“I shy away from intimacy in relationships …” He blows out a breath. The action seems to change his line of thinking because he relaxes, and a smirk graces his lips. “Because people start asking nosy questions about things they don’t really want to know the answers to.”
He takes a napkin from the container on the table, picks up his donut, and grabs his coffee. “Now let’s go, or I’m going to be late for my next meeting.”
“Are you eating that in my car?” I ask, finding my equilibrium again.
He gives me a look. “I’ll use the pizza box as a table. Get your stuff. I’ll go pay.”
I watch him walk with authority toward the cash register. Judy is all too happy to meet him there. I grab my camera and start to get up but pause.
After a quick glance to make sure Wade’s busy, I swipe through the pictures I took of him.
They’re as good as I expected, and the contrast between him and the playful backdrop is perfection.
But as I sort through them, there’s one picture—the second from the last—that catches my attention. It’s just before he catches me snapping away.
He’s mid-turn and appears to be just about to say something. There’s a free, easy, happy look on his face.
I’d give anything to know what he was thinking in that photo.
“Thanks for coming in,” Judy says, pulling me back to the present. “Come see me again, Dara.”
I look up to see Wade waiting for me by the door.
“I will,” I say, getting to my feet. “Thanks, Judy.”
The nerves that I expect to feel as I walk toward Wade aren’t there. Instead, there’s a peace, a contentment that settles through my body.
Despite what I insinuated, there might be more openness in Wade Mason than I expected.
But does it matter if I’m a client? Does it matter at all?
“Are you ready?” he asks as he opens the door.
I stop and look at him. He’s so mercurial. And delicious. I smile.
And, for some reason unbeknownst to me, he smiles back.
THIRTEEN
WADE
I can’t take it much longer.
The sitting room in Bellamy’s hospital suite is filled with an overwhelming exuberance. Everyone is happy. Their cheerfulness is bubbling over, and it’s wearing on my nerves.
I rest my elbows on my knees and hold the sides of my head. Exhaustion settles in my bones.
“Bellamy promised she’d make it to the wedding,” Blaire tells Jaxi with a laugh from across the room. “I told her not to worry about it. I can’t imagine feeling like attending a wedding a week after I had a baby.”
Jaxi nods in agreement. “I can barely imagine having a baby at all, let alone getting dressed up right after.”
Blah, blah, blah.
I hold my head tighter.
The door to the room where Coy, Bellamy, her dad, and our parents are located swings open. Mom beams from the other side.
“He’s so sweet,” she says, her smile stretching from ear to ear. “Are you guys ready to meet baby Kelvin Joseph Mason?”
Boone heads toward Mom. “They named him Kelvin? I thought I had him talked into McCoy.”
Mom swats Boone’s shoulder as he and Jaxi walk past her. Holt and Blaire follow close behind them.
“Are you coming in?” Mom asks.
“I think I’ll wait until it clears out a little.”
She grins. “Want me to sit with you?”
“I do not.”
Her grin turns into a laugh. “Come in if you get lonely. There’s always enough room for you.”
“That’s not my concern.” I sit upright. “My concern is that … my head will explode.”
“It’s a happy occasion. Your head won’t explode.”
I quirk a brow.
“Fine,” she says, coming over and kissing me on the top of the head like a child. “Wait until everyone leaves and then come in. Or just pop in and tell Coy that you’ll be back later. He’ll understand.”
After last night? “He fucking better,” I mumble.
“What was that? I didn’t hear you.”
I sigh. “Nothing. I might do that. I’ll just hang out here for a while and see what happens.”
“Okay, honey.” She starts toward the room but stops at the doorway. “Are you feeling okay? You look tired.”
Astute observation, Mother.
“I didn’t get a lot of sleep,” I admit.
She watches me closely, in a way only a mother can. “Make sure you take care of yourself, Wade Edward.”
I nod. This seems to suffice because, with a final smile, she disappears back into the room of joy.
My head rests on the wall behind me, and I stretch my legs out in front of me. Thoughts swirl in my head like they always do … just at double speed.
Notes for projects I’m working on, calls I need to make, and looming deadlines all bounce around my brain. But the largest part of my thoughts is held hostage by a very particular woman.
I run a hand down my face as a smile threatens to break on my lips as if the gesture will wipe them away.