I didn’t know if that was true. Wasn’t sure if she missed me, or if she missed being the center of someone’s world. The problem was, I wasn’t sure she had been the center of mine. And that was on me.
“I got to go, my phone’s lighting up, and these cases aren’t going to deal with themselves.”
“Work as usual.”
“Goodbye, Susan,” I said, sighing. I hung up the phone, not wanting her to suck me back into a conversation I wasn’t in the mood to have.
Dustin ran in. “I’m so sorry. I pushed back the wrong line. I just downed a Red Bull, and I’m ready to go. I am so sorry.”
I shook my head. “You have a thousand things on your mind. You’ve never made a mistake like that before, you’re not going to again. It’s not your fault.” I paused. “Okay, it’s a little bit your fault, but I don’t care right now. Get your work done. I’ll do mine, and then we’ll head out this Friday night, because what the hell?”
Dustin laughed and went back to his desk.
I stared at my work a bit longer, pushed thoughts of Susan out of my mind, as well as my non-date tonight with a woman I didn’t and couldn’t hate anymore. What the hell was I thinking? I needed to focus on the job and the people who needed me.
I’d worry about whatever the hell was going on in my life later.
By the end of the evening, I was exhausted, a tension headache coming on hard, but Seressia’s root canal had gone well, Dustin’s mother was awake, alert, and on the way to a full recovery, and we were taking the weekend off.
Well, as off as I normally did.
“I’ll see you all on Monday,” I ordered. “Take some time for yourselves. If we work ourselves to the bone now, we’ll be no use to our clients later when we get swamped.”
They all groaned at my attempt at a joke, and we went our separate ways. I needed to go home and change, but first, I wanted to head to my parents’. I’d promised I would stop by to say hello, and that was one thing I wouldn’t change, no matter what.
I pulled into the driveway and let myself into the house, not bothering to knock. “Hey, Dad,” I said as my father looked up from his recliner. Dad smiled and pulled his glasses away from his face. “Hey, your mom was in her little nook reading. I’m trying to do the same.”
“Decided to do it in a different room?” I asked, teasing.
“This is our thirty minutes away from each other so we don’t get tired of one another. But I usually only last ten,” my father added, grinning.
I saw the sadness in his eyes. Knew why it was there. But I ignored it. There was no use harping when it was evident. We made our way into the bedroom where Mom’s reading nook was, and I noticed the photo of Jonah and Annabelle beside her on the table. It was right next to a picture of Susan and me, though both frames were slightly behind a larger one of Jonah and me.
My mother wanted to have the memories close, but I was glad they weren’t in my face every time I came over.
“Hey, there’s my baby boy,” Mom said, holding out her hand towards me. Her fingers were closed, her limb shaking, but she could at least move her arm today slightly. I moved forward and took her hand, kissed her cool skin, and then leaned forward to kiss her cheek.
“Hello, my favorite mom.”
“I love being favorites,” Mom teased.
“Have a hard day at work, son?” Dad asked as he handed me a glass of water and then put Mom’s water bottle next to her, the straw close to her lips.
“It was a tough day. Seressia had a root canal. And Dustin’s mother had heart surgery.”
“Oh, that’s horrible. Is everyone okay?” Mom asked.
“Everybody is on the mend,” I answered. “But it was a tough day, and things just piled up. I’m glad we have a weekend to at least be out of the office. I have a few files to go over as usual, but I’m going to try not to work too hard.”
“You need to have a life. Go out. Meet someone,” my mother said, and I held back a wince, even though it gave me the opening I was looking for. While Annabelle and I planned to be casual and not get too serious, I wasn’t going to hide anything. And I knew Annabelle felt the same. I only hoped we didn’t screw everything up by doing what we were.
“Well, speaking of getting a life, I’m going out tonight.”
Mom’s eyes brightened, and my dad grinned. “Really? On a date?” Dad asked, sounding almost incredulous.
I scowled. “I date. You don’t need to sound so surprised.”
My mom’s gaze moved to the photo of Susan, and I sighed. “Well, I’m at least going to start dating. It’s nothing serious, though,” I added quickly.
“That’s not quite what I like to hear from my son,” Mom said.
“We’re just taking it slow,” I said, thinking that had to be the truth. Though we’d already had sex in my kitchen, so I didn’t know if that counted as slow. But it needed to be something. “Actually, I’m taking Annabelle out tonight.”
Mom grinned, while dad’s eyes narrowed. “Really? Oh, that’s wonderful.”
“Really? You sure that’s wise, son?”
They were reacting as I’d expected them to. But Annabelle and I didn’t want secrets, so this is what we were doing.
“We’re just taking it slow, hanging out as friends. It might be a date, but it’s not too serious. Stop stressing. Both of you. Even if your reasons are opposite each other.”
My parents met gazes, a thousand unsaid words sliding between them.
What would it be like to know somebody so well that you didn’t have to speak to have an entire conversation? I envied that, even if I knew it would never be for me. I’d tried it with Susan, and it hadn’t worked. Now, my dad would, one day soon, not have that anymore. Why would you risk everything for the kind of pain you knew was coming? For the type of pain they’d already felt for Jonah. No, that wasn’t for me. I knew I was blessed to at least have a fragment of it with my parents in my life.
“Don’t hurt her,” my father said, scowling. “It should be serious. It’s the two of you. It can get complicated.”
I nodded. “We know. That’s why we laid out ground rules.”
My mom scoffed. “You know, you young children always say you put down ground rules, then you trample all over them. However, I trust you both to make the right decisions and not be stupid little idiots. I am excited, but I won’t get too giddy. I think this could be amazing, though.”
I shook my head. “You do? And not because you want to see us happy. But is it okay? You know, because of Jonah,” I said, voicing what I’d done my best not to think about.
Was I stealing my brother’s girl? Was I crossing a line and breaking the code that brothers never dared to speak of? The problem was, Jonah never loved Annabelle the way a husband loves his wife. And I knew that Annabelle felt the same. I didn’t know what lines were left to cross. I just hoped I wouldn’t be the one breaking the rules.
“I think your brother would want you to be happy. And you haven’t been happy, my baby boy,” my mother said softly. “You need to be happy. So does Annabelle. And, even if I don’t condone this not-serious talk, if you could have even a slight breath of happiness right now, that would be good.”
“Good,” I said, relief pouring off me. “I promise I won’t hurt her. We’re not going to be serious enough for us to hurt each other.”
My parents once again gave each other a look, but I ignored it.
“And now I need to go home and shower before I pick her up for dinner.” I looked down at my watch. “I might be late.”
“Hurry, go. Thank you for stopping by. We’ll see you on Sunday?” she asked.
“You may see me both days. I love you guys.” I swallowed a ball of emotion, kissed both my parents on the cheeks, and then headed out.
My fingers tapped the steering wheel as I thought about what my parents had said, but I knew that even if I were making a mistake by being with Annabelle, I wasn’t wrong in what our plan should be.
It didn�
��t make sense for us to want something more than what we already had.
We could have fun. We could care for one another. And we could remain friends.
That’s what needed to happen.
I pulled into my garage and practically leaped out of my car, taking the quickest shower of my life. I pulled on gray slacks and a black, button-up shirt that I figured made me look decent enough for dinner. We were going out for a nice meal, and then planned to come home.
We might do something else, but I wouldn’t pressure her, and I knew Annabelle would never pressure me.
I brushed my hair back and noticed that I needed to shave, but it wasn’t going to happen in the time I had. I rolled my sleeves up to my elbows and called it good. We weren’t going out to a fancy place, and I had noticed Annabelle looking at my forearms before. I might as well let her have a little arm porn tonight. I slid my feet into my shoes, grabbed my wallet, keys, and a couple of condoms, and then headed to my front door.
I opened it, and Annabelle was standing there wearing a pretty, soft-looking, pale pink dress that fit her curves and flared out at mid-thigh. She had on tall heels, carried a little bag, and her dark brown hair floated in the slight breeze. She had done her makeup in a light smoky eye thing, and her lips were glossy and luscious.
I wanted to pull her inside, bend her over the couch, and fuck her hard. I could pull up that little dress, tug her panties to the side again, and slide right home.
My dick pressed against the fly of my pants, and I swallowed hard. “Hey. I was on my way to pick you up.”
She grinned. “Well, the good and creepy thing about being neighbors is that I saw you pull in and figured you’d had enough time to shower. I know you’re driving. So, here I am. You don’t even have to pick me up at my door. See? Super easy.”
She was nervous, but hell, so was I. I reached out and pressed my thumb to her chin so I wouldn’t mess up her gloss. She parted her lips, letting out a soft breath.
“Hi,” I whispered.
“Hi,” she breathed.
Damn it. My parents were right. I was going to fuck this up. I would have to figure out a way not to. Right now, I was a goner. There was no way I could keep from being serious. Not unless I tried really hard. But, I reminded myself, I was good at doing what I needed to if I put my mind to it.
So, that was what I would do. I would make sure I didn’t do anything too serious. I wouldn’t break that rule or cross that line.
Though the Annabelle in front of me was pure temptation, it would have to be one I didn’t fall into.
Chapter 11
Annabelle
* * *
While marriage and a future beyond my work and family had never been on the table for me, I had never gone into a relationship, as it was, fully cognizant that I didn’t want anything more than what I had. I also hadn’t gone into said relationships knowing the other person felt the same. I wasn’t exactly sure how I was supposed to feel about that, but it almost seemed as if it took the pressure off. We could have fun tonight, I could lean in and soak up the evening, and so could Jacob.
Perhaps it would be a little stressful, maybe there would still be temptation and need and desire, but it wouldn’t be nerve-wracking, wondering if one of us wanted something the other couldn’t give. We had put all of our cards on the table, and now here we were, sitting together in a trendy little restaurant in Fort Collins—the epitome of farm-to-table—and I was starving.
“Oh, this is a tapas restaurant,” I said, flipping through the menu. “I’ve always wanted to come here. Beckett said it was great, same as Archer, but I just haven’t had the time. Or I haven’t dated much,” I added quickly, wincing. “Sorry, I was just telling myself I wasn’t nervous, but now I think I’m nervous.”
Jacob grinned at me and shook his head. “I was thinking that I wasn’t exactly sure how tonight would go because I didn’t know if I should be nervous. I like that we seem to be on the same page.”
“I can’t help it. It’s a little stressful.”
“I’m stressful?” he asked, teasing.
“Of course, you are. You know it. Don’t act like you don’t or aren’t.”
“Maybe,” he said on a laugh. “So, Beckett and Archer have been here? Not Benjamin?”
I shook my head. “I’m not sure Benjamin has ever been here, but he’s the quiet one out of all of us.”
“Really?” Jacob asked, and it sounded like he cared what was happening with my siblings and me.
“Benjamin is a little more soulful as if he knows who he needs to be, but he isn’t in the mood to tell anyone about it. Beckett, on the other hand, can be a little more growly, a bit louder. But when it comes to protecting each other, they sometimes switch roles as if they know that the other needs them to take their place for those few moments. Not physically, but at least who needs to be the rock and who needs to be the one who leans.”
“I always found it interesting when we were younger that you and Archer were twins, same as Beckett and Benjamin.”
I sighed and sipped my chilled white wine. “Yes, apparently, twins run in our family. There are many sets, and I think I saw triplets somewhere on my father’s line, too.”
“Triplet Montgomerys?”
“Yes, but not related to the Montgomerys you know down in Denver.”
His brows rose. “Wait, what?”
“My mother’s maiden name is Montgomery,” I said quickly. “She is the younger sister of the older generation of Montgomery guys that live in Denver. You know her brother, Harry.”
“Yeah, he went through some crap a few years ago, and I helped him with his will.” I shook my head. “Thank God the family didn’t need to utilize it then, but it was still scary.”
I pressed my lips together, swallowing a lump of emotion. “My cousins went through hell with that, but Uncle Harry’s doing just fine. My father is also a Montgomery, but from a line not related to the Montgomerys my mother is part of.”
“That would be awkward,” Jacob said dryly.
I snorted. “Tell me about it. I have cousins in pretty much every state it seems, and it gets a little complicated, so there’s not a huge family reunion, but it’s nice. I like knowing that wherever I go, I can find family. Even if we’ve never met or are fourth cousins twice removed or something like that.”
“My parents were only children, and then they only had Jonah and me. I don’t have any cousins, and I don’t think I have any aunts and uncles in the second generation either.”
“I didn’t mean to make you sad,” I said, reaching out to touch his hand.
“You’re not making me sad. I find it a little overwhelming, but it’s nice that you have so much family. My parents and I do okay, even though it’s just the three of us now.”
Unsaid was that one day soon, it might only be the two of them, but I wasn’t going to think on that. After all, anyone could have their last moments on this Earth taken from them at any given time. It would be wrong to focus on what we could lose in the next breath rather than focusing on what we had.
That was something I had to remind myself often and was something I would have to continue reminding myself while I was in Jacob’s presencea.
“So, have you decided what you’d like for tonight?” our waiter said as he came back to the table.
I winced. “I’m sorry. I haven’t even looked.” I scrolled through the menu again. “I have no idea.”
“Are you allergic to anything?” Jacob asked, looking over the menu in front of me.
“No, but I’m not a huge fan of crab or shrimp.”
Jacob let out a mock gasp. “Well, it’s over,” he said, and I laughed. The waiter joined in on the laughter, but there was a little nervous tension, as if he didn’t know whether we were kidding or not. Since I was getting to know Jacob, as well, I didn’t blame the man.
“They have a tasting profile here,” Jacob began. “What do you think? It should be enough for two, right?” Jacob asked, and the wai
ter nodded. “That was what I was going to suggest. As long as you don’t have any allergies, we can make this work easily for you. And you’re both already drinking the wine I would have suggested for it, so we’re winning there.”
“That sounds wonderful, then,” I said, handing the menu over. “Is that going to be enough?” I asked.
“I’m pretty sure you’re going to have leftovers, even with tapas,” the waiter said before he moved away.
“I don’t think he realizes how hungry I am,” I said dryly.
“Oh, I’m pretty sure we’re going to eat every single morsel.”
Jacob held up his drink, and I did the same with mine. We clinked glasses. “To taking an evening off,” he said.
I sighed. “I love the sound of that. Although I do have to go to work tomorrow.”
Jacob shook his head. “Really?” he asked.
We each took a sip of our wine, and I swallowed, letting the light pear flavor settle over my tongue. “Yes, we have a huge project coming up for the family, and many of us are still working on individual smaller projects, as well. It’s a little time-consuming right now, and Dad wants us to come together to talk it all out, on top of our regular meetings.”
Jacob frowned. “I thought that Beckett was the project manager, and Clay worked with him.”
I played with the stem of my glass. “Yes. But our father is still technically in charge of it all. He doesn’t have a title, other than to say he’s the final authority on everything. After all, it’s his family business.”
I hadn’t even realized the bitterness in my tone until Jacob’s brows rose. “Really? Is that working?”
“Clearly, it’s not. It was for a while, but since Montgomery Inc. down in Denver is doing so well and becoming known worldwide, my dad feels like we need to compete with them, even if we’re not technically connected to them at all.”
“That’s got to be complicated.”
“I don’t even want to get started because I want to enjoy the evening and however many tapas show up on our table. Let’s just say I’m going to have a hard week ahead of me.”
Inked Persuasion: A Montgomery Ink: Fort Collins Novel Page 10