Chapter 9
brOOKLYN
“I’m sorry, Brooklyn. I have to head out of town to go meet with that supplier. They thought they were going to be able to come here, but it turns out they can’t. I’m sorry for letting you down.”
I wanted to raise my fist to the sky, annoyed with myself for even being stressed out about this, but it wasn’t Dash’s fault.
“It’s okay. I’ll figure out something. I can go to this foundation thing on my own.”
My cousin merely raised a brow, and I didn’t like the look of it.
“Really?”
“What? I can. I’m a big girl. An adult. I don’t need to bring a date to this gala.”
“The same gala that Duke’s family is helping organize?”
I winced, knowing that the reason I had even asked Dash to escort me to begin with was for that very fact. “Possibly going with a date at all would be bad, right? Like a slap in the face to his family.”
“Brooklyn.” Dash let out a breath. “You’re allowed to move on.”
I shook my head. “It’s not like that. Plus, I was going to bring my cousin, that’s not really moving on.” My voice was dry enough that it could start a fire, and Dash merely rolled his eyes.
“It’s been a year since we lost Duke. A year in which his family hasn’t spoken to me.
A year in which they’ve purposely pushed me away and I was too dumb and broken to notice until it was too late.
I am going to attend this charity gala in order to raise money for the historical society as well as the education programs it provides.
I’ve done this since before I even met Duke.
” In fact, that was how I’d started seeing him to begin with.
He’d asked me to dance, and I hadn’t been able to say no.
Only I hadn’t realized our dances would be numbered.
“I know you have, Brooklyn.” Dash pulled me into a hug and because I was weak and a little hurt, I let him.
Our family was so damn touchy sometimes that it was almost always overwhelming and yet I knew that I could lean on any one of them in a heartbeat—just like I was doing now.
He pulled away and looked down to meet my gaze.
“This event is important to you and I’m sorry I’m letting you down.
However, we have multiple other cousins that would go with you in case you don’t want to go alone.
Or, and I know this is shocking, you could go with someone not related to you.
With the way Duke’s sister has already treated you, I don’t think you should care one way or another what that woman thinks about you.
She hurt you. And I’ll be damned if she does it again. ”
And that right there was why my cousin was so misunderstood when it came to other people. He may joke around, and be the life of a party sometimes, but most of the time, he was the one who would break everything in order to make sure that you were safe. And that was why I loved my cousin.
“I’ll be okay. I can figure something out.”
“Figure what out?”
The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end, and I tried not to turn too quickly. Reece stood in the doorway, head tilted as he studied my face. How could this man know so much about me, and yet almost nothing at all? Or perhaps I was only seeing what I needed to.
I hadn’t even realized he was in the building, but I should have.
We were at the main office, going through paperwork and getting meetings out of the way before we headed to our prospective buildings.
Reece would be starting on a huge restoration project that was connected to the gala, and I wouldn’t be there until the end.
After all, you didn’t need the landscape architect until there was space for landscape.
“Well well well…” Dash said, the smile on his face so wide that I wanted to slap it right off him.
Because Reece and I still hadn’t talked about that kiss. We hadn’t done a single thing about it. Instead we had ignored it, pushed it to the side, and pretended it didn’t happen.
And if we did mention it, then it would be all too real, and we would have to deal with the ramifications. Instead those simply didn’t exist.
The fact that I’d even been in his home afterwards and we hadn’t said anything spoke volumes. After all, Bella had needed me—Reece had needed me—and that was all that mattered.
Bella was all that mattered.
And yet my stomach tightened when I looked at Reece, and I knew this was a problem.
“What’s up?”
“I can’t go to the gala tonight. You know, that foundation thing for the project you’re working on.
I have to head out of town right after our meetings.
That means Brooklyn has to go solo. Except Duke’s family will be there.
” The bitterness in his tone should worry me, but I only had eyes for Reece. Which was again, a problem.
“It’s fine. I can go alone.”
“You shouldn’t have to,” Dash put in.
Damn that man. It wasn’t like Dash knew what was going on between Reece and I—not that anything was going on at all—but I swore he could scent it out like a shark with a single drop of blood in the water.
“Is it some fancy ass thing where you have to wear a suit and eat shitty food that comes four sizes too small?” Reece asked, his gaze never leaving me.
“Pretty much. But there’s an open bar,” Dash put in.
“I’m going there as a representative of the company, and the fact that I’m on one of the smaller subcommittees.” I rolled my shoulders back and tried to be calm. “I do good work, but you do have to schmooze. That’s why I usually bring Dash. He’s good at that.”
“I feel like I should take that as not such a compliment, but I’m going to ignore you. Anyway, do you think you can save my cousin, Reece?”
I whirled on Dash. “Really? You’re setting up dates for me now? I think I can handle this on my own.”
“It’s not a date.” Dash’s eyes widened. “It’s just Reece. And free dinner. Bella’s with her grandparents tonight, right?” he asked over my shoulder, and I turned to Reece, my heart in my throat. Was my pulse racing?
“She is.” His jaw tightened. “It’s the one evening for the night where she has to stay with her grandparents. I’m not really too excited about it. We were just getting into a rhythm, and after camp I have to pick her up and drop her off there.”
Without thinking I reached out and squeezed his hand. “I’m sorry. You two seem to have been getting along recently. Finding your routine.”
Reece looked down between us, but didn’t let go of my hand. “We have. It’s been working. At least I think so. You’ve been helping.”
At Dash’s pointed cough I let go of Reece’s hand and took a step back. What was going on with me?
“I’m sorry. But you’ll have her back tomorrow, and you’ll be able to get to know each other some more. It hasn’t been that long.”
“No, it hasn’t. And our lawyers are still going through the final paperwork and I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. But I don’t want to think about that right now, not when I have to drop Bella off at her grandparents—with people I don’t fucking know. When is this gala tonight?”
“At seven.”
I glared at Dash. “I can handle this on my own.”
“Seems to me you’re handling something,” he mumbled.
Reece didn’t say a damn thing.
“Dash. Go schmooze someone else. I can handle this.”
“Again, with the handling. We’re going to talk soon.” And with that, Dash shoulder bumped me, narrowed his eyes at Reece, and moved down the hall.
What the hell had that been about? He was the one who had wanted Reece to take me tonight, and suddenly he’s growly about it. It doesn’t matter. It couldn’t.
“Don’t worry about it. I can go alone. I’m a big girl.”
“You can. But I’ll go with you. To say thank you for helping Bella.” He tacked on that last thing, and it was like a kick to the chest. It shouldn’t be. We were just friends. And yet I wanted to feel his lips on mine. I wanted him to hold me close.
And this was the worst possible timing.
“It’s really okay.”
“Is Duke’s sister going to be there?”
I stiffened. “Yes. And their parents.”
“Then I’m going with you. You don’t need to do this alone. I’ll even wear a fucking suit.”
The thought of Reece in a suit nearly undid me, but I shook my head.
“I can do this on my own.”
“You keep saying that.” He reached forward and pinched my chin. I stiffened, my mouth parting. “But you don’t have to. So we’re doing this. To get it out of our system.”
As soon as he said the words I knew he regretted them, but I clung to them, wondering what the hell we were doing.
“Fine.”
“I’ll pick you up at six thirty.”
“You don’t even know where we’re going.”
“I know. I’ll do this, I won’t have to spend my night freaking out about my kid, and you don’t have to face them alone.”
“Reece...”
“No. Don’t.” And right when I felt as if he would lean down and brush his lips along mine, he pulled away and went back to his office, leaving me alone, wondering what the hell I was getting myself into.
“He’s going to be at your house when?” Aly asked over the phone as I paced my bedroom, wondering if I was losing my mind.
“He’s going to be here in fifteen minutes. My hair is done, my makeup is done, and I have to put on my dress. But now I’m afraid I’m not wearing the right underwear.”
“Is there a reason you’re worried about your underwear when it comes to that very sexy, very bearded, very growly man taking you out to a fancy event where there’ll be dinner, dancing, drinks, and a hotel room?”
I froze, wondering what the hell she was saying.
“I have no idea what you mean. I was going to wear cute underwear because I like it, and I like it underneath this dress, but it didn’t matter before because no one was going to see my underwear but me.”
“So you’re saying Reece is going to see your underwear.”
“I’m not saying that. But. Oh, Aly. There’s just this thing between us that we’re not talking about, and I have a feeling that if I have one too many glasses of champagne I’m going to actually talk about it, and then he’s going to see my underwear.”
“Do you want him to see your underwear?”