Rise - Part One (Rise #1)(18)

"Is your mom a good cook too?" It's a misplaced question but I've been struggling not to ask him outright about his mother and brother. I'd studied the photographs again when he was busy preparing dinner and it's obvious that his relationship with them changed dramatically after his father's death. That, or they just stopped wanting to document their family unit in pictures after losing him.

His eyes scan my face as if he's searching for some clue about where that question came from. He traces the outline of his fork on the table with his index finger. "She cooked a lot when I was young."

"She doesn't cook for you anymore?" I push, knowing that I'm wandering into a place that I have no right to be. "Does she live in New York?"

His hand pulls away from the fork as he fists it. "She lives in Boston. I don't talk to her very often."

"Why not?"

He doesn't look up from his plate. It's as empty as mine so anything he sees there has little to do with food and more to do with the jumbled dynamics of his relationship with his mom. "I'm busy. She's busy. She was in Paris visiting my brother."

"Your brother lives in Paris?" It's a tangent I didn't expect to go on but I'm going to follow-up every detail he's throwing my way.

"He's been there for a few months. He's coming back to New York soon." He looks past me to the framed photographs. "He's getting married. He's having a baby."

"That's exciting," I offer quietly. "You'll be an uncle."

His shoulders surge forward as I say the words. He shakes his head slightly. "An uncle?"

"Yes," I chuckle. "If your brother and his wife have a baby, you'll be the uncle."

He pushes the fingers of his left hand through his hair before they settle on his chin. "I hadn't thought about that. It never crossed my mind."

"Congratulations." I lift my wine glass in the air. "We should toast to that."

"No," he says gruffly as he pushes both of his hands against the edge of the table. "I can't."

I lower the glass back down as I watch his tall frame disappear around the corner.





Chapter 15


"Some people get freaked out when they realize that they're getting too old to have kids."

That's Lilly logic for you. I can't be surprised by the offering since I'm giving her only shallow tidbits of information to go on. I didn't say a word about what I'd discovered about Landon's father online. I only told her that I congratulated him on the impending birth of his niece or nephew and he bolted out of the room.

"I don't think that's it." I nod towards the blueberry muffin she brought me. "Did you bake that?"

"Clive did," she whispers even though we're completely alone. "He likes to bake. It helps him unwind but he'd flip if he knew I told anyone."

I rip off a small piece and pop it into my mouth. "This is actually really good. Did he make this from scratch or from a mix?"

"He did it all from scratch." She follows my lead and takes a piece too. "It sounds like he's almost a good a cook as Landon is."

After Landon left the table last night, I'd gone into his bedroom and put my dress and shoes back on. When I was smoothing my hair in front of the mirror I saw him walk through the doorway in the reflection.

He'd apologized profusely for leaving the room but he told me, as I sat on the edge of his bed, that he was still adjusting to the idea of his brother becoming a father. He loved his younger brother, he told me, and he'd love the baby too.

I'd left after that, telling him that I needed to get home to start some preliminary work on the project for Liore. He hadn't offered to ride the subway with me or walk me part of the way. Instead, he'd held my hand as we moved silently through his apartment and he'd kissed me goodbye at the door.

I haven't heard from him yet today. Instead of worrying over what I said wrong or what my words stirred up within him, I'd focused on my work. It is my future and I need to keep my head in the game if I'm going to succeed at the task at hand.

"When do you want me to come over for dinner?" I break off another chunk of the muffin. "I'm anxious to talk to Clive about that project."

"I'll check with him tonight and let you know." She scoops up the last of the crumbs and licks them off her finger. "What nights are you seeing Landon this week?"

"We haven't discussed that," I say honestly and without any reservation. We haven't defined things between us and I'm completely good with that. I don't want to rush into anything with a man who travels the world the way he does. I'm not na?ve enough to think that he doesn't see other women. It's hard to imagine that while he's in a place like Milan or Paris that he's not enjoying the company of someone else in a hotel room. I'm not about to emotionally invest myself in someone who lives the majority of their life out of a suitcase.

She eyes me suspiciously before she drops her gaze to her skirt. I watch in silence as she skims her hands over the yellow fabric, brushing away any stray crumbs. "So any night is good for you?"

Clive Parker is about to offer me another project that will not only help build my business, but it will add a much needed cushion to my bank account too. "I can come over whenever you want me to."