time ago, but I’m thankful you’ve stayed as long as you have.”

His words touched me. “Thanks for taking a chance on a girl with a shoddy work history.”

He smiled a bit sadly and I backed out of his office and went to grab my phone. I tapped out a text to Richard to let him know I was able to get Friday off and then emailed Madelyn myself to confirm and attach my resume.

I could only hope everything else would fall together as easily as it had so far. Including telling my brother. Like me, I was sure he assumed my moving was something that wouldn’t happen anytime soon and I wasn’t ready to break it to him until I knew for sure.

Adele

There was a strange smell in my house. I stepped through the front door with my purse in one hand and a brown bag with my half-eaten sandwich from lunch in the other. My stomach growled and did a somersault at the sight of Finn in my kitchen. Fact: a man in the kitchen was hot. Also a fact, Finn was hot. The somersault therefore couldn’t be helped.

“What are you doing?”

He looked up and shot me a disarming smile. “Someone ought to use this kitchen for more than storing sparkling water. Your knives were shit. I got you a new one.” He lifted the big, shiny knife and then went right back to chopping whatever it was he had on the cutting board.

“You cook? Seriously?”

“I like to eat.” He shrugged. “Going out isn’t always the easiest, so I learned to cook a few things.”

“Right. Dining at all the LA hotspots looked like a real chore.” My face heated and I tried with all my might to suck back in the words. I’d given too much away about my snooping his social media. His gaze snapped to mine and I waited for him to call me out on it, but he didn’t.

“Do you like Thai?”

“I like all food.” I put my sandwich in the fridge. “What can I do to help?”

“Can I trust you with the knife?”

I rolled my eyes. “Just because I don’t like to cook doesn’t mean I don’t know how.”

All lies.

He shook the knife at me. “Now, I know that’s a lie.