Love on Lexington Avenue - Lauren Layne Page 0,48

gaze.

“Yo! Scott. Where you at, man? Where am I putting this oven?”

Claire jerked away from Scott at the unfamiliar voice coming from her front door.

Scott’s eyes closed just for a moment, then he turned his head slightly to yell over his shoulder, “This way, Daryl.”

His gaze came back to Claire’s, the message in his eyes clear. We’re not done here.

Except they were.

She’d kissed Scott. Her contractor. Worse than that, she’d wanted to kiss a man who was best friends with her best friend’s boyfriend, which meant they’d likely be crossing paths at some point in the future.

She let out a sigh of relief that she’d avoided some major awkwardness for her future self. Even if her present self was still sort of . . . wanting.

Doing her best to keep it together, Claire calmly headed toward the stairs, ignoring the muttered curses as Daryl and some other guy struggled to get her new stove through the front door.

“Claire.” Scott’s voice was a quiet command.

She ignored it.

“Claire!” He reached out a hand, but she dodged it, all but running for the stairs, taking them two at a time. He let her go.

Claire started to head into her bedroom, but she froze in the doorway, her gaze flitting to her left, to the room. The ever-closed door behind which Brayden’s belongings continued gathering dust. The time was rapidly approaching when she’d have to open that door and deal with it. Scott wanted to tear up the carpet, replace the drywall, add a new coat of paint. For that, she’d need to clear out the room, to do something with the stuff.

She walked toward the door, hand outstretched to the doorknob, only to realize . . . she couldn’t do it. Her hand dropped back to her side. Apparently, she couldn’t face the man from her past any more than she could the man who was rapidly becoming her present.

Chapter Fifteen

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 28

Claire needed a friend, and she needed one now. She considered going over to Audrey’s. Her friend’s apartment was close, and Audrey usually knew the right thing to say. But then, Audrey was also more inclined to say what Claire wanted to hear.

And right now, what Claire needed was a little tough love and a gentle reality slap. For that, she turned to Naomi. Not to mention, Naomi knew Scott and would understand the magnitude of the mess Claire had gotten herself into.

Since it was the middle of the workweek, she headed to Naomi’s office, which Claire always loved visiting. Her friend’s company may have been started from her kitchen table years ago, but Naomi wasn’t the type to be satisfied with a scrappy start-up. Eventually, Maxcessory had grown large enough to necessitate a dedicated office space, and last year the rapidly growing company had expanded yet again. The new office was modern, bright, bold, and had Naomi’s touch everywhere, from the bright orange furniture to the help yourself table of accessories in the reception area where Maxcessory’s accessory overstock was up for grabs for visitors.

Claire usually made a point of perusing the table whenever she came in, but today she sailed right past it as well as the reception desk, where a startled Laura faltered slightly in her phone conversation before waving Claire on when she recognized her.

Next line of defense was Deena, Naomi’s personal assistant. Deena looked up when she saw Claire. “Hey, babe, how you doing?”

“Fantastic,” Claire lied. “She available?”

“Sure, let me just—”

Claire ignored Deena and pushed open the door to Naomi’s corner office, then shut it again before Deena could protest, making a mental note to apologize later.

Naomi was standing at her window, pacing as she reviewed something on her iPad. When she glanced up, her surprised expression turned to concern when she saw it was Claire. “Hey. What’s wrong?”

“I kissed Scott.” Might as well get right to it.

Naomi’s finger was still frozen in the pointer position above the screen of her tablet, and she stayed that way for several seconds before slowly lowering her hand to lock the iPad before setting it down. “Scott Turner?”

“Yes, Naomi, what other Scott would I be talking about?” Claire said in exasperation.

“All right,” Naomi said calmly, shrugging out of the dark green blazer she’d paired with jeans and a white T-shirt. She looked effortlessly chic. Claire felt a flash of relief that she’d picked today to wear her new sleeveless berry turtleneck instead of the white blouse she’d almost grabbed.

Naomi tossed the blazer onto the back of her chair.

“Was it