Monday morning blues were a real thing.
Who had decided that the week started on Monday anyway?
At least waking bright and early gave me an excuse to get out of the house and away from my thoughts. It was hard to think about anything, except measurements and mixing, when I was at the bakery, Death by Chocolate. And my boss, Kimber, at least didn’t have any designs on talking about what had happened with David at the party this weekend. Another blessing.
It was almost three when I finally came up from my working stupor long enough to check my phone and find out I had two missed calls from Morgan.
I told Kimber I was taking a break and headed out back. Morgan answered on the second ring.
“Finally,” she said.
“Hey, Mor. What’s up?”
“I need you to come by the office this afternoon.”
“Why?”
A panic rose in my chest. The office meant David. It meant facing him again. I’d barely had enough strength to tell him to leave the last time. If he’d kept talking, I had been sure I’d crumble. Just seeing his beautiful face had made me weak when I wanted to be so strong. I was so angry with him about everything, and yet I wanted him to comfort me. It was this strange and irritating duality.
“Family stuff.”
“Do I really have to?” I asked. “I’m kind of trying to avoid David.”
“He’s going to be out of the office.”
“Oh. You didn’t fire him, did you?”
“Do you want us to?”
“No,” I said honestly. “I think what he did was wrong, but would you even have grounds?”
“God, you sound just like Jensen.”
“Isn’t that normally your job?”
“Normally,” she conceded. “And, no, we’re not firing him. He’s walking on eggshells in the office, is all.”
“Except he’s not in the office this afternoon?”
“Nope. See you around five?”
“All right, but I can’t stay long. Jenny has Jason, and then I’m going to look at daycares.”
“Oh,” Morgan said, dragging out the syllable. “Ditching the nanny?”
“It’s not ideal, but Jenny wants to be a pharmacist, and I don’t trust many people with Jason. By many people, read no one. Let alone at my house all day. So, if I can’t fill her shoes, I’d rather have him in a professional setting with other children.”
“That’d be good for him.”
“Probably.” Though the thought made me nauseated. Giving up control was next to impossible. “Well, I’ll see you soon.”
“See you then!”
I was late.
Not on purpose, but finishing up at the bakery had taken longer than anticipated with all the college kids coming back into town. I was only a couple of years removed from that life, and already, the divide felt like a giant chasm.
Stashing my apron in the backseat of my blue Audi TT, I exited the car and stared up at the building that had wrecked my new, wonderful life. It was on the top-floor restaurant of Wright Construction where I’d found out that David had lied to me. Truthfully, I wasn’t looking forward to entering those doors again. Or dealing with whatever new mess Morgan had discovered for our family. Because, Lord knew, there was always something.
But I held my head up and strode inside anyway.
The afternoon crowd had already cleared their desks. The elevator was empty as I took it up to the second to top floor to see my sister. I really hoped this only lasted a minute. I was burned out on family time.
I tiptoed to David’s office and peeked inside. I let out a breath. Okay, he really was out of the office. Everything was dark inside. No David.
I hurried past Morgan’s office and went straight to the conference room since that was where all family meetings were held. It was probably going to be about David even though they weren’t firing him. Just what I didn’t want to discuss.
With a sigh, I knocked on the door and then entered. To my surprise, Morgan was sitting on the conference table, dangling her black high heels. She smiled at me when I entered, which was the moment I realized this was a fucking setup.
My eyes strayed around the room and found David standing in the corner, staring down at his computer. At my entrance, his head popped up. His eyes rounded in shock, and then he turned on Morgan in accusation.
“What did you do?” I asked.
“How could you?” David asked at nearly the same time.
“Sutton, why don’t you come inside and shut the door?”
I gritted my teeth and took a step into the room. But I left the door gaping. I wanted a quick escape, just in case.
“You set me up,” I accused.
“Both of us up,” David amended. “I had nothing to do with this.”
“I know. I did this all on my own. I was sure that it would take weeks before either of you stubborn asses budged enough to have this conversation,” Morgan said.
“You don’t get to just interfere in our lives,” I said. “We’re not puppets. This is real life, Mor.”
“I know it is. If someone had forced Patrick and me into a room, I would have been with him earlier. We would have been happy. And I’m a cynic, but I’m hoping that happens for you two. You’re my sister and closest friend. If it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out, but I’m not going to say I didn’t try to help.”
“When did you become a hopeless romantic?” I asked.
“I blame all of this on Patrick,” she said with a small smile. “Now…talk. Figure it out.”
Morgan tilted her head at David and then brushed my shoulder on her way out the door. She let it click shut behind her.
I leaned back against the door and let my purse drop to the floor. My eyes stayed on it as I waited to figure out what the hell was going to happen. I mean, I didn’t want to have this conversation. I’d been duped. My sister was a traitor.
“I’m sorry about this,” David finally said, breaking the silence. “I didn’t tell her to do this, and would never intentionally push you into this kind of situation. In fact, she was the one who said that I should give you space.”
“Must have changed her mind.”
“She means well?”
I snorted and glanced up at him. “Yeah, she does.”
“I mean, I didn’t set this up, but since we’re here…”
“Yeah.” I shrugged. “If I had it my way, I’d just go. I have to pick up Jason soon.”
“You can go if you want.”
It sounded like that was the last thing he’d wanted to say. Yet he’d said it anyway.
“I hate that I can’t trust you,” I finally said.
“I hate that you feel that way.”
My eyes dragged up to his, which were honey hazel and full of remorse. His sandy-blond hair was flipped to one side, and a frown marred his perfect face. His strong jawline was clenched, as if he couldn’t decide on a course of action. He seemed frozen in place, unable to move forward. And I felt like I was in that same place.
And none of it helped that he was so damn attractive. Well over six feet tall with a dazzling smile. A body that showed he worked out religiously. He would definitely survive a zombie apocalypse with the amount of time he spent running every day. I knew for a fact that he had six-pack abs and muscles in all the right places to make me swoon. That V that led south was my undoing. Yet I couldn’t go there right now.
I couldn’t think about his body or the incredible way he used it or the way our lips melded together, as if they had been made for each other. None of those things changed the fact that I felt betrayed. I’d opened my heart, and he’d stomped on it.
So, we stood there in silence. Tension building between us. Frustration pooling in my stomach. My hands shook at my sides. I was cursing myself for the second cupcake I’d had that afternoon. A sugar buzz was just what I needed right now.
“I guess…I don’t have anything to say,” I muttered. I grabbed my bag off the ground and turned toward the door. “This was a mistake.”
“Wait!” David rushed across the room. He put his hand out to prevent me from opening the door.
“Is this turning into a thing for you?”
“If you want to go, go,” he said, hovering over me. “But I don’t want you to.”
It was that moment I realized how close our bodies were to one another. I was half-turned toward the door. My hand still on the knob. His body was practically covering my petite frame. The heat from our bodies mingled in the small distance. His hand that wasn’t holding the door moved to my elbow. It was gentle, almost hesitant, but still, it sent electricity up my arm.
Suddenly, it was as if all the air had been sucked out of the room. I dropped my hand from the door and faced him. He must have felt the energy crashing between us. A current that was as intense as it was unshakable.
For a second, I thought he would pull back. Let me pass. Allow me to escape this static that was sure to set aflame. Instead, he pressed forward toward me. Bridged that short distance until my heart rate ratcheted ever upward, my pulse beating a tattoo against my throat. My mouth went dry. My insides squeezed.
Then, there was just a dull ringing in my ears. Anything could have been happening around me, but all I knew was David. It was terrifying and exhilarating, and…it desperately needed to stop.
But I could no more sever this connection than the moon could stop orbiting Earth.
Conjuring a cataclysmic event to disrupt my orbit with David was tantamount to impossible. It just was. And we just were.
Even when I didn’t want us to be.
“Sutton,” he breathed softly.
His head hung down in the small space between us, so we were nearly at eye-level. My own head tilted up to meet his passionate gaze.
His hand moved up from my elbow and over my shoulder before caressing my cheek. I should stop this. I should…do something.
“We should stop,” I told him.
“Just let me explain. Please, I don’t open up like this, Sutton. I’ve never talked to anyone about any of this before. Not even my own sister.”
“About being a Van Pelt? I’m pretty sure your sister already knew that.”
“No, about why I’m living this double life. Why I can’t open up to anyone. I mean, I knew telling you would upset you, and sure, part of it was that I didn’t want to piss you off. But the other side is that I don’t know how to be open about that kind of thing.”
“I think you open your mouth and say, Sutton, I’m a Van Pelt.”
He sighed, leaning his head forward until it brushed against my forehead. A tingle shot through my body.
“I wish it were that easy.”
“You can make it that easy.”
He nodded, meeting my gaze again. “Then, let me try.”
“I…”
“Please, Sutton. Let me try to be the man you deserve.”
I knew walking away was the smart idea. That he didn’t deserve the chance to explain anything to me right now. That I wanted to scream with anger that we’d only gotten to this moment because he was outed. That he’d gotten caught.
But, instead, I just stood there as his lips moved closer to mine. As my world ground to a stop. Until nothing else mattered but that slow-motion movement.
The touch of those lips.
That undeniable temptation.
“No,” I breathed.
“Sutton, please,” he said. “This is right between us. You know it is. You can feel it. You can feel it here.” He pressed his hand to my heart and felt the powerful rhythm.
Our lips almost touched again. A hairbreadth apart. I wanted to give in. It’d be so easy. But it wouldn’t erase everything that had gone on between us.
“I need more time,” I told him.
Then, I did the only thing I could to save myself. I pulled open the door and fled.