“Fuck, she’s more than cute. There’s something about her,” I state, still not taking my eyes off her.
“She doesn’t look like your type.” I look at Nate, and he smirks at me.
“You know me, Nate, I don’t have a type. I love all women, all types: blonde, brunette, redhead, tall or short,” I answer cockily.
Nate laughs. “Exactly my point. She doesn’t look like your type.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” I sigh. Innocence pours from her. I’ve known my fair share of women, and she isn’t giving off the vibes I would normally look for in an easy lay. The redhead though, she’s a different story. “I don’t put in more than one date, and she is definitely a committed type of girl. She’s more your type.” I laugh.
Nate is known for serious relationships. He had one girlfriend after the other in high school. I don’t think he has ever hooked up with a girl just to do it. Me? That’s all I’ve ever done.
“I’m not even going to give a fuck that you are taking the piss out of my faithfulness. For her, I’ll take it.”
“Well, on you go then.”
Nate slaps me on the back before heading over to the girls. I laugh and shake my head as I watch Nate chat to the beautiful brunette with her shy smile and innocent eyes. I idly wonder if I could’ve tried the boyfriend thing for once. Nah, fuck that. I shake my head as I head inside the gym to wait for Logan and Jake.
I won’t lie: my dirty thoughts of Brooke didn’t stop there. They had ceased, or at least slowed down, once Nate and Brooke got serious. Let’s be honest: all guys have a few fantasies about their mates’ girls. Once Brooke and Nate moved in together, and then got married, she became like family, and I didn’t look at her in any other way other than Nate’s. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a dirty thought about Brooke, and I can’t start now. She’s my best friend’s wife.
I decide to spend some time returning my phone messages, answering some emails, and adjusting some spreadsheets while I wait for her to finish lunch with Bill. I look at the clock on my computer and see it’s been nearly two hours. I hope she’s all right. I thought she would’ve been here by now.
Standing from my desk, I make my way out to Ruth. “Have you seen Brooke?”
She looks up from her computer. “Not recently.”
“She was supposed to meet me in my office an hour ago.”
“I went down to drop some papers off to Harper, then went for a coffee maybe forty-five minutes ago and she was in the staff room.”
“Who with?” I say through clenched teeth.
“Chatting with Sue about the kids. What’s going on, Saxon?”
My heart slows, and I feel like a fucking idiot. She is a grown woman. I can keep an eye on her and I can try to protect her, but I can’t wrap her up in bubble wrap.
I drop my head and let out a deep sigh. “I feel responsible for her. I feel like I let Nate down by not being there for her for the last three months. I feel like if she changes her mind and goes home and never returns, it’s because I failed her.”
“Saxon.” Ruth’s voice draws my gaze and her eyes are soft. “No one knows what she’s going through. No one can predict how she’s going to cope. We can only be here for her, if and when she wants us. If it makes you feel better, when I entered the staff room she was laughing so hard she was snorting,” she says with a fond smile.
I smile thinking of her in Bill’s office with her smart-ass comments and attempts to provoke me. “I’m going to try and find her and see if she’s going to work today.”
Ruth smiles at me as I head towards the elevator. What would I do without her?
As the elevator doors open, I hear the familiar hyena laugh. I can’t help but break out in a wide smile of my own.
Exiting the elevator, I see Brooke leaning back in an office chair that normally belongs in the staff room, her feet propped up on the front desk.
Harper and Brooke are laughing so hard they don’t hear the elevator open or me approaching the desk. “Working hard, ladies?” I ask, cocking an eyebrow at them.
Harper sits up and straightens her face, places her glasses back on, and shuffles some papers on her desk. Brooke, on the other hand, tries to sit up and ends up leaning back further and tilting the chair, her arms flying about trying to gain some balance while her feet are still propped up on the desk.
I move quickly to get behind the reception desk and push the back of her chair back up. Brooke goes flying forward and suddenly stills. Her breath hitches, and I know she just shit herself. She places her feet on the floor and straightens her skirt. “Fuck,” she breathes out. I raise an eyebrow at her, and she covers her mouth. “Sorry,” she says with a guilty look on her face.