17. Never Shied Away
NEVER SHIED AWAY
E lias followed Phoebe to her place after dinner.
He’d been right about where she lived. It wasn’t as if there were a lot of apartment complexes in the area.
He parked next to her and they went into her apartment.
“I’m surprised you could get in here,” he said.
“We had this in the works for a bit and I put my name in. I thought for sure I’d have to be further away, but at the last minute this came up and I grabbed it. Not as big as I would have liked, but it’s only temporary.”
Not the first time he’d been reminded of that.
“Meaning you’ll buy a place to stay or move back to Charlotte?” he asked. Not sure why he cared, but he sort of did.
Did he want to get involved with someone only to have them leave?
Or was this more of a companionship thing in her mind?
And since it’d been a few weeks, he wasn’t going to be the idiot to broach it first and sound like a fool.
“Meaning that I have no plan,” she said. “I haven’t been here long enough. But I knew I was staying for a year or two. In the few weeks my practice has been open, I’ve got no problem staying.”
He turned to look at her face. “Your practice?”
He liked she was thinking of it that way.
“To me it is,” she said. “I know it’s a family practice, but I’m running this location.”
He laughed. “I think you like being in charge.”
“Oh yeah,” she said, smiling. He could stare at her all night but forced his gaze away. “Don’t you? Coffee or wine?”
“Coffee,” he said. “I’m not much of a wine drinker.”
“I didn’t think so,” she said, moving to her kitchen.
They’d both hung their jackets up and taken their shoes off at the door.
He’d been in the habit of doing that his whole life.
“It’s nice in here,” he said.
“Small,” she said. “But it’s fine. Open enough for me. I’ve got a spare bedroom that is my office.”
The kitchen was more galley-like with an island that looked into the living room. She had a small high table with four chairs between the island and the living area. It wasn’t tight, but not a ton of room either.
He knew what it was like living in a cramped space with lots of people.
Might be why he had such a big house now.
“West had this massive house built for my mother. It was the first thing he did when he hit it big. We all had living areas and wings in the house. There is an apartment in the basement and I was one of the first that got to live there. Everyone moved there at some point. Talia is there now.”
He often wondered what his mother was going to do when Talia moved out. That house was too big for her alone, but she’d said she’d never leave it so that family had a place to stay when they visited.
People stayed there less now though. At least those with significant others. He never did. Being an hour away, there was no reason for it. Foster always came back with him too.
He expected his one brother still would even though Foster had Charlotte. The two of them had stayed with him at Christmas.
“That’s nice of him,” she said. “I’m positive we would have done that for our parents if we had to.”
“You never had to worry, did you?” he asked. He accepted the cup of coffee from her after shaking his head no to creamer.
“No,” she said. “I will not apologize for that either. It’s a family firm. My father inherited it after my grandfather passed. With my mother’s help, they grew it bigger.”
“And now you’re doing your part,” he said.
“I am. My grandfather was a nasty old man,” she said.
Her eyes got wide and he’d bet she hadn’t planned on letting that slip. “Mind if I ask why?”
“Old fashioned,” she said. “He thought women looked good but weren’t smart.”
“But your mother is an attorney at the same firm,” he said. “That should have proven him wrong.”
She snorted. “Nothing proved my grandfather wrong. At least in his eyes. He hated that my father started to date my mother too. Even threatened to fire her.”
“Yikes,” he said. “He didn’t like her very much then.”
“Oh, it wasn’t that,” she said. “It was more that he thought my mother was going to weaken my father. Take his mind off of what was important.”
“Ahh,” he said. “One of those assholes that my mother would gladly give a piece of her mind to.”
“I think I might like your mother,” she said, smiling.
“Oh, you would. Everyone does. She’s meddling and overbearing, but she’s great. Strong, independent, and caring at the same time. Nurturing too.”
“It’s very sweet of you to talk about your mother that way. Not many men do,” she said.
He felt as if he had his balls chopped off just then.
“She pays us to do that,” he said, lifting his eyebrows up a touch.
Phoebe rolled her eyes. “I doubt it and now I’m embarrassing you. I’m sorry about that.”
“Don’t be,” he said. “It’s fine.”
“We are just standing here, let’s go sit on the couch.”
They took their coffee and went to the couch to sit.
“Why did you ask me back here?” he asked. “Just to talk? Are you lonely? Was there more to it?”
“You cut right to the chase,” she said.
“And lawyers play their words carefully. I know. I’m not that way.”
Was he going to worry she always would be though?
“I’m happy you talk,” she said. “Do you know how many men I’ve been around in my life that either play the game of who can hold their cards tighter to their chest or I have to all but open their mouths with my fingers to get them to say anything?”
“No,” he said. “Didn’t know you had that many men in your life.”
Guess that was something he should find out too.
Could be she was a female version of a player.
Though he doubted it.
“Not like you think,” she said. “I’m talking about through work and my personal life. Even just friends. It’s refreshing to have someone speak their mind. I don’t feel as if there are secrets with you, though I know there are. Not intentional ones if that makes sense.”
He sat back to relax some.
“I don’t believe in secrets. Not of the intentional variety,” he said. “My siblings, they are used to not saying who they are.”
Not sure he wanted to rat his brothers out but didn’t have a problem doing it either since Phoebe knew who his family was.
“I can understand that,” she said. “Especially West. And then people know West is related to you. I already know you want to prove you’re your own man, just like I want to do the same. We have that in common. But I’ve never shied away from who I was or where I came from.”
“No reason you need to,” he said. “There is no shame in your life.”
She frowned. “I hope you don’t think there is shame in yours or how you grew up.”
It was the seriousness on her face. As if she was going to give him as much shit as his mother would.
He might have just opened up his heart a tiny bit there.
“No,” he said. “I’m saying most people do that because there could be a shame they are feeling or that they don’t want to be used. For me, it’s neither. We all worked hard to be where we are. My father was a great man, the memories I have of him. Which were little.”
And it bothered him to know that, but nothing he could do about it.
“I’m sorry about that,” she said. “But you’ve got wonderful memories. I’ve got shitty ones of my grandfather and lots of them too. So you know, good memories are still better than a lot of memories if they aren’t ones you want to carry.”
“I never thought of it that way,” he said. “And just like an attorney, you never really answered my question on why I’m here.”
She smirked at him and he knew she was aware of what she’d done.
So yeah, that and her not saying how long she might be here were things he’d have to consider.
“I’m trying to decide the reason still,” she said.
He lifted an eyebrow. “Going to clue me in on any of it? Or are you just a spontaneous person?”
“You know as well as I do, that I’m most likely not spontaneous.”
“Didn’t think so,” he said. “So there has to be another reason.”
She put her coffee down. “Maybe I liked your mouth on mine and wanted it some more.”
“Well, shit,” he said, letting out a laugh. “You should have led with that.”
He put his coffee down and reached for her. She easily went into his arms.
His mouth slanted across hers and they kissed like two wild teens that knew they were on the clock before an adult returned.
When her icy hands pulled his shirt out of his jeans and slid under the material on his back, he had all he could do not to jump at the shock of it.
“What about if I want more than a kiss?” she asked.
“Then you should have said that too,” he said, standing up and putting his hand out. “I’ll make it easy on you. We don’t have to talk, you just lead the way.”