Instead, she asked a different question. “Why are you here, Brandon?”
He stopped cleaning up. When he finally turned, his eyes were unreadable, the gold flecks showing against the backdrop of green and brown. She wasn’t even sure how she could notice so much detail from all the way across the two rooms. She held her breath as he stared at her, unable to look away and only thinking he was on the edge of bursting somehow.
But he was crossing the distance between them. Between one moment and the next, he was right there next to her, kneeling so they were face-to-face. She let out the air in her lungs in a rush, not sure of what she wanted to do or what he was planning to do. She parted her lips but didn’t say anything, didn’t want to put another question out there for him to address before he answered the one she really wanted to know.
Because she was hoping he was here for her—not for his childhood friend but for the very adult version of her who’d been waiting for him all this time.
Faster than she could react, his lips caught hers. The contact rushed through her in a lightning shot of surprise. Years of bottled-up frustration bubbled up and she leaned into him with a soft gasp.
And then he pulled back and she was left trying to catch her breath.
Slowly, carefully, he slid his arms around her back and under her knees. He cradled her against his chest and tucked her head under his chin. With her circled as she was in his embrace, he held her close. He pressed his lips against her hair.
“That was too close yesterday, Sophie.” His voice was low and gruff and almost cracked with emotion. “The thought of losing you just about killed me.”
Trembling with reaction, and very much wanting him to kiss her again, Sophie buried her face in the hollow of his neck. “I’m here. I’ve always been here.”
She’d stayed right where he left her, for the most part. Because this was where her family was and this was where she had her best memories to build on for the future. Maybe he’d come back knowing he’d find her here, too.
She had another question, but she wasn’t willing to break the moment to ask it. Instead, she melted into his embrace and savored the heat of his touch. Later, she’d try to figure out what was supposed to happen next.
Chapter Five
Walking with a medical boot strapped to her right foot wasn’t as doable as Sophie had thought. Lyn had come by to help Sophie that morning and given her a ride into Philly on the way to the airport and another West Coast consulting trip.
Sophie’s ankle already throbbed, and she’d only just arrived at her office. Navigating the sidewalk, lobby, and elevator, then the long hallway to the cluster of offices on the corner had been draining.
She fumbled in her purse for the slim, white access card, but when she found it and pressed it to the sensor pad, it didn’t work.
Weird.
Maybe it’d become demagnetized at the hospital or during the explosion. She’d have to ask Brandon if that sort of thing even happened. It was easy enough to have reset by building security, in any case.
Thinking of him set butterflies loose in her belly and she bit her lip to hide the silly smile forming on her lips. She’d think more about what their kiss had meant after work, or at least when she was seated at her desk and not likely to trip over nothing.
She rang the doorbell.
Someone was in the office already. Her boss tended to come in early, around seven a.m. Some of the other accountants came in around the same time, too, so they could leave for home before the rush hour traffic got really bad.
The second time she rang the doorbell, she heard steps and could see the shadow of someone coming to the tiny reception area on the other side of the door.
Whew. Standing there was becoming a challenge. Her right ankle definitely wasn’t up to taking her weight for too much longer. She’d have to find a way to prop it in her office. It should remain elevated.
“Sophie, you should have called ahead.”
Sophie blinked, startled.
Her boss, Jeff Santos, stood in the doorway, holding the door partially ajar but standing directly in the opening. “We weren’t sure if you were going to make it in today.”
“I’m fine.” The words fell out of her mouth with the ease of frequent use. It was her go-to phrase whenever there was too much to explain about her current state. And, honestly, there was no reason for her boss or anyone else she worked with to care so long as she could do her work well.
Jeff studied her, then stepped back and gave her enough space to hobble into the office. “Before you go to your office, please come to mine. We need to have a chat.”