“I was living in LA with my husband.” What the fuck?
Not what I was expecting her to say. I looked at her left hand. No ring. And I would have known if she’d worn one the first time I laid eyes on her. I always check for wedding rings.
“You were married?” So very young . . .
A flash of pain filled her eyes, and then a sort of resignation before she answered me. “Yes, for a short time. He died in a car accident nearly a year ago, and our baby—I was in the car, too—was born too early to survive after the trauma from the accident put me into labor.”
Holy. Fucking. Shit.
No wonder I’d recognized such sadness in her. And here I’d just joked about filling my penthouse with a family. I felt like an asshole.
“I am so sorry, Brooke.” I picked up her hand and stroked over the top of it. “Fuck. Devastating. I can’t imagine your pain. Your . . . sadness.”
“Ah, yes my relationship with my friend Sadness is quite solid.” She toyed with her wineglass as she spoke, and then after a long moment she looked up again.
I tilted my head in question, not getting the joke. I was probably in shock at what she’d just told me. She’s been married. Lost her husband and baby in a car accident. I was reminded that when we meet people as we go through our daily lives, we really have zero understanding of what painful shit those poor souls have had to endure. No fucking idea at all. Thoughts of how Aldrich treated her that night made me want to kill the bastard now. I should pay that cocksucker a visit very fucking soon to enlighten the piece of dog shit on the matter of just who he had assaulted at a business reception.
“The movie, Inside Out? It’s a wonderfully insightful animated Disney film about our individual inner emotions and how we need all of them working together in order to function properly. Sadness is my go-to girlfriend.”
“I’ve never heard of that movie.”
“I’m sure it’s not your cup of tea, but perhaps you might watch it one day. You’d get it then.”
“Will you watch it with me?” I asked.
“Maybe,” she said shyly.
“You are very brave.” I pulled her hand up to my lips and kissed the back of it. “That is all.”
“I don’t always feel brave, but I do try to be,” she said, looking down at her wine again.
DINNER evolved into a nearly three-hour affair. Dessert, coffee, conversation that was interesting to the point I was really goddamn disappointed when we had to leave so she could make the 8:30 ferry. I actually hated the thought of her riding that ferry at night. Fucking hated it. But I held my tongue because I was certain she would tell me to mind my own goddamn business.
I had nothing to do with the worse-than-usual traffic. Monday Night Football at Gillette Stadium could take credit for that one.
And the steady rain.
And the four-car pileup that closed the main road down to the harbor.
I could sense Brooke getting more and more anxious as Isaac did his best to get her there in time.
But I am a filthy bastard, and as the minutes remaining until she missed the last boat to Blackstone Island ticked away, I fucking rejoiced silently in my seat beside her.
“No, no, no, Will, you left without me,” she cursed against the window, looking very frustrated and utterly tantalizing sitting inside my car. We could all see the boat had pulled away from its berth and was already moving into open water. Nope. Brooke wouldn’t be going home tonight. She would have to stay the night with me at the penthouse. I think my teeth were in danger of cracking from how hard I was grinding them together to hold back my victory yell.
I chose not to mention I owned a helicopter that could get her to the island in fifteen minutes. Nah, I wouldn’t say anything about my helicopter to her, because I wanted her to stay.
I wanted her to stay with me more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life.
Brooke
You are welcome to stay at my place tonight. I have three guest rooms for you to choose from.”
I knew Caleb would make the offer before he said the words. I could feel his eyes on me, burning at my back as I watched my ride home float away. A shiver rolled through my body as a feeling of impending change came over me—something big, and something over which I had absolutely no control. It was being set into motion right this very minute. And it scared me.
The partition drew closed with a quiet hum, giving us privacy from his driver. Another shiver shook me.
“Are you cold?” Caleb put his hand on my shoulder and gently pulled me closer.
“No.” I turned away from the window and toward him. “I just—this was the very last thing I expected to happen.”