Chapter 16
Sam
“No, you can’t ask me a few questions. Let me ask you a few questions.
Am I a joke to you? Do you think I have all day to sit around and answer questions?
I have a family and a business to run, and I help people all day.
I’m a good person, and I won’t let you take advantage of that.
” I slammed the phone down on the receiver and pinched the bridge of my nose.
“Who was that?” Jack asked, showing up at my office door at exactly the wrong time.
“Telemarketer.” I leaned back in my chair and swiped my hands over my face.
He sank down into the chair across from my desk and studied me. “Do you think maybe it isn’t them that has you so pissed off?”
“It’s you who has me pissed off now.”
“So, what else is new?” He was quiet for a moment. “Emma and Oliver told me that there was a woman here with you the other day. A very pretty woman who made very good sandwiches. Well actually Oliver said ‘samiches,’ but I got the gist of it.” He let the unanswered question hang between us.
I huffed out a laugh. Leave it to the brats to spread rumors and get my brother on my ass about AJ. “Yeah, they met a client. What of it?”
“Can’t a guy check in on his brother? Besides, it wasn’t just the brats that tipped me off. Katie may have mentioned something about matchmaking.”
“Of course she did.”
He didn’t reply, and I knew my brother well enough to know he wasn’t going to leave me alone until I gave him something.
“Alright, fine. I fought a snowstorm to get her to Vancouver for a flight and I kind of got to liking having her around. But once we got there, she walked away without looking back.”
I’d been going over that moment at the airport in my mind since she walked away. Should I have asked her for her number? Kissed her goodbye? Invited her over for Christmas? I had no idea. I was out of my element and so far past tired I couldn’t even see it in my rearview mirror.
He scratched his chin. “Can’t blame her. When was the last time you shaved? Or got a haircut? A couple more gray hairs and the kids are going to think you’re Santa.”
I flipped him the bird and ran my hands through my hair. “We can’t all be pretty boy lawyers. Some of us have to crawl through the mud for our paycheck.”
“Doesn’t mean you have to smell like it.”
“Don’t you have somewhere to be?”
He shrugged. “Probably. How’d you get so wrapped up in this girl so fast? Were these sandwiches that good, or was the peanut butter not the only thing getting spread?”
“Please go away.”
“Was the knife not the only thing that got licked?”
“Are you twelve?”
“Wait, wait, I’m sure I have one more. Something about biting. Damn, I’ll come up with it.”
“Don’t hurt yourself, Jack.”
“None of that was a no.”
I grunted noncommittally.
“Sam, damn. I’m surprised you still remember how to use it, but good for you. Is a high five appropriate here?”
“Definitely not.” I sat up.
He laughed. “Sorry, haven’t been in the game since college. Still, I’m happy for you. So, what’s the issue? Just call her, text her, send her a letter. Hell, Emma figured out how to order pizza on my phone the other day. Surely you can find a way to reach out.”
I blew out a breath. “There’s no room in her world for me, or anyone else by the sound of it.”
“There wasn’t really room in your life for the brats either, but you figured it out.”
“That’s family. That’s different.”
He nodded.
“She told me she is married to her job. I can’t compete with that, and if I push it and she picks her job over me in the end, what have I really gained?”
Jack nodded again and looked at his feet. “Just don’t be too stubborn to try if she might be the real deal. Take it from someone who lost his.”
I groaned. “Are you seriously playing the widower card?”
He flashed me a grin. “Is it working?”
I glared at him. “Maybe. I have to work all day every day until Boxing Day. That should give me plenty of time to think about it.” And I knew I would.
But what would really change by agonizing over AJ?
She cared about her job more than anything else in her life.
What kind of man would I be if I expected her to give it up for me?