He’s not wrong. “You’re right.”
“Wow. Should I check the sky again? Will I see flying swine?”
I chuckle at that one. “I know what I’m doing, Ben.”
“Will you take her to the club soon?”
“When she’s ready.”
“I’m happy for you,” Ben says.
“What for?”
“Sounds like you’re falling in love.”
God, those words… “I’m not falling in love. Like you said, I barely know her.”
“That doesn’t always matter. There’s no timetable for love.”
I scoff. “Like you’d know.”
He laughs. “I suppose you got me on that one. All right. I just wanted to check in. Since you’re not in Manhattan, I’ll see you at the office in the morning.”
“I’ll be there.” I end the call and throw my phone on the desk.
My own words haunt me.
I’m not falling in love. Like you said, I barely know her.
It’s not the words so much as the fact that, as I replay them in my mind, their cadence like a snare drum, they seem…off to me.
Off as in I’m not sure I truly mean them.
Then I whisk the thought from my mind and do what I do best when I don’t want to think about something.
I work.
Chapter Forty
I work far into the night and finally hit the sheets at four a.m. I allow myself an extra hour of sleep in the morning, rising at seven instead of six.
I don’t have any appointments anyway. As far as the office knows, I’m still in New York.
Once I arrive at work and let Claire know I’m available if anyone needs me, I head into my office.
A few hours later, Claire leaves for an early lunch, so my calls come straight to me from Reception. When the phone buzzes, I hit the speaker button. “Yes?”
“Mr. Black, I have Skye Manning on the line.”
My heart does a little flip-flop just at her name. What the hell is wrong with me? I’ve purposefully kept my mind Skye-free since my call from Ben last night.
“Sure,” I say. “Put her on.” A click. Then, “Good morning, Skye.”
“Hi, Braden.”
My breath hitches just hearing her voice.
Fuck.