Chapter 2
CHAPTER 2
LEIF
“ I t’s only the middle of November.” Jack braced himself on the counter and stared out the kitchen window at the falling snow. My brother rocked back on his heels as he slid his hands into the pockets of his tailored slacks. “Is it just me, or is it getting colder earlier every year?”
“It’s just you,” I said, looking up at him from behind my desk. “To be fair though, this is Denver. You knew when we moved here that it would be a lot snowier than Texas, which, if memory serves, is one of the reasons you wanted to open our firm here in the first place. You wanted snow.”
“Yeah, but that was for the snowboarding. At the time, I wasn’t thinking about having to go to work when it looks like this outside.”
I snorted as I tried to hold back a bark of laughter. “You suggested that we become partners in a firm here for the snowboarding opportunities ? What the hell is wrong with you? Obviously, we were going to have to work even when it looked like this outside.”
He shrugged, turning to waggle his dark blond eyebrows at me over his shoulder. “We’re the bosses. Technically, we could go snowboarding right now if we wanted to.”
“Not if you want to keep the doors open, we can’t,” I said. “I have to finish up an audit review with Holly Barnes in five and you’ve got that new client coming in, remember?”
“Holly Barnes?” He finally spun away from the window to face me, interest in his eyes as he let out a low whistle. “That’s one damn fine woman. How about I take her, and you go see the new client?”
I laughed. “Only if you can get up to speed with all her stuff in the next four minutes. We need to get this done today, so if four minutes isn’t enough time for you…”
He smirked. “Four minutes will never be enough time for me to spend on her.”
“Have I told you lately that you’re an asshole?” I joked as I got up to go to my meeting. “On a more serious note, you wouldn’t last four minutes with her anyhow, so?—”
“Hey, don’t underestimate me. I could easily go four and a half.”
I grinned. “At least you’re being semi-realistic now. Well done. I’ve got to get to the conference room, but before I go, I’ve been meaning to tell you that I’m heading back to Austin for Thanksgiving.”
“That’s dumb.” He frowned. “Why?”
I snorted. “You’re going too, bro. Mom won’t take no for an answer. I’m only mentioning it now because we need to make sure we plan our schedules around the trip and I’m about to let Marge know to move some of my meetings around.”
“I’ll think about it,” he said, scratching his chin as he glanced back at the window. “What was the point of moving here for the snow if we’re just going to go back to Austin when it starts getting good?”
“The point was to come open a firm here,” I reminded him. “It’s going pretty well for us so far, so let’s not get too hung up on the snowboarding aspect, shall we?”
He flipped me off. “We need to get out there, man. Have you already told Mom we were coming?”
“Nope, she told me we would be coming. There’s no getting out of it this year. She and Phil have big plans for us, apparently.”
Jack groaned. “Do we really need to spend holidays with the dude?”
“He’s our stepfather, so yes.” I glanced at my watch. “Shut my door behind you when you leave. I’m officially late.”
Quickly moving across my office, I strode down the hall into the big conference room at the end, smiling at the client already seated at our table. “Holly, it’s good to see you. Thank you for coming in today. Has Marge offered you something to drink?”
“She has. Thanks, but I’m trying to cut down on caffeine and nothing but coffee is worth drinking in this weather, so I’m all out of luck.”
“Trying to cut down on caffeine, huh? You’re a better, braver person than I am.” I sat down across the table from her and opened the file I’d brought with me from my office. “Are you ready to get started? I know you’re eager to get this finalized.”
She nodded enthusiastically, flashing me a smile that would dazzle entire armies. An insanely attractive woman, I completely understood why my brother might’ve wanted to hijack this meeting. Holly really was gorgeous, with striking features, deep red hair, huge brown eyes flecked with gold, and, best of all, curves that would turn even the head of a saint.
I was not a saint and I’d never pretended to be, but I also didn’t feel even the slightest urge to check her out today. My dick didn’t stir and I couldn’t even be bothered to glance at her cleavage despite the extremely low-cut top she revealed as she slid off her coat.
It had been this way for me for a few months now, and if even Holly Barnes didn’t tempt me anymore, then I was well and truly screwed. My body and my mind had gotten stuck on Laurel, and while I couldn’t stop thinking about her, there was no way I would even look at another woman.
A true pity, considering that my business with Holly was finally concluded when our meeting was done. She was no longer an active client, and when she’d first walked into these offices, I’d been intent on taking her out just as soon as her file was shut.
She leaned forward as I pushed my chair back, those gorgeous eyes locking on mine. Her eyelashes fluttered and she smiled, but there was still no response from any part of my body. “That’s that, right?”
I nodded. “All done. You can call Marge if you have any questions for me, but that’s it for now.”
“Good.” Her gaze remained glued to mine. “Does that mean I can finally take you out for a drink now?”
Oh, God. And now she’s hitting on me.
Part of my brain really wanted me to say yes, but I couldn’t. I had plans to meet up with Laurel at some point over Thanksgiving, which meant that even though it wasn’t a date and even though she lived in a different state, my entire being was fully invested in her all over again.
Fuck .
“I’m afraid not,” I said lightly, trying to be polite as I waved for her to precede me to the door. “You’re still a client of the firm. Thanks, though.”
She pouted at me as she stood up. “Are you sure? You and I could have a lot of fun together, Leif.”
“No doubt, but I’m sure. Remember to call Marge with any questions.”
“Of course.” She gave me a curious look as she paused to say goodbye to Marge, who had been standing in the door.
I wasn’t sure when she’d gotten there, but my sixty-seven-year-old assistant seemed a little shocked as Holly left. Once she was gone, the older woman arched an eyebrow at me. “I’m never going to have any luck helping you find a wife if you’re even turning that one down.”
I chuckled and fell into step behind her on our way back to my office. “Holly is beautiful, but she’s no Laurel.”
“Laurel?” Marge frowned. “Who’s that? She’s not another client, is she? I don’t recall hearing that name from you before.”
“That’s because you haven’t,” I said easily, a smile on my face now that I could finally talk about her . “She and I grew up together back in Texas. She’s not a client.”
“Laurel,” she repeated slowly as if turning the name over in her mouth to get a good feel for it. “A hometown girl, huh? That sounds promising. Tell me more.”
“Gladly.” I sat on her desk, way too busy to be telling my assistant about my first love, but I wanted to talk about Laurel and she was the only person who’d asked.
Maybe the bosses can’t go snowboarding on a Monday morning, but there are still some perks to being in charge.
“You’d love her, Marge,” I said, and I meant it too. “Everyone does. She’s just one of those people, you know? She draws you to her and never lets you go.”
Marge’s silver eyebrows twitched. “Never? Do you mean we’ve finally stumbled upon the root cause of your perpetual bachelor status? You’ve been hung up on this girl all along?”
“Nah.” But maybe a little . “I hadn’t seen her in years before our reunion, but we reconnected while we were both in Austin and we’re going to see each other again when we go home for Thanksgiving.”
Her head tilted as she sat down, perching her reading glasses on the tip of her nose. “Have you got a picture of her?”
“Unfortunately no.” I wished I did, though. On the other hand, maybe it was better that I didn’t. The things I’d do while staring at that face? “I’ll ask her for one if you’d like.”
“No, that’s alright.” Damn . “You can just describe her to me. After you tell me more about her. What does she do for a living? Does she still live in Austin?”
“Tennessee.” I swiped my tongue across my lips. “That’s probably the only reason you haven’t met her yet. She’s a writer who also owns a bookstore in Franklin. This is crazy, right? Thinking about a girl who doesn’t even live in this state?”
“She’s a creative type. I like that for you.” Marge paused for a moment as she thought it over. Then she chuckled. “Don’t worry about where she lives. Love always finds a way.”
“Whoa.” My head reared back just a little as I shook it. “Let’s not go straight to the L-word, shall we? I just like her, is all. I always have.”
“Laurel is the one who got away, isn’t she?” Marge asked. “There’s always that one that got away.”
I shrugged. “Maybe. Or maybe it’s just that we went through so much together and seeing her again brought back all those memories.”
Marge chuckled. “Well, any girl who puts a smile like that on your face is a girl I’m curious about. What’s she like?”
Gorgeous. Kind. Genuine.
Rich brown curls framed her beautiful, heart-shaped face. Her dark eyes were like pools I wouldn’t mind drowning in and that body? Her curves had been the subject of all my first fantasies and they’d only gotten better from there, but I doubted Marge wanted to hear about that.
“She’s real,” I said finally. “I don’t know how else to put it. She just marches to the beat of her own drum and she’s never given a shit about what people think about it.”
“Authentic,” Marge said knowingly. “That’s the word you’re looking for.”
“Exactly. She’s authentic.” I inhaled deeply, thinking about all the times having her in my life had saved me. “I think I would’ve been a real asshole if it hadn’t been for her.”
Marge raised a questioning eyebrow. “Who says you’re not a real asshole?”
I laughed. “Well, I would’ve been a bigger asshole if not for her. Laurel always used to be like my moral compass, you know? I don’t know if that makes any sense, but she’s always just had this way about her that made me want to be better.”
“A good woman will do that to a man,” she said. “It doesn’t usually start quite so early, though. She must really be something special for you to have felt that way even as a kid.”
“She really is something special.”
As I said it, a flash of memory popped into my head of the worst day of both our lives.
A day when the impossible had happened.
Neither of our fathers had come home that day, and we’d buried them in the same cemetery just a few days later.
I remembered how even when we got the news, Laurel didn’t cry, or scream, or collapse.
She’d just sat down, staring blankly into the distance before she’d nodded and reached for her mom’s hand. Taking it, she pressed a kiss to her knuckles and murmured reassurances to her. Even in that moment, her first concern wasn’t for herself.
I blinked myself out of my thoughts, looking back into Marge’s alert blue eyes. “Laurel is selfless and loyal, and she’s quirky too. She loves dogs. Any animal really except for cats. Sometimes, I think she’s more comfortable around them than she is around people.”
“Dogs are the best company there is.” Her gaze swept across my face. “You haven’t stopped grinning this whole time you’ve been talking about her. I don’t even know what she looks like yet, but getting to know her through your eyes is a beautiful thing.”
Then, because the universe had a sick sense of humor, Rainy walked by at that moment and sneered at me. My ex was as stunning as she was psycho. She was a principal accountant at the firm as well—and she was also the reason why I’d vowed never to get involved with anyone I worked with again.
Marge rolled her eyes behind Rainy’s back. Chuckling softly, I waited until she was gone before I spoke again. “Brother, that was a big mistake.”
Marge smiled. “Your biggest yet, darling. It sounds like you might be getting over making those sorts of mistakes, though. Do me a favor and get this Laurel to come visit Denver. It’s a wonderful city and I’d love to meet her at least once before the wedding.”
I laughed but didn’t comment. Marge’s primary goal was to marry me off before she retired, and I used to think she didn’t stand a chance at making it happen, but ever since Laurel had made a reappearance in my life, I wasn’t so sure anymore.
The girl had thrown me off my usual game—and I kind of liked it.