Page 59 of A Lifetime of Afters
“Bastard,” she scowled, then grinned at me.
I grinned back, then got serious. “I’m sorry I lied to you, but I had to respect his feelings. It was a lose-lose situation for me. I’ve loved him for so long, if he was finally going to give us a shot, I had to take it.”
“Of course,” she murmured. “I’m sorry, Noelle.”
“Love you, Harley. Never would have lied to you if I could have done this any other way.”
Coming around the desk, she perched on my lap, her short, little legs swinging, and threw her arms around my neck. With her forehead pressed to mine, she promised, “I’m here, okay?”
I nodded, swallowing around the lump in my throat, one more kind word away from bawling. Again.
A brisk knock on Harley’s door sounded half a second before the door swung open. “Hey, Harley. I got here as soon as I - for fuck’s sake, do I even want to know?” Max complained.
Harley winked at me. “It’s purely platonic, Max.”
He huffed out an irritated breath. “Good. I’ve got nothing against lesbians. Or throuples. But how the hell would this work? A total mind-fuck.”
“We’re not a throuple. Ew, Max. That’s my brother.” Harley shifted off my lap and pushed him into a chair. “Want some of my bear claw?”
“Ah, that’s how you got in,” he mused, throwing me a bemused look before sarcastically adding, “Nice to see she was your first stop.”
I gave him my best cat’s smile. “She wasn’t.”
That got his attention. “What do you mean?”
At the look on my face, he sat back and groaned. “What did you do?”
“I might have ordered you some reading material to help you get used to the idea of me boning your best friend.”
“Fuck,” he stood, hands on his hips as he glared at me. “Do you have to put it like that?” His eyes darted around the room. “You did something to my office?”
“Yup,” I gloated. “And you’re forgiven.”
He pointed at his own chest, his face a mask of surprise. “I’m forgiven?”
“Yes,” I replied evenly. “But if you ever put your hands on Hawkley because of me again, you and I are going to have trouble. I’ve loved that man my entire adult life. I don’t know if he loves me, yet, but he wants me. For some reason only known to him and God, he doesn’t feel like he should have me.”
Max seemed to deflate at my confession. “But you want him.”
“I do. Always have.”All in.“Always will.”
“Well, fuck me,” Max breathed. He contemplated me for a moment, then that damned dimple flashed. “What can I do?”
I leaned forward, eager to begin my campaign. “Love him.”
Chapter Twenty-Two - My Sweet Girl
I’d grown used to my office. I added a few throw pillows I found in town and bought myself a mug just for work. I’d even hung a framed painting I found in my childhood bedroom that I fell in love with a million years ago.
I sat staring at that painting while I contemplated my situation. Stage one of my campaign to win Hawk consisted in showing him that our family would accept our relationship.
For her part, in true Harley fashion, she planned to unleash her Mama bear on her brother, berating him for keeping me a secret, and in that way, showing her support. Harley rarely exposed her tender underbelly. A tiny bulldozer, she showed her love and support the only way she could. Which made it all the more incomprehensible that she put up with Paul.
Max promised to go see Hawk just as soon as he cleared out the shipment of romance novels featuring heroines falling in love with their best friend’s brother or their brother’s best friend. Knowing Max would be at the receiving end of endless amounts of ribbing from the women who worked with him amused me to no end.
Other than that, I had little to smile about.
I weaved my ribbon through my fingers. Since the Christmas party, it lived in my pocket or my purse. A comfort and a reminder. Though I wasn’t so sure anymore what it was supposed to remind me of.
