by Natalie Ann
She couldn’t ask for a better acceptance than that.
A few hours later, they were driving back to Colonie and his parents’ house. Though they’d just eaten one meal and were ready to eat another, he’d tried to pace himself.
“Now that that is over with, can I confess I was a bit nervous?”
“Thank God,” Robin said. “I was dying over you meeting them. I’m nervous now over meeting your family too. I shouldn’t have eaten as much as I did. What if I get sick now?”
Brian laughed. “I don’t think you ate that much.”
They both had a plate of food and a tiny piece of pie but not much more. Not even snacks beforehand. “I tried not to,” she said. “It’s one of my favorite holidays, but I didn’t want to be at your parents and not be able to eat and have your mom think I don’t like her cooking. That wouldn’t go over well.”
“She wouldn’t think that. And since we’ve got time before dinner and both ate, and the weather is nice, we can walk the dogs when we get there and give them some exercise and a little for ourselves.”
“I’d like that,” she said.
“After you meet my parents. Meena and Troy will be there already and, honestly, they might want to walk with us too. Just giving you a heads up.”
“Why?” she asked.
“Because both of them like dogs but neither has them. And my sister is nosy. She’ll use that time to grill you if she can.”
“Now you’re making me nervous again. How much do they know about me? Do they know I’m divorced?”
“They do,” he said. “They are aware it’s how we met and then I closed your house for you. They don’t know who you were married to or anything like that. Your last name is common and no one has put it together. I’m not sure anyone will either.”
“I don’t want to lie if they ask, but I hope they don’t.”
“They might figure it out, but they won’t ask you.”
No, if they asked, it would be to him in private, but they knew he wouldn’t give them any details either.
He parked in his parents’ driveway behind Meena’s car and got out with the dogs. The front door opened before he even got to the front step and there was his sister. This time she had blonde hair with a bold red color all through it.
“Oh, look at the puppies. Which one is which?” Meena asked.
“Luke is the one in front sniffing you out first. He is pretty protective of his sister, Leia. Once he thinks you’re good and no threat, he’ll move aside.”
“Leia seems glued to you though,” Meena said to her brother.
“I’ve won them both over. What can I say?”
“I’m Meena,” his sister said, standing up and reaching her hand toward Robin. “My brother is being rude and not introducing us.”
“Ignore my wife,” Troy said, coming to stand by Meena. “She likes to poke at her brother. I’m Troy and it’s nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you both too,” Robin said.
“Can I get in the house?” Brian asked his sister, nudging her out of the way. “I want to introduce Robin to Mom and Dad and then take the dogs for a quick walk.”
“A walk sounds lovely, doesn’t it, Troy?” Meena asked.
“I’m pulling the bro card out. Your brother is able to walk around the block without his sister tagging along this time like the old days.”
Brian laughed. “Thanks, dude.” Meena had a funny pout on her face, but he just patted her shoulder and moved on to the family room where his father was watching football and his mother was in the kitchen.
“There you are,” his mother said, coming forward.
“Mom and Dad, this is Robin.”
She moved forward and shook hands with both his parents. “Thank you for inviting me here today.”
“She’s just a tiny thing,” his mother said. Brian laughed. “What?” his mother asked. “I’m just speaking the truth.”
“It’s funny because Robin’s father said I was tall and strong.”
“You, strong?” Meena asked.
“Stop picking on your brother,” Troy said. “Brian can’t help it if he’s lean just like you. Be happy you both have good metabolism.”
“You always find a way to put me in my place with a compliment. Sorry,” Meena said to Robin. “It’s a little sister’s job to pick at her older brother. But the truth is he was always so protective of me growing up and now I feel like I have to be of him.”
“I understand,” Robin said. “My brother is very protective of me too. And we have a similar relationship by the looks of it. Brian will meet him in another month though as he’ll be here at Christmas.”
“My brother is pretty tough. He’s a smooth talker, but he always speaks the truth. And though I like to pick on him, there are very few men as stand-up as him.”
“Thanks, Meena,” he said, smiling at his baby sister. “But you’re still not going on a walk with us.”
“Dang it,” she said, laughing.
14
Know About Us
“Brian. Robin Masters is here to see you. She doesn’t have an appointment.”
Brian lifted his head from where he was reading his notes when his secretary’s voice came over the phone and announced Robin being up front.
He wanted to say send her back, but no one in his office knew the two of them were dating. That was going to change though.
“I’ll be right there. I knew she was stopping in. She’s just dropping off her will.”
He’d done it for her a few weeks ago and brought it over one night after work. He’d stayed for dinner, they’d talked and they laughed and they ended up in her bed.
All their nerves and fear over meeting the parents had been put to rest last week at Thanksgiving. He’d stayed at her house that night, but she had to work on Friday, so he’d gotten up and left early. He went back though and stayed that night and Saturday, going home on Sunday.
They talked yesterday and she said she’d be in today since she had the day off. She was running over before she went to the shelter to volunteer.
“Hi,” she said when he walked up front.
He didn’t hesitate to go right to her, put his arm around her, and lean in for a kiss. His secretary’s jaw dropped, but he escorted Robin back to his office without missing a beat.
“Hope that didn’t embarrass you.”
“No,” she said. “It was sweet. I just didn’t know if you wanted anyone to know about us.”
“I’ve got nothing to hide. I never have. We’ve met each other’s parents too. And we survived it.”
She giggled and the sound warmed his heart like it always did. “Yes, we did. I read everything over and it’s all fine. It just needs to be signed.”
“Do you feel comfortable with me notarizing it or do you want me to bring Molly in to do it?”
“I don’t have a problem with it. Like you said, it’s not like I’m leaving anything to you. It’s going to Rick and my parents.”
“I know, but there are some that might think I shouldn’t have done it.”
“It doesn’t matter what they think,” she said. “It only matters what I do. I don’t have a problem with it so that is the end of it. But if you do or feel more comfortable to have another attorney come in and sign it, that is fine too.”
He hesitated for a second and then said, “You know what? I’m going to call Molly in here. I don’t have a problem, but let’s just cover our tracks.” He walked over to his desk and buzzed Molly. “Can you come in here to notarize a will for me?”
“Sure,” Molly said, though she sounded confused. He’d explain when she walked in.
“Molly. This is Robin Masters. I drafted her will for her. You can look it over. It’s the standard form, her brother is her beneficiary, her parents next. Since we are dating, it’s probably best to have someone else notarize it.”
“I don’t have a problem with Brian doing it,” Robin said. “But it’s his call. Thank you for coming in to
do it.”
“Not a problem,” Molly said, though she looked a little distant to him. She pulled a chair out and sat down, then looked through the papers like he expected she would.
He glanced over at Robin and saw her grinning, but neither of them said a word while Molly read it all over.
“Looks good to me,” Molly said. “If you want to sign them, I’ll notarize it and then Brian will take care of the rest.”
Robin took the pen and papers, signed her name and then pushed it all back for Molly to finish up.
When Molly was done, she got up and left Brian there with Robin. “That wasn’t so bad, was it?” he asked.
“Is she always like that?”
“Like what?”
“I’m not sure the word. I want to say standoffish, but that’s wrong. She was nice and professional but not warm or welcoming like you.”
“Not everyone can be as awesome as me.”
She rolled her eyes. “That is very true. I guess I just suspected you’d have other employees more like you, but that’s not always possible.”
“Molly is quiet, but she’s a Pitbull in the courtroom. It’s like they don’t see her coming.”
“That’s funny because Pitbulls normally standout and she sort of blends in like she doesn’t want to be seen. I always thought I did that.”
He’d thought the same thing about Molly in the past but pushed it off. It was interesting to see another woman think that. But then that brought up something else. “You don’t blend in at all.”
“I do,” she argued. “I still have no idea what Alex saw in me.”
“He saw someone that couldn’t see him for what he was,” he said before he could stop himself. Robin paled and he wanted to take those words back. He had no business saying them. “I’m sorry. That came out wrong.”
“No. It didn’t. You’re right. Our whole relationship was a farce and I was too stupid to see it.”
“You weren’t stupid. He was good at playing it up and putting on a front for everyone to see.”
“He was,” she said. “The divorce was such a shock to everyone. I can’t tell you how many times I had to hear that people thought we were the perfect couple. That it was such a sweet love story. As if he rescued me from the depth of starvation like a dog at the shelter and gave me a loving home.”
“Yeah. I think that might bother me too. It’d bother me for you let alone if it was said to me. I get it. And I didn’t mean anything by my statement,” he said, pulling her into his arms. He hated to see the emotions on her face. Pain mixed in with embarrassment.
“I just feel like such a fool.”
“Anyone would. You aren’t alone and don’t ever feel that way.”
The last thing he wanted was her to think he was judging her for anything. “I know,” she said. “It’s my burden to carry. And don’t feel bad saying that. I’m sure if people knew they’d feel the same way as what you said. It drives so many people nuts that no one really knows what happened even though he had a reputation of being with a lot of women before me. One minute we were this happily married couple to many and then next we are divorced.”
“But were you happy?” he asked. “Ever?” Part of him wanted to know more even though they rarely talked about her past marriage.
“At first I felt so out of place. You know that. And I did love him, but looking back it wasn’t the same. Or wasn’t as strong as it should be. It seemed like a steady one though. Again, I was a fool.”
“Not a fool,” he said.
“Still. The last half a year or more we hardly spent any time together. I did start to wonder if maybe he was having an affair, but there weren’t any signs other than he was pulling away from me. And I always read that when men had affairs they were normally having more sex at home too. Like they were hiding something by being more affectionate. But that wasn’t happening either. We didn’t have a lot of sex to begin with but not so little I would wonder.”
These were things he’d been curious about but never wanted to ask. Even during the divorce he never asked specifics. There wasn’t a need because no one was contesting anything.
That was wrong. Alex didn’t want the divorce. He didn’t want his name ruined. He didn’t want the gossip that a sudden divorce that fell out of the sky would cause. He worried he might be cut off by his parents since it was not the first time he’d cheated on someone. Robin had confessed this all to him one day.
“If you make solitary decisions you’d better be ready to explain your rationale,” he said.
She snorted. “You’re right. His solitary decision was made with his dick. The only thing is, he didn’t want to explain anything. Not that there was much to explain when I had it caught on video.”
He shouldn’t laugh over that, as it was a serious matter, but he never expected her to say it quite that bluntly. “That’s very true too.”
She looked down at her watch, then moved in to give him one more kiss. “I need to get to the shelter now. Thank you for doing this for me. I’ll talk to you tonight.”
“Call me later,” he said and watched her leave. She seemed almost embarrassed again. Whether it was from her statement or the whole conversation, he wasn’t sure. He wouldn’t bring it up again. She would if she wanted to talk about it. He knew that about her by now.
He wasn’t at his desk five minutes before Molly appeared in the doorway. “Yes?” he said.
“I didn’t know you were dating anyone. Least of all a client.”
He frowned. “I didn’t know I had to announce my private life to the office.”
“You don’t,” Molly said.
“Then why make that comment?” he asked, leaning back in his chair. This was his practice and he wasn’t about to get lectured by an employee on top of it.
“Sorry,” she said, looking down. Her face was flushing and he wondered if there was more going on. If maybe Molly had a crush on him?
No, that couldn’t be. She’d never given any indication of that before. He was her boss and that was it.
“I’m just curious why it’s that big of a deal,” he said, pushing the issue. Even though he knew darn well it always backfired on him and he swore to stop doing it. Yet he didn’t seem to have any control when it came to Robin.
“Just that I heard you have dated clients before. Do you think that is smart?”
He didn’t expect her to put that out there and supposed he’d give her credit for it. “What I do in my private time in my personal life doesn’t affect my job and it never has.”
He’d never dated a current client. Hell, plenty of times when he was done with them, they asked him out, not the other way around. Most times it was fun on their end. If they wanted more, he learned the hard way it wasn’t the same future he had in mind.
Even with Robin, he was hesitant to show up at her house that night but only did it because his sister goaded him into it. Not that he didn’t want to really do it anyway and was glad she gave him the nudge he needed.
“I just heard,” Molly said.
“You should fact check. One thing to learn about being a lawyer. Check your facts before you open your mouth.”
“I’m out of line. I apologize.”
She went to turn and leave and he didn’t want to end things like this. She was young and he was mentoring her. She had to speak her mind to be heard.
“Molly.”
“Yes?”
“It’s fine to question things. A good lawyer always does. But you need to learn to pick your battles. We are on the same team here, not against each other. I don’t ask about your private life either. What you do here as part of my team is all I care about.”
“Heard,” she said and left. She did put a small smile on her face and it was the best he could do.
15
Rebelling This Year
A few days later, Robin was walking through the mall with Brian. They still had twenty days until Christmas, but she wanted some more decorations, not to mention
gifts.
It was going to be her first Christmas after the divorce and she planned on her house looking the way she wanted it, not some hired decorator.
Alex had told her in the past that it was a family tradition to have their houses decorated by this company and told her she could consult on it, but his parents liked things a certain way.
She’d found it funny that it was his house—or their house that they shared—yet he wanted to keep up whatever tradition his family had and let that dictate how they lived. She should have seen more signs back then that he had no backbone.
Whatever. It wasn’t her life anymore and her house was like a piñata exploded with decorations covered in sticky tape that stuck where they landed and she loved it.
It was bold and vibrant and mismatched. Kind of like her. Well, the bold and vibrant weren’t, but the mismatched was.
At least she always felt she mismatched in life. Even with Brian, but he didn’t seem to mind and neither did she.
“So, what else do you need to get while we are here?” Brian asked her. She had a few bags in her hand already.
“I’d like to get your parents and Meena and Troy something. We are going to see them at some point, right?”
They hadn’t talked about it specifically yet, but she assumed they would be spending time with both families again like Thanksgiving.
“I think that is very sweet and considerate of you to think of them.”
“They were nice to me on Thanksgiving and your sister did give me a pretty sweet cut.”
She’d had an appointment with Meena a few days ago. “When you told me you were seeing her I have to admit I was a little nervous you might come home with green hair.”
“No. That’s not me. I don’t like bringing attention to myself. I love the highlights she put in though.”
His hand went to her long straight hair. “Meena is very good at what she does.”
“And she cuts your hair. I like it. You don’t put a lot of product in it, but it’s still nice and modern.”