23. Chapter 22
Ria
“You okay?” Jade bumps my hip as I stare out at the dimly lit, perfectly manicured garden.
“Huh?”
“Are you okay?” she repeats. “You’re a little quiet tonight.”
“Sorry, it’s been a whirlwind of a day.” I hug my glass of wine to my chest as I face her.
She looks so relaxed, her face makeup-free, her light blonde hair in a messy bun, and her thick black-rimmed glasses perched on her delicate nose.
She’s dressed casually in black leggings and an off-the-shoulder cream sweater, and she mirrors my pose with her wine clutched to her chest.
“There’s something you aren’t telling me,” she probes. “You’ve been really off all night.”
She’s right, I have. Since we came over I’ve been completely in my head.
Normally I’d be all over the hockey game playing.
After all, my team, the San Diego Seals, are the best in the league this season, breaking records every time they step out onto the ice.
But I can’t get into the game. I missed the third goal, which gave Jake Smithson his hat trick and the ridiculous dance he did to celebrate, because I was looking over at Leo.
Watching how his eyes brighten and slightly crinkle at the corners every time he smiles, the way he pushes his sandy-blond hair out of his face, the muscles in his forearms flexing with the movement.
The size of his hands that I’ve never really paid attention to before now has my mind trailing off to what he can do with them.
But it’s the ring on his left hand that keeps drawing my eye.
Why hasn’t he taken it off?
Why haven’t you taken yours off, Ria?
“Come on, let's take these into the nook.” She grabs my hand. “We’re going to leave you boys to it,” she calls over her shoulder, dragging me out of the living room.
My eyes connect with Leo’s again, and he gives me a look of concern, but giving him a soft smile, I let Jade continue to pull me into the space my brother had designed just for her.
It’s a bookworm's fantasy. Floor-to-ceiling bookshelves cover every wall with a fireplace in the corner.
Thick blankets are folded on the small two-seat couch that is perfect for curling up on and losing yourself in a good book.
There is a large cuddle chair and a small wine fridge tucked in the corner along with a drawer filled with treats. My brother knows his fiancée very well.
Taking a seat on the cuddle chair as she settles onto the couch facing me, my mind wanders back to how right it felt being held by Leo in my kitchen earlier. It was natural to lean into him and allow him to hold me, and the words he spoke floored me.
“You’ve drifted off again,” Jade says, giving me a knowing look.
“I guess I have. Sorry.” I sigh. “I’m just looking at all this,”—I wave at the space—“and I’m just wondering if I will ever find someone who will love me enough to build me an escape.
You know? The little touches in here are all aimed at you.
My brother knows you and wants you to be safe and happy, and God, do I love him for that.
But my sad, jealous brain can’t help but wonder if I’m ever going to get that. ”
“Is that all you’re thinking? You’ve been in this room countless times and never have you looked so distant.” Looking down at my wine, I swirl the liquid around but don’t answer her. “Come on, Ria, there is something else going on in that head of yours.”
“It’s nothing.” I shake my head before taking a huge gulp of wine.
“We aren’t playing those games. Tell me.”
“Okay, but you can’t tell Hunter.”
“Oh, well now I am intrigued.”
“Seriously, Jade. I’m so fucking confused I don’t need to add my protective brother to the mix.”
“My lips are sealed.” She motions sealing her lips, grinning the whole time before she leans in.
“So you know Cole is now our neighbor?”
“Yep. I think Leo pretty much shouted it when he came into the house, like he was the local town crier delivering news.”
“Well, he came over to introduce himself and we had some tea and chatted. When he was in my kitchen—I suppose it’s now ‘our’ kitchen—he asked Leo why he married me in Vegas.”
“Oh, shit, did he say something random? The man is unpredictable.”
“Quite the opposite.”
“Oh?”
“He told Cole that he hadn’t planned on doing it then—he had something else in mind— but he heard his favorite sound, my laughter. And he knew then. Why should he wait? Why hold off for the perfect moment? His forever after is here now and he’s waited long enough. Jade, he sounded so convincing.”
“Maybe he wasn’t lying.” She raises her eyebrow at me as she takes a swig of her wine.
“You’re ridiculous. Leo Brent does not have those feelings for me.” Waving her off, I stare into my glass. “I mean, that’s stupid.” I think about the ring still sitting proudly on his finger and touch the smooth metal of my own. “Right?”
She shrugs. “It doesn’t sound stupid to me.”
“Of course it is.” I let out a humorless laugh. “He treats me like his big sister, and he likes his lifestyle.” The words sound wrong on my tongue instantly.
“I’m not so sure he does treat you like a big sister,” Jade muses.
“Yes, he does.”
“No, he doesn’t.”
“Give me an example.”
“He married you.”
“We were drunk.”
“Okay, How about in every photo of you two I’ve ever seen, he’s either holding you close to him or looking at you.”
I roll my eyes, chuckling. “That’s just him posing for pictures. The man is a vain asshole.”
Still swimming in that river of denial, Ria.
“He is always doing nice things for you around the office to make sure you can focus on your job. Like he brings you coffee every morning.”
“He’s getting his own and just grabs mine while he’s there.”
You don’t sound convincing even to yourself.
“He still has to be thinking of you to remember, every morning.” A smug smile tugs at her lips. “Oh, what about him making sure when you are out of town he will either water your plants or get someone in to do it if he is away?”
My brows scrunch together as I think about that one. “No, Grace organizes that.”
“Nope. I’ve seen him in your office lovingly misting your yucca.”
“Okay, why did that sound dirty?”
“Because you’re hard up. It’s been a while, babe.” She raises a blonde brow at me and I sigh.
“Too fucking long. But still, that doesn’t prove anything.” My words don’t sound convincing as I tuck my legs under my body.
“Well, maybe this one will satisfy you. That area in your office, the screened-off part surrounded by greenery that gives the perfect view of the Thames and the sunrise. You know he had that designed so you could do your morning yoga there? He knew that you need to have somewhere tranquil to calm and center yourself. He told me he didn’t want you feeling tense and anxious as you were leaving New York behind, so he got someone in to design something perfect where you can escape during the day if everything gets a bit much.
Sounds like you’ve already got someone to build you that escape. ”
Okay, I didn’t know about that; I thought that was Grace too.
“And how about whenever you’re in the room, he struggles to keep his eyes off you?
” She snaps her fingers and points at me, excitement etched on her petite face.
“Oh, and that little encounter in the boardroom today. Babe, he looked like he wanted to devour you, and his hands were not placed in a ‘sisterly’ way. Also…”—she pauses to pop a candy in her mouth— “he’s not been doing much of the lifestyle you say he loves so much. ”
Confused, I ask, “He hasn’t?”
“No. Hunter commented the other day that it’s been a while since he heard one of Leo’s crazy stories.
It has been since around the time Hunter took a step back from Bright.
” She gives me a pointed look. “He thinks Leo feels he now has something to prove without him there to back him up, but I’m not so sure.
I think it might have something to do with that but more with the fact that he wants to prove something to you. ”
Everything she has just told me about what Leo has done for me and always has done for me sends my mind reeling.
He has always been thoughtful and paid attention to details, but he’s like that with everyone.
I’m not special in the way Jade thinks. It’s just who he is.
But the way he looked at me and held me this afternoon?
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t react. Didn’t enjoy being in his arms. Nothing about his movements tonight felt fake.
Everything about it was natural and instinctive. “But why?”
“Why what?” Her brow furrows as she appraises me.
“Why now? If, like you say, he had feelings, why show them now?”
“Because he can do it without the fear of rejection.”
“So he’s playing a part?” At the thought, my chest tightens.
“No, not as such. He and Hunter have been friends forever. I know their friendship runs deep, and it’s something they both cherish. Maybe he’s worried about what Hunter would say.”
“Hunter doesn’t get to decide who I date,” I snap.
“Of course he doesn't; that's not what I mean. From what I understand about their relationship, Leo would feel like he would need permission.”
“I don't know why we’re discussing this.” I sigh, sipping my wine. “You’re reading too much into this, and I need to get a grip. This is all an act he’s playing. He knows what this means for me. That is all.”
“Yep, that is all.”
“Nothing more.”
“Except you now have to live with him.”
“That hasn’t slipped my mind, but it’s not like we’re sharing a bed. I have a spare room,” I say, exasperated. She just grins at me before tossing me a bag of candies from her stash. “Don’t give me that look. It’s all in your romantic head. This is nothing more than a business arrangement.”
“Of course it is.”
“Christ, you’re as bad as Grace.”