3. Left Unsaid
3
LEFT UNSAID
MAISY
I hadn’t planned to end my afternoon on the floor of the boardroom, but then again, life had been a little chaotic since I began working at Orion. My damn security badge had slipped from my dress pocket sometime during Julian’s weekly department meeting. I’d doubled back after everyone cleared out. Of course, the badge was nowhere obvious—just my luck.
So there I was, crawling on my hands and knees in heels under the conference table, like some rogue intern. I cursed under my breath and gave up when I spotted something sticking out near the far end of the table.
Not my badge.
A scarf.
My scarf.
Stormy Blue and Mister Gray yarn. Slightly crooked where I’d dropped a stitch that winter break a few years ago, my third attempt at learning to knit something more impressive than a pathetic potholder. I blinked at it, confused, then slowly reached out and pulled it toward me.
My heart clenched as I turned the thing over in my hands, inspecting it. No doubt, it was the one I’d knitted for Brooks and gave to him our first Christmas.
He kept it? But… what was it doing here?
I brought it to my nose, my insides fluttering over his signature sandalwood scent. It almost knocked me from all fours onto my bottom. And before I could unpack the full emotional weight of that, someone entered the room behind me.
His voice came a second later, low and familiar.
“Hello?”
I flinched and banged my head on the underside of the table. “Shit—ow!”
Out from under the table, straightening to my full height and trying to brush invisible dust off my dress, I promptly locked eyes with… Brooks Bellamy.
His jaw went slack.
My heart dropped straight into my heels.
“Maisy?” He exclaimed.
“Brooks?” I swallowed hard.
There was a long, silent beat between us. My hand still clutched the scarf like it might shield me from the impact.
I’d never forgotten the first night we met. Sophie, Chelsea, and I had gone to a speed dating event in Manhattan, all dressed up for a night on the town in bright sequined mini dresses. Completely out of place compared to the other ultra-professional women in attendance, who were mostly wearing black or navy blue. Yet somehow, being the small town girls we were, we managed to catch the eyes of Rex Buchanan, and the Bellamy twins.
When the speed dating rounds started, each couple had five minutes to talk before switching to another couple. Archer and I had a lovely five-minute round, since he was a Columbia grad, and easy to talk to. Then, after the rounds were over and the attendees lingered to get to know each other more, Archer approached to talk to me again. But I caught the eye of another man—almost identical to him—coming up behind him, late to the event.
Despite their similarities, something about him drew me in. Archer introduced him as his twin, Brooks.
While Archer was intelligent, with a wry wit, perfectly timed… Brooks was magnetic. Almost identical, I could find subtle differences, telling them apart from their confidence and aura. Brooks had loads of it, with the cool swagger of a man who knew what he was about. Whereas Archer was trying too hard.
Despite our eyes locking here and there, Brooks seemed drawn to Chelsea, at first, and she to him. For her happiness, I backed away and focused my attention on Archer. That led to a couple of weeks of texting back and forth with him.
Then one starry night, out at a party at Rex’s place in the Hamptons, we all met up again. Only Archer’s ex showed up, made a scene, and he left with her. I ran off, the younger me embarrassed and hurt by it, only to have Brooks find me.
Throughout the night and a romantic walk on the beach, we talked for hours, and my na?ve heart fell fast. He was everything I could have ever dreamed a man to be, sweeping me off my feet with his texts and calls, taking me out on sweet dates, pursuing me…
All of that seemed a lifetime ago. So much had happened between us since then. And now he appeared again today, suddenly back into my life.
My nervousness took over. “I, um… dropped my badge after a meeting. I just came back to find it, but saw this.” I held up the scarf, trying to keep my voice steady. “Didn’t expect it—or, well, you.”
He stared at the scarf, then back at me, something dark and unreadable flickering behind his eyes. A strange sort of stillness embraced the boardroom, the kind that made my skin buzz like I was standing too close to a live wire.
When I planned my day this morning, with all the meetings and research data to pour through with various deadlines—this encounter was the last thing I’d have planned. Not with him.
Especially not looking like that—suited and in a trench coat, hair just a little messy in that annoyingly perfect way that always made me want to either kiss him or push him off a boat. Maybe both.
My heart hammered against my ribs like it wanted out, and to run straight back to the moment everything between us went sideways. Would I change things, knowing what I knew now?
I let out a shaky breath that sounded way too much like a laugh, playing the scarf through my hands as if it was a cut of fancy silk fabric. “You wore it?”
His mouth twitched into an almost-smile. “It’s cold outside.”
I bit my lip to keep the emotion at bay. “I heard your company is in charge of building the new wing here.”
He nodded slowly. “I didn’t expect to see you again.”
“Me either.” Oof. That came out sharper than I intended.
His jaw tightened, but he said nothing. Silence stretched between us like a thread unraveling from the old yarn. Finally, he cleared his throat. “So… you must be working here?”
I nodded. “For a few months now. I got lucky to land something like this. The team’s been great.”
“They would have been fools not to hire you.”
I blinked, startled by the warmth in his voice. “Dr. Thorne reached out and told me about the opening and helped put in a word for me.”
“I’ll bet he did,” he mumbled. At that, Brooks’ expression shifted. Subtle. Barely there. But I saw the flicker. The tension in his jaw. He never cared for my relationship with Julian.
My fingers clung tightly to the scarf as if it’d make the situation any better for us. “So, Bellamy Design Group is building the new wing?”
“Yes. The Horizon Wing. Archer and I just had a meeting with the board earlier today.”
“Small world.”
“That’s one way to put it.” His laugh was dry. “You and the professor are working together again?”
“Same department,” I clarified. “Not as close as on the boat. Different projects.”
He nodded once, and I could tell he didn’t like it. But he masked it well. “Do you still want a doctorate?”
I shrugged. “Eventually. Right now, I want to work. Gain experience. Not just live in academic theory.”
“That sounds like you,” he whispered, his lips forming a soft curve.
Of anyone on the planet, other than my sister, he knew me so well, my mind, my body, my very damn soul. The connection between us back then was strong from the start. As awkward as this encounter was today, slowly the connection returned.
“How was the rest of your voyage? You were gone for what—over a year?” He asked.
“Eighteen months. It was incredible. Exhausting. Eye-opening. I don’t regret a minute of it.” I sheepishly grinned at him. He probably didn’t like hearing that, but he nodded.
“I followed the research updates the company sent out.”
I raised an eyebrow. “You did?”
“Only the ones with your name in them.”
Dammit. My stomach fluttered with longing and lust and need.
“That’s very thorough of you,” I said, trying for sarcastic but landing somewhere around breathless.
“I tried not to,” he said, voice low. “But every time I thought I’d moved on, another email update would arrive, and I’d scour it for any mention of you.”
“You could have unsubscribed to the emails.”
“Not a chance.”
I couldn’t breathe. “Brooks.”
He met my eyes. “Maisy.”
I swallowed hard. “What are we doing here?”
He gave a half-smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “I think we’re trying to figure that out.”
I nodded slowly.
Neither of us moved.
Yet, everything felt like it was shifting. The air. The world. The entire universe.
“And how was teaching at Cambridge? Did you enjoy it?” I asked.
“Thoroughly. I found a new passion. I’m talking to some people at a few of the universities here about opportunities to lecture or teach.”
“You’d be amazing at it.” I agreed, but didn’t add how he’d be the type of professor the girls would all swoon over. His classes would be filled, every seat. It’s a wonder he didn’t end up with a coed after Cambridge, but for all I knew, he might have.
His phone rang out with a notification, and it was like breaking a spell between us. He shook his head. “Well, I should get back to the office. Congratulations on the job.”
“Thanks.”
“Guess I left something behind.” His gaze dropped briefly to the scarf. He held out his hand.
“Oh. Right.” I handed it out to him, fingers brushing his in the transfer—electricity crackling between us like the first time we met and touched so long ago. His hand lingered for a second longer than necessary before taking it back. My body yearned to be against his, my arms wrapped around his neck instead of the scarf.
Now that we’d broken the ice, a hundred things to say or ask landed on the tip of my tongue. I didn’t want our time to end. Did he remember the last time we saw each other? Any regrets not doing more to stop me when I walked away?
But I didn’t voice a single one.
“See you around.” He suddenly turned, but at the door, he hesitated and looked back at me. His eyes trailed up my body until they locked with mine once again. “It was real good to see you, Maisy.”
He left, and I stood there, heart thudding, wishing for the hundredth time that fate’s timing wasn’t such a cruel thing.
I didn’t follow him.
But I’d bet neither of us walked away quite the same.