Page 70 of The Night
I grinned as I threw it open. “Did you forget your key, or do you need my—”
“Surprise!” There was a dark-haired guy in the doorway holding a bunch of roses when I’d been expecting a silver fox with a pine tree.
My smile fell. “Scott? What are you doing here?”
“Rescuing you!” He stepped forward and leaned in to kiss my cheek, but I took a quick step back. Unfortunately, that meant Scott ended up in Gideon’s hallway.
“Rescuing me from what?” I very deliberately didnotshut the door.
“From whateverbusinessis keeping you from getting back to Boston.” He stepped to the middle of the hall and did a three-sixty, frowning at the ride-on railroad in the dining room and the Santa-tastic decor before turning back to me. His hair flopped over his eye.How had I ever found that attractive?“I’ve missed you, sunshine.”
“Uh. Scott, I think we may have gotten off track here—”
“I know! That’s why I’m here to help, so you can get things done. Judy isnothappy that you haven’t been taking assignments, and between you and me, she’s started reassigning your stuff to Claudio, and he’sgood.” Scott shook his head appreciatively, then seemed to catch himself. His smile looked forced. “I mean, you are too, sunshine!Obviously! But you don’t want to start a wholethingwhere people see how good his work is and then they look atyoursand they start to think… Well,youknow.”
I frowned at him. Had he always been like this? Talking ninety miles an hour and saying jack shit? So concerned with appearances and not with quality?
He came toward me and set his hands on my shoulders. The rose bouquet bopped me in the head, and he laughed when I flinched. “The way you smile makes me melt, you know that? It always has.”
Smile?What smile?
“I reallydidmiss you. And I know you have to bedyingto get back to real life. You know, since you’ve been gone, I’ve been thinking about how well we complement each other. You make me laugh, I help you with your work—” He pulled me toward him.
“Scott.” I pushed his hands off me and stepped far away. “Not all criticism is helpful, FYI. And I’m still stuck on how you got here. And why you thought you’d be welcome.”
He blinked. “You invited me.”
“I didn’t.”
“You did!”
“Oooh, that’s a definite no.”
“You said, ‘you have to see O’Leary sometime.’ So I picked now.” He beamed and stepped toward me again. “This way you’ll be home for the holidays, and we can—”
“Scott!” I interrupted. “Focus. You didn’t have the address for this house. And I haven’t answered your texts inthree days,so I know I haven’t given it to you.”
“I know, and I’m very put out. But you can make it up to me.” He looked around again and set his bouquet on the table by the door. “So. Do you have much stuff?”
“Huh?”
“To move out.” He stepped close enough to ruffle my hair, and once again I stepped away.
“Stop following me around like we’re doing the motherfucking two-step! I am not moving out.” Hell, I hadn’t movedinyet… but I wanted to. Gideon had said Hazel could stay as long as she liked, right? And we were a package deal. “In fact, I might stay in O’Leary permanently.”
“In this tiny town?” Scott’s face squished up like he’d eaten something nasty. “You’ve literally lost your mind, haven’t you? How many fingers am I holding up? Who’s the president?”
“Get your fingers out of my face before I break them.” I was channeling Gideon, and it feltreallyfucking good.
“Every man over twenty in this town is dressed up like Santa Claus, Liam! The inmates are running the asylum here! And I’m sorry to say it, but Hazel iseven ruderthan last time I saw her.”
My mouth went dry. “You saw Hazel?”
He nodded. “At some little Christmas tree… marketplace.” He waved a dismissive hand. “And thatfriendof yours who was with her is the most tactless, insultingjackassI’ve ever had the displeasure of meeting.”
My heart banged crazily in my chest. Only one person I knew in O’Leary fit that description. “You met Gideon?”
“Is that his name?” Scott rolled his eyes. “You need to ask yourself, Liam, if that’s really the sort of influence you want around your child.”