Because this was another step along the path to redemption, he accepted the compliment.
“I’m psyched your mom wants to help.” Colby slung her legs across his lap. “Since tomorrow’s Tuesday, I asked my mom and Sara to meet me at the restaurant at one o’clock for an informal meeting. Can your mom come, too?”
“I’ll ask.” He tugged her closer to his chest. “I’m surprised you included Leslie. I thought you wanted a break from her.”
Colby scrunched her nose. “She needs something to focus on now that Richard’s out of the picture.”
“What happened to Richard?”
“He learned the truth about Snickers.”
“How?”
As Alec listened to Colby explain the breakup, her sympathy for Richard’s logic made him a little queasy. Her mother’s white lie paled in comparison with his omission.
“Richard overreacted,” Alec insisted.
“Maybe, but trust is a fragile thing.” Her gaze wandered off with her stray thoughts.
“The Snickers lie didn’t hurt anyone,” he argued. “Not all lies are wrong. Some are told to protect people. Truth isn’t always absolute.”
“You sound like my mom.”
“I always liked Leslie,” he teased, dropping this conversation to avoid a direct question he didn’t want to answer.
“That alone makes you a keeper. Not many men would go out of their way for her just to satisfy me.”
“I’d do just about anything for you.” He cupped her jaw and brushed her cheek with his thumb. “Besides, your mom’s lived alone a long time. Can’t blame her for being a little needy.”
“I guess not.” She kissed him. “You’ve always been sweet to me, even when I was young and dumb.”
“You were never dumb.”
“Well, you know, oblivious and in my own world.”
“You mean you were a teenage girl?” He feigned shock.
She chuckled. “A million years ago.”
Not to him. He remembered her that way as if it were yesterday. Lying out in her backyard, listening to the radio. Passing him in the high school hallway with her gang of popular girls—flicking him a quick, sunny hello. Buying him DVDs of shows set in France for his eighteenth birthday, a gift Joe had mocked.
“Ignore Joe, Alec. He’s just jealous because you’re going to end up working at some fabulous French restaurant and meeting all kinds of pretty French girls,” Colby said.
“That last thing is the only part that sounds good.” Joe tossed Chocolat on the counter, shaking his head.
“Big surprise.” Colby snorted and then smiled at Alec. “I’m proud of you. When you’re famous, I hope you’ll still cook for me once in a while. If I get to study abroad, maybe I’ll visit.”
She’d never studied abroad or visited, but he’d cherished the confidence she’d shown in him that day.
“I’ve made a lot of mistakes since then,” she said as an afterthought.
“Me, too.” He closed his eyes and cuddled her against his chest. “But every bad decision brought us here, so let’s not judge them. Maybe learning from them is enough.”
“I like that idea.” She kissed him again and then got a funny look in her eye. “I’d hoped A CertainTea would make me happy, and it has, but not for the reasons I expected. Even if the restaurant operates in relative obscurity, it won’t matter, because it brought us together.”
Gratifying sentiment aside, he did care about acclaim. “We don’t have to settle for one or the other. We can have it all.”
For the briefest second, he saw a flash of some emotion—anxiety? disappointment?—cross her face. Rather than give voice to it, she hugged him. “Should we finish what we’d started before your mom interrupted?”
“Absolutely.” He started to unbutton her pajamas but stopped when her phone rang. Late-night calls usually meant bad news. “Do you want to check?”
“In case it’s Gentry.” She lifted the phone then set it down.
“Not Gentry?”
“Todd. I’d left him a message asking if he’d be a board member.” She must’ve felt him stiffen. “What’s wrong?”
“I thought this was our foundation.”
“It is. But we need a board, and it’s important to have at least one outsider involved so people won’t be suspicious when donating.”
“There are lots of smart lawyers. Why him?” He couldn’t help himself.
“Todd’s smart, diligent, and civic-minded. He’ll assign first-years to do pro bono work if we need it. It also helps him to have board memberships on his résumé. Plus, I trust him.” Again with the emphasis on trust, which Alec couldn’t offer absolutely. “We always worked well together.”
He eased her off his lap and stood, needing to move around. “Because he likes you, Colby.”
“And I like him.” She watched him, wide-eyed.
“Don’t be obtuse. He likes you. He asked you out, brings you flowers, and I’m sure is still hopeful that you’ll change your mind.”
“He buys the wrong flowers and never sends me funny videos.” When he didn’t laugh at her joke, she asked, “Are you jealous?”
“No.” Another lie. “But I’m not stupid, either. No guy wants his girlfriend working closely with another man who wants her for himself.”
“Don’t you trust me?” Now she looked hurt.
“I don’t trust him.”
“He’s just a friend.”
“So was I.” Alec’s hands fell to his sides. “I just wish you’d talked to me before you asked him.”
“It honestly never occurred to me that you’d care.” She came over and rubbed his biceps. “I’ll rescind the offer. I’ll say you’d already asked someone else.”
He was being petty and childish. Colby wasn’t likely to admire his insecurity any more than his own father would. “No. It’s fine. You’re right. I’m overreacting.”
“I’m really sorry I didn’t think to ask you first.” Colby began unbuttoning Alec’s shirt and kissing his chest. “Let me make it up to you.”
Anytime she touched him, the twin pulls of desire and gratitude caused him to lose focus. Why was he arguing when he could be making love?
“If you insist.” He knew one way to make sure she wouldn’t be tempted to look in any other man’s direction.
Lifting her off her feet, he carried her to her room, where he did some of his best wooing.
“You summoned.” Gentry tossed her purse on Colby’s desk and adjusted her strapless minidress, causing the multitude of gold necklaces she wore to jangle. “You do remember I quit, right?”
“Thanks for coming.” Colby gestured toward a chair and moved the bud vase aside before Gentry could break it with her purse. “Let’s talk.”
“Oh, joy.” Gentry plopped onto a chair and stretched out her hand, offering Colby the floor.
“First—and this is not me smoothing things over to avoid conflict—I’m sorry about lashing out. You’re my sister and I love you, even when we don’t agree. I want us to be closer, which is why I asked you to work with me in the first place.”
Gentry shook her head. “Dad asked you to hire me. It wasn’t your idea.”