But then, why would she? She finally had Luke eating out of her hand. Dr. Luke Seeley, who was everything she could ever want in a man. Ambitious, hardworking, selfless, loving, from a good family, and apparently, if all signs were correct, on his way to falling in love with her.
Yes. Benny was definitely going to be better off.
All the same, knowing this stuff and coming to terms with it were completely different things, and Henry’d spent
the entire night torturing himself with these thoughts until he finally rolled out of bed and headed to the gym to work off his stress.
He was cradling his baseball in his hands, still recalling the details of yesterday’s afternoon with Benny, when he realized someone was talking to him.
He looked up to see Becks standing at the door with a bemused expression on her face.
“Henry? You doing all right?”
Lord. How long had she been standing there trying to get his attention? “Just fine. Sorry. Had a rough night’s sleep.”
“I could probably come back when you’re feeling a little more…animated,” she said, and walked across the office before sinking into the seat opposite him, “but since I have some big news I thought you should know straight away, I’ll take what I can get.”
He’d been about to toss the ball to his other hand, but her statement stopped him. “News?”
“I just got off the phone with AirPro Athletics. They were impressed by your presentation the other day, not to mention your assurances that you understood and shared their vision of family and community. We’ve got the account.”
She was looking at him expectantly, and he supposed he should express some modicum of enthusiasm. “That’s great. Just what we wanted. I told you it wouldn’t be a problem.”
“That’s it? That’s all I’m going to get?” She smiled, though, shaking her head. “Whoever she is, she’s really messing with your head.”
He sat up straighter. “She is? I assure you, that’s not what’s going on here. I told you. I just didn’t get much sleep last night. This news is…great. Unbelievable. I’ll be sure to meet with the team right away to give them the good news.”
She came to her feet. “You do that, Henry. You might also just want to take a day or two off. Get some real relaxation in. What with landing this account and earning that nomination, not to mention managing to go three full weeks without so much as a byline from any of the tabloids, you’ve earned it.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks, Becks.”
Only he didn’t feel like celebrating now any more than he had before Becks walked in that door. In fact, his mind was somewhere else. With someone else.
He wondered if she’d already taken the steps she’d need to move on with the good Dr. Seeley. He just hoped he’d be able to keep up the pretense that imagining her with anyone else wasn’t like a knife to the chest.
She deserved to be happy. Even if it wasn’t with him.
…
“You know, my parents are going to be in town next weekend. They really would like to meet you,” Luke said, wrapping his hands around her waist and facing her while the elevator slowly crept upward to the tenth floor.
It was Thursday night, and they’d just come from a movie where she’d eaten too much popcorn and drank too much soda, and she felt a little sick.
“Your parents?” Luke’s parents had moved to a retirement community in the sunny southern climes of Tempe, Arizona, which was about ten hours’ drive away from Salt Lake, so their trip up, she hoped, had nothing to do with meeting her.
“Don’t look so worried,” he said and laughed, tucking a stray hair from her face. “They’ll love you.”
“They’re not coming all this way to meet me, though. Right?”
“Not that that would be so unbelievable, but no. There’s actually an amateur golf tournament next weekend they already had planned on attending. Meeting you is just a happy coincidence.”
“In that case…I can’t wait.”
She tilted her head up to catch his kiss, a move that, after Saturday and two more dinner dates under their belt, was feeling much more natural. He was a good kisser, and she closed her eyes, enjoying the sweet moment.
She hadn’t even been aware that the elevator doors had opened until the sound of someone clearing their throat brought her back to earth. They grinned at each other and turned to apologize to whoever had caught them in such an awkward moment.
Holy Hannah.