“Yes!” She turned her head toward him. “That’s it.”
“Like you all were turning your back on her.”
“Exactly! Giving up hope felt like…giving up on her. Anyway. I’ve just never been able to feel close to Viv. Or to my dad, actually. He’s better now, but he checked out and put everything on me, and that affected our relationship. Now, he wants me to go home and visit, and he wants us to all be a family. But it’s weird.”
“Where are your brother and sister?”
“Eric lives here. He’s an investment banker. Becca lives in New York. She’s an editor for Sparkle magazine.”
“They feel the same about your dad and Viv?”
“Mmm. Not exactly. Eric and I haven’t really talked about it that much, but Becca and I have. For them, they don’t feel close to Dad because they never really got any love or affection from him. He was just not there for us. They’re not angry or resentful, it’s just that he’s almost a…stranger to them.”
“That’s really sad.”
The way he said that made something hot swell up in her chest. He wasn’t judging how she’d felt. He wasn’t pitying her. He was just saying something that was very, very true. And for some reason she found herself turning into his embrace, pressing her face to his neck, and holding on tight.
Chapter Twelve
“That’s a stupid idea.”
“No it’s not.” Levi chucked a crumpled-up Post-it at Scott across their desks Tuesday morning.
“It is and you know it.”
“Okay. How about this: ‘It’s what your right hand is for’?”
Scott burst out laughing. “Okay, that’s good.”
“‘I don’t always drink beer. But when I do, I drink a lot of it.’” Levi deepened his voice.
“I’m not writing that down.”
“Fine. Be like that.” He paused. “‘If you tap it, they will come.’”
“That only works for draft beer. And why are so many of your ideas about sex?”
Levi grinned. “Thanks.”
“That wasn’t a compliment.”
“I’m taking it as one. Come on, man. Sex sells. We all know it.”
“Hey, you know what I learned the other day?”
“I’m afraid to ask.”
“Apparently hops have aphrodisiac qualities for women. Something about estrogen.”
“Shut the fuck up. Drinking beer makes women horny?”
Scott shrugged. “Maybe we should do some research on that.”
Levi grinned. “Get some girls drunk and get laid. Whoa.” He rubbed his chin and stared into space while ideas percolated. “Can we use that?”
“Nope, no, no. Forget that.”
Levi sighed. “Let’s go have lunch.”
“Can’t. I’m having lunch with Dash.”
“What?” Levi frowned. “You’re cheating on me with another copywriter?”
“Just keeping you on your toes. See you later.”
Levi watched Scott leave with a reluctant smile. The guy was growing on him and Scott seemed to be warming up to him. He tapped his fingers on his desk. He needed someone to have lunch with. What was Sloane doing? Nah, she’d never agree to have lunch with him. Whatever was going on between them was going on outside the office, she’d made that very clear.
He hadn’t seen his sisters in a while, and Essie worked not far from here. Maybe she was free for lunch. He sent off a quick text message and got a reply agreeing to meet him at Biryani House two blocks away.
Sloane was striding along Madison after a quick trip to the bank when she passed a small patio restaurant. She glanced at it, then took a second look after seeing Levi sitting at a table for two. With a woman. Not someone she knew, so no one from the office.
At that moment Levi looked up and saw her. His smile for her was instant and he lifted a hand to wave. She shaped her mouth into a smile also, waved and kept going.
A bad burning feeling inside her made her realize she hadn’t eaten lunch. Hungry. She was hungry. She’d planned to pick up a salad on her way back. She walked blindly down the street, her mind consumed with who that woman was with Levi.
He didn’t have a girlfriend, she knew that, but she did know he liked to date a lot.
Beh. It didn’t matter who she was. Why was she even thinking about it? They weren’t in a relationship and she had no right to care about who else he was seeing, whether it was for lunch or dinner or hot sex.
That burning feeling in her gut intensified.
She paused in front of the Lachman Building. She hadn’t stopped to get that salad. She sighed. Maybe she wasn’t hungry after all. She pushed through the revolving doors into the