His forehead wrinkled. “Is that what you want? I thought you bought this place to live in?”
“Regardless of what I want, rebuilding is the first step.”
“I’m happy for you, man. Do you think you’ll come to family dinner on Sunday?”
After Caroline died, I couldn’t face a house full of memories of Caroline healthy and happy. “I don’t think I’m ready.”
“I miss you. I miss the brother I had.”
“I do, too. I’d like to get back to being that guy.”
Nolan slapped me on the back. “I’ll take whatever I can get because that guy—” He gestured at my house. “That guy wasn’t my brother. He was depressed. He was lost. I couldn’t reach that guy.”
I thought I had moved on. My charity occupied my attention. To hear my brother’s thoughts, sent regret coursing through my body. “I’ll try and be better.”
“I hope so. I’m here for you. Mom and Dad are here for you.”
“Want to order some pizza?” I wanted to change the subject. It was too heavy for the day I was having.
“Sure. You got some beer in this house?” Nolan held open the front door for me.
“You brought some over last time.” I pulled open the fridge that was empty except for beer, eggs, and some cheese. I handed a beer to Nolan as he scrolled through his phone. He ordered a couple of pizzas while I sat on the couch and turned on the TV to college football.
Nolan settled into the recliner. “So, what’s next?”
“What do you mean?”
“Are you renovating the kitchen first?” He tipped his beer at the space we’d opened by removing the wall.
The kitchen looked even more outdated that the wall was gone. “I hadn’t decided, but now that the wall’s down, I probably should.”
“Knocking down the wall made a huge difference.”
“It always does.” I sipped my beer content to be present in the moment.
Chapter Eight
Hadley
I walked the few steps between the firm’s front door and the Hapkido studio’s, carrying the attorney-client agreement and proposed contracts in a file. I’d spent a good portion of the weekend drafting various contract options for his karate studio. I didn’t have to, but I wanted to impress Cade, so he’d refer us to his business associates and friends. At least that’s what I told myself. It had nothing to do with impressing him as a man who I was interested in. I needed this. I needed a sign that I hadn’t made a huge mistake in tying up all my savings in this firm.
As long as I didn’t act on my attraction to him, I’d be fine. And so far, Cade hadn’t given me any indication that he saw me as anything more.
I peered into the studio’s dark windows. It was fifteen minutes until his four p.m. class. He said he usually arrived earlier, but all the lights were off. Maybe he was in his office. I knocked.
“What are you doing here?” a deep rumbly voice came from behind, startling me.
I turned around and came face to face with Cade. “Oh, hi. I thought you were—” I gestured behind me at the studio “—in there.”
His lips twitched in amusement. It was so unexpected I couldn’t take my eyes from his lips and almost missed his words. “I just got here.”
My face heated and I lifted the folder of documents I clutched in my fingers between us. “I wanted to drop these off. It’s your attorney-client agreement and the proposed contracts.”
He raised his brow. “You drafted the contract already?”
I nodded, suddenly worried my hard work made me seem overeager. “A few options. We can go over them, see if they align with what you were thinking.”
Cade unlocked the door and held it open. I brushed past him as I walked inside. His familiar smell washed over me. My hair caught on the scruff on his chin. I turned just as he brushed it off and our eyes caught. An overwhelming desire to go on tiptoes and kiss the scruff on his chin coursed through me. I wanted to rest my hand on his chest to see if it was as hard as it looked.
I needed him to sign this damn agreement, so I’d stop thinking of him as a man and start thinking of him as a client, one I had no business thinking about beyond his legal needs.
“Let’s go to my office.” His voice was gruff, as if he was just as affected as I was.
I followed him down the hallway, through a door on the right.
“I’m sorry. I haven’t had a chance to get my files together yet.”
“Oh, that’s okay. I was anxious to get started.” I looked around his small office with its tall metal file cabinets, a basket of lollipops on his desk, and uniforms folded neatly on a shelf. He sat behind the empty desk. I sat in the only other chair, thinking he must not have many guests. Then I opened the folder on the desk between us and slid the agreement over to him.
“There’s nothing wrong with working hard.” He clasped his hands in front of him.
I ignored the compliment, not wanting him to be kind and understanding on top of being attractive. I needed to maintain my professionalism. “You can read, review, and sign it when you’re ready. I’ll be happy to answer any questions. The estimate for the work we agreed on is attached.”
He leaned his elbows on the desk and read through the agreement while I waited. The walls were empty. There were no degrees or pictures of a family. There was nothing that would tell me more about him. There wasn’t even a mug with a saying on it that would tell me if he was a secret comedian or owned a cat or a dog. There was nothing.
I was so focused on trying to read the spines of the books on the shelf behind him I didn’t realize he was signing the agreement until I heard the scratch of
