Page 7 of I Choose You (Wilder #2)

“Pack it up. We’re getting out of here,” Reid said. He stood in the doorway and raised a brow while I was still recovering from my laughing fit.

“Yeah, that’s fine. I’ll finish the report from my room. I think I’ve been mortified enough for one afternoon.” I meant for it to sound like a joke, but Reid’s scowl only deepened as he waited silently.

The blast of chilly air hit me as soon as the large oak door opened to the outside. Goose bumps spread across my skin, and I wrapped my arms around myself. The blazer I was wearing didn’t protect against the cold weather, especially since I had been wearing it all day in the heated office.

Reid stopped at the passenger side of his truck and opened the door. “Get in.”

“Um, are you kidnapping me?” I asked with a laugh, already getting into his truck.

He rounded the truck without a word.

“Seriously though, where are we going?”

“Millie’s. Have you been there yet?” He reached behind him, pulled out a dark blue Wilder Construction hoodie, and handed it to me.

He didn’t look at me when he spoke, even though we were just sitting in the truck, waiting for it to warm up and the windows to defrost.

I debated putting the sweatshirt on over my blazer so I didn’t have to start undressing in Reid’s truck, but it looked so comfy, and I knew it would be awkward to wear both.

“No,” I said, fighting to get my arms out of the blazer in the confines of the truck cab.

“I heard great things though. Pizza sounds great right now.” Finally, I got the blazer off and threw the hoodie over my head.

Heaven.

It instantly warmed me up, unless that was the scent of bergamot and cedarwood that enveloped me.

“It’s the best pizza in town, plus they have a liquor license. Just beer and wine, but it works.”

“Can’t wait!” I exclaimed a little too loudly.

Reid shook his head slightly, probably regretting his impromptu dinner invite.

I’d been in town for a few weeks already, but I hadn’t met anyone in a social setting.

My mother was right in that sense, not that I would be with Will—that was well done and over—but I would have been busy with some friends, probably at some event that one of them would drag me to.

Having dinner with someone other than myself was an exciting prospect.

Parking at Millie’s proved to be difficult, considering it was a Friday night, but Reid found a spot around back.

Inside, the tables were just as elusive as the parking spots had been.

The enticing smell of fresh-baked pizza filled the room.

It was larger inside than I would have expected, yet every table was taken when we walked in.

The young girl behind the counter was staring at Reid like he’d just saved a box of kittens.

She looked to be about seventeen, her light brown hair was pulled into a ponytail braid, and her youthful skin had a natural glow.

“Hi, what can I get for you?” she asked, solely focused on Reid. Her eyes might as well have hearts in them.

“Sausage pizza and a beer,” he said. He turned to me. “What do you want?”

The menu was posted on chalkboards behind the counter. I scanned it quickly but ultimately decided that the sausage pizza sounded good to me. “I’ll have the sausage pizza as well, but with a glass of white wine, please.”

Reid paid for the food, barely looking in the girl’s direction. He wasn’t necessarily being rude about it, just oblivious to her longing stares.

I scanned the restaurant again, looking for an open table so we could sit and eat rather than taking the food to go. A couple was just getting up from a small two-person table.

The woman approached us, and Reid instantly tensed. “Hi, Reid. How have you been?” she asked, her hand reaching out to touch his arm.

“Fine.”

“That’s good. I’m glad,” she said. Her eyes jumped to me before quickly moving back to Reid and dropping her arm. “I heard your brother was adopting the little girl he found.”

“Yup,” Reid responded, adding, almost like he thought he needed to, “Jane. She’s the best.”

“That’s so great. She’s a lucky little girl.”

“Yup.”

“And everyone else has been good? Your dad? The family?” she asked.

Reid was so still, his entire body holding an odd tension. I didn’t know who this woman was, but she was clearly making him uncomfortable.

He glanced at me, and I got the impression he wished he didn’t have an audience for this. “Everyone’s good, Georgie,” he said, offering her the smallest of polite smiles.

She smiled kindly at me and turned back to him.

“It’s good to see you with someone. I hope she makes you happy.

” Before either of us could tell her that we weren’t together like that, her husband called her from the doorway.

He nodded a greeting at Reid, which Reid returned, and then they were gone.

Reid took the plastic table number and led me to the one open table. He sat silently across from me. The conversation with that woman seemed to have put him in a bad mood, not that that was hard to do.

I studied the room through the lens of a designer, and I was impressed.

The wood-paneled walls were a rustic pine with a dark stain and paired with a pattern tiled floor.

The tables had a shiny polyurethane coating over lighter wood tops.

Metal-framed wood chairs were intermixed with rattan chairs, giving the room a more eclectic feel.

“Wow, this place is great. I can’t believe I haven’t been here yet. There’s a restaurant like this back home that Will and I would go to a lot, but I always thought it had more of a hipster vibe. This feels more authentic somehow.”

Still nothing.

I held my tongue for as long as possible, but I was never comfortable sitting in awkward silences.

“Did you see the story on the news about the elephant that broke out of the zoo and was just roaming the streets? How cool would that be to be driving down the street and you just come up on an elephant!”

“Why would your own mother want you with some scumbag that can’t keep his dick in his pants?” Reid’s question caught me off guard. I didn’t realize he had heard so much of the conversation.

My eyes blinked a few times while I stalled to answer. I could gloss over it, tell him that she didn’t understand the whole story, but that would be a lie.

“Her priorities are different than mine. She’s been a politician’s wife her entire adult life, married to a senator and all.

The fact that I’m thirty-two and unmarried is scandalous enough.

Add to that Will’s political aspirations and his connection with my dad, and it’s like the answer to all her prayers,” I told him.

Sometimes I wondered if she’d had her own experiences with infidelity, but thinking too much about that just made me sad.

I hoped for her sake that she hadn’t, and if she had and it was something that she and my father could work through or manage, then it wasn’t any of my business.

I may be their daughter, but I wasn’t in their marriage.

I knew it wasn’t the marriage I would want though.

“Will and I had been together for three years. It wasn’t all bad.

He could be a decent guy sometimes, until he wasn’t.

Really, it came down to being selfish. He saw something, or someone, he wanted, and he wouldn’t think twice about going for it.

” I shrugged. “It’s funny when I think about it.

Like, I don’t know if he was ever in love with me but rather in love with what we looked like in a photograph,” I laughed.

“And now, he’s been trying to convince me to get back together with him, and honestly, I think it’s mostly my parents’ doing.

” Shaking my head, I sat back when the young woman from the counter came to our table to deliver the pizzas, along with the glass of white wine for me and a can of local IPA for Reid.

“None of that is funny, Claire.”

Reid’s brows were drawn in, creating the cutest line between them. His scowl was so sincere I couldn’t help but laugh again.

“Well, I shared. Now, it’s your turn. What’s your story?”

Reid took a big bite of his pizza. I figured he was going to ignore my question—he didn’t strike me as a sharing stories kind of guy—so I was surprised when he swallowed his bite and answered me.

“I was with someone for a long time. It ended a few months ago.” He took a pull from his beer, and I waited to see if he was going to say more.

“Is that all you’ve got for me?” I poked at him playfully, nudging his foot with mine under the table.

He rolled his eyes, but he kept his gaze firmly on his pizza when he spoke again. “She didn’t cheat on me, but after she ended things, I started to question whether she ever really loved me at all.” He nodded in the direction of the door. “Those people from before, that was her parents.”

Heartbreak. I could certainly relate to that.

“I’m sorry she hurt you.” I reached out and touched his hand. His gaze bounced to mine briefly before he pulled his hand back and grabbed his beer.

“I’m not looking for your pity. Just eat your pizza,” he said. Although he shut down the conversation, his eyes looked a little brighter. A little less gloomy.

“What do we have here?”

Reid and I both turned our heads to the newcomer. He was in his mid- or maybe late fifties. His kind face looked amused as he glanced between me and Reid.

“What are you doing here?” Reid asked.

“Is that any way to talk to your father?” He reached his hand out to me. “I guess I’ll introduce myself. Charlie Wilder.”

He had a strong, firm handshake that I appreciated. My smile was entirely genuine as I shook his hand. “Claire DeLuca. Reid and I are working on a project together.”

“Oh, yes. I know all about that.” Charlie’s eyes danced with amusement.

“Dad, your dinner’s getting cold. You should get going.”

Charlie ignored Reid’s comment, continuing to talk to me. “How are things going over there? Reid been treating you alright?”

My gaze found Reid’s. We both knew that Reid had been dismissive, cold, and sometimes downright rude to me, but I wasn’t going to tattle on him to his dad. Especially not after he’d bought me pizza and wine and shared his sweatshirt with me.

“Reid’s been great. This project is a really big deal for both of us, and Reid’s been a great resource to me. He’s really been, ah, great.” I smiled brightly at Charlie. Was that too many “greats”? That felt like too many “greats.”

Charlie’s deep chuckle shook his entire chest. “That’s kind of you to say, even if it is a lie.” His demeanor changed, a serious expression coming over him. “Reid could use a little more kindness in his life right now.”

“Okay, Dad. Thanks for stopping by. Enjoy your night. Tell Sheila I said hi.” Reid’s rapid-fire words made Charlie shake his head with a smirk on his face. He patted Reid on the shoulder and nodded to me.

“It was nice to meet you, Claire,” he said before taking his leave.

“You too.” I turned to Reid, “He seems nice. I’m guessing you don’t take after him,” I teased.

“He’s nosy, and he goes out of his way to embarrass his kids,” Reid said with a roll of his eyes. His lips turned up in a smirk. “But yeah, he’s pretty cool. And way nicer than me.”

“Clearly,” I laughed.

Reid’s smile at my teasing lit me up with pride. He had a great smile, and I resolved to make him smile more just so I could see it.