Chapter 10
CHAPTER TEN
AUbrEY
The second my bedroom door clicks shut behind me, I lean back against it and squeeze my eyes closed.
“Oh my gosh.”
Heat rushes into my cheeks all over again.
What was I thinking?
I push away from the door and walk straight into the bathroom, catching my reflection in the mirror.
My hair is plastered to my shoulders, rainwater still dripping from the ends.
The white tank top …
I groan. No wonder he was staring.
I peel the damp fabric over my head and toss it into the hamper before wrapping myself in a towel.
As I reach for a dry T-shirt, my mind betrays me. Not with the memory of getting caught in the rain, but with the look in Dean’s eyes.
I’d spent years wondering if he’d ever notice me.
As a teenager, I imagined a thousand different scenarios where he suddenly realized Noah’s little sister wasn’t so little anymore.
None of them looked anything like today.
There wasn’t anything smooth or practiced about it.
He looked caught off guard. His gaze lingered for only a heartbeat before he forced himself to look away, but it was long enough for me to notice.
Long enough for something deep inside me to flutter awake.
I sink onto the edge of my bed, pressing both palms against the comforter.
He looked at me, not through me. Not like Noah’s little sister, but like a woman.
The realization sends another wave of warmth through me, settling somewhere beneath my ribs.
I shouldn’t be smiling. I definitely shouldn’t be replaying the moment over and over in my head, but I can’t seem to stop.
My fingertips brush absently across my damp hair as I laugh at myself.
“Get it together, Aubrey.”
One accidental moment doesn’t change anything. Any man would react to someone’s nipples so obviously showing through their shirt.
He isn’t going to all of a sudden start crushing on me because I’m a woman with boobs that he just noticed.
I spent seven years convincing myself Dean Ledger would never look at me that way. I’m not about to undo all that progress over three seconds of him looking at me like he wanted me.
The apartment is unusually quiet for a Sunday morning.
I pour myself a bowl of cereal, grab the milk from the refrigerator, and hop onto one of the stools at the island.
It’s almost funny.
A week ago, I was eating cereal at my parents’ kitchen table, wondering if I’d ever find a job.
Now I’m eating breakfast in a billionaire’s penthouse while a baby sleeps down the hall.
Life is weird.
Suddenly, the elevator dings. My spoon pauses halfway to my mouth.
Don’t be weird. He’s just coming upstairs.
I focus on my cereal as the footsteps grow closer.
“Morning.”
I glance up. “Morning,” I reply, noticing the package in one hand and baby monitor in the other.
Dean looks different today. Not because of what he’s wearing. Gray sweatpants and a navy T-shirt.
It’s the way he’s acting.
Normally, he meets my eyes when we talk.
Today, he doesn’t.
He heads straight for the coffee maker, filling the reservoir with water before measuring out the grounds with far more concentration than anyone should need to make coffee.
I watch him from the corner of my eye. He seems to be avoiding looking at me.
The machine gurgles to life.
“So,” I say, trying to sound casual, “sleep okay?”
He nods without turning around. “Yeah.”
A beat passes.
“You?”
“Pretty good.”
More silence. The kitchen has never felt this quiet.
Dean wraps both hands around his coffee mug before finally turning around.
For one brief second, our eyes meet. Then he looks down at the counter.
He walks toward the island, stopping on the opposite side from me. “Any plans today?”
“I thought I’d organize Liana’s dresser a little.”
He nods. “Okay.”
I wait for more, but nothing. This is painful.
I scoop another bite of cereal into my mouth. “You?”
“I’m going to answer a few emails.” He takes a drink of coffee. “And maybe take Liana for another walk if the weather holds.”
“She liked yesterday.”
His eyes flick up. “We both did.”
“What?”
He clears his throat. “I mean …”
A smile threatens the corners of my mouth. He looks away again.
Yea, he’s definitely being weird.
I stare into my cereal bowl, trying to convince myself I’m reading too much into this.
Yesterday’s incident was awkward.
Of course things feel a little weird today.
That’s all this is.
Liana lets out a cry from the nursery.
Dean immediately pushes away from the island. “I’ve got her.”
He disappears down the hallway before I can say anything else.
I watch him go. The moment he’s out of sight, I let out the breath I was apparently holding.
What is going on with him?
A few minutes later, he returns with Liana tucked against his shoulder, her tiny hand wrapped around the collar of his T-shirt.
He smiles down at her. The smile comes so easily.
Then his gaze lifts straight to me. This time, he doesn’t look away immediately. His eyes linger for a heartbeat.
My stomach does that ridiculous little flip.
Silence again. I can’t take it anymore.
“Dean?”
“Hmm?”
“Did I do something wrong?”
His head snaps up. “What?”
“You’ve barely looked at me all morning.”
His expression shifts from confusion to realization.
“No.” He rubs the back of his neck. “No, you didn’t do anything.”
“It kind of feels like I did.”
A quiet laugh escapes him, though there’s very little humor in it.
“Trust me”—he shakes his head— “this one’s on me.”
I study him for a long moment. “Are we talking about yesterday?”
His jaw tightens almost imperceptibly. “Yeah.”
The admission hangs between us.
“I was worried I’d made you uncomfortable.”
His eyes finally meet mine. “You didn’t.”
“Then why are you acting like you can’t look at me?”
He lets out a slow breath before glancing down at Liana, buying himself a second to think.
“I guess …” A crooked smile tugs at one corner of his mouth. “I’m a little uncomfortable with myself.”
The honesty catches me completely off guard.
“I shouldn’t have stared.”
My cheeks warm instantly. “I can imagine it would be hard not to.”
For a moment, neither of us says anything, and then I surprise myself by smiling.
“It was raining.”
“It was,” he replies with a deep, controlled voice.
A tiny smile finds its way onto my face. “Can we pretend it never happened?”
Dean looks at me for a second before nodding. “I’d like that.”
“So would I.”
Neither of us believes it for a second.
When Liana lets out a loud yawn between us, we both laugh.
And somehow the awkwardness feels just a little bit lighter.