Page 7 of Unstoppable You (Sapph in the City #6)

Chapter Seven

Delaney

I took one or two Pilates classes a week and she just had to end up in one of them.

At least she was on the other side of the room, so I didn’t have to look up and see her. If she hadn’t literally stared at me so hard that I felt it, I probably wouldn’t have seen her at all.

Fuming, I kept my focus on the instructor, refusing to give James even a fraction of my attention or energy. All of that was reserved for getting through this class alive. It was a higher difficulty level than I was accustomed to, and about ten minutes in I was regretting all my life choices.

The minutes crawled by as I flopped on my mat and lifted weights that were so small but made my arms hurt so much. By the end I was pouring sweat, shaking, and desperate for Belgian waffles covered in chocolate and bananas, bacon, and a frothy latte.

I dilly dallied until I was the last one in the room so I could hopefully avoid James in the locker room. Walking as slowly as I could without tripping over my own feet, I headed to the locker room, eyes darting left and right for any glimpse of James.

The gym was busy, the locker room buzzing with people talking about the rest of their weekend plans and complaining about their workouts and spouses and kids. All the usual gym stuff.

I found the locker where I’d put my stuff and pulled my bag out of it. As I was checking to make sure I had everything before hitting the showers, I heard a voice on the other side of the lockers.

“Connor, the answer is no. If you keep this shit up, I’m blocking your number. I don’t give a fuck if you’re my brother. Bye.”

There were plenty of women who could be talking to guys named Connor like that in here. But none of them had James’s exact voice. I froze where I was and heard her muttering to herself before slamming her locker and walking toward the main door, which led her right past me.

“James,” I said, my mouth forming her name before I had even decided to speak. She turned, her face pale and pinched with unhappiness.

Shit. I’d called her name and now I didn’t know what to say. She waited anyway.

“He’s an asshole to you too?” I managed to say.

She opened her mouth to say something and then closed it, nodding.

“I’m sorry,” I said. Why the hell was I apologizing? Her brother wasn’t a moldy bag of radioactive dildos because of me. We’d both suffered for knowing him.

I’d only had to deal with him for four years. She’d had to deal with him her whole life. And at least I got to kick him out of my house.

She shrugged. “He is who he is. I should have blocked him a long time ago. Gone no-contact. But family is complicated.”

No matter how bad the bullying at school had gotten, I’d been able to go home to two parents who loved me unconditionally. My childhood outside of school had been almost ideal and I had nothing but good memories from those times.

James probably couldn’t say the same. Not only had she gotten stuck with the brother she had, her parents were the actual worst. I cringed at the memory of her dad storming into the school and trying to throw his weight around. Then there was her mom, the most passive aggressive woman to ever walk the earth. She’d join a volunteer group and within hours had caused complete mayhem and turned half the moms against the other half leading to tears, accusations, and the spilling of too many secrets.

In short, James had drawn the short straw in the family department.

My stomach rumbled, reminding me that I needed to feed it ASAP.

“I was just about to go to brunch. Do you want to join me?” What the hell was I saying?

James raised her eyebrows so high they almost kissed her hairline.

“Really?” she asked. “Is that a genuine offer?”

Her tone was snappish, but I didn’t take it personally. Talking with Connor would have put me in the same frame of mind.

It was now or never.

My original plan of pretending she was a stranger and never acknowledging her existence wasn’t working, so I guessed this was the new plan. Or at least it was the plan for today. I wouldn’t have done it if she hadn’t sounded and looked so wrecked. Fuck.

“Yeah, it’s a sincere offer. As long as you don’t spend the whole time giving me an apology speech again.”

That comment made her lips twitch at the corners. Almost a smile.

“I won’t. I promise.” We stood there staring at each other as if neither of us knew what to do or say next. This was uncharted territory.

“I need to shower and change first,” I announced, and then blushed because did she really need to know that? No.

“Oh, of course. I’ll just wait out front. Take your time.” She’d thrown a purple fleece on over her light pink matching bra and leggings. The whole look was effortlessly cool. Like she was off to model for an activewear brand. Even her shoes had purple-and-pink accents on them.

I wish I was that coordinated today. My tank was an old one that had a few holes and a design so faded you couldn’t even figure out what it was, and my pants had also seen better days.

You’d think for someone who worked with clothing, I’d put in more effort, but I’d just shoved whatever my fingers touched first into my bag this morning on my way out the door.

At least the clothes I had to change into were a cute pastel mint cropped sweatshirt and pants. James left me to my shower and I gathered up my things in a bewildered daze.

Less than a half hour later I found myself sitting across from James at another table while we tried to make small talk but failed spectacularly. Usually, to carry on a conversation, you had to have some curiosity about the other person, and I didn’t really want to know any more about James than I already did, so we were at a conversational impasse.

“Supposed to rain tomorrow,” I said. Great. I was talking about the flipping weather.

“Mmm,” she responded. Guess she wasn’t going to make much of an effort either.

I was just about to escape to the bathroom when our server came to take our orders. I put in my usual order and James selected the classic breakfast plate with eggs, bacon, sausage, two pancakes, and cranberry juice.

She crossed her legs under the table and winced. I was familiar with the feeling.

“My legs always hurt so bad after class,” I said. There, that was something.

“I know. You go in so confident and then get your ass handed to you.”

I managed to find a little laugh in the back of my throat and her shoulders relaxed a little.

“I’m still not sure if moving back was the right idea,” she said, as if she was thinking aloud.

Shit. I didn’t want to talk about this.

“Why did you?” I blurted out. As if I wanted to know!

Well. Maybe a teeny tiny part of me wanted the gossip.

James lifted her eyes to the ceiling and sighed. “Combination of factors. The city was getting more and more expensive and I just wasn’t feeling…connected, I guess is the right word. So many of the people I tried to make friends with would be there one minute and the next they’d get a job somewhere else, or move back home, or decide the city was too expensive and vanish into the woods. Western Mass. Same thing.”

She waved a hand and I suppressed a snort. Did she just make a joke? I didn’t recall James ever saying anything particularly funny.

Our server returned with our drinks and she grabbed at her cranberry juice as if she was desperately thirsty. Or trying to stave off a UTI.

I pulled my latte closer and took a cautious sip. Delicious. I couldn’t wait for the caffeine to hit my veins.

“Anyway,” James said once she’d drained her glass in a few gulps. “I didn’t know where else to go so I just came back here. Seemed as good a place as any.”

Huh. Interesting. She was so nonchalant about it for someone who’d been like “bye bitches!” the minute she had her diploma and a college acceptance.

“Plus, it’s so much cheaper. I can’t believe how much bigger my apartment here is.”I wouldn’t call my place cheap at all, so Boston prices had to be through the roof.

“And you didn’t have a job or anything keeping you there?” I finally asked. Okay, okay, my curiosity had officially taken over and I was going with it. We were already here, and she was talking so I might as well find out.

“I work from home,” she said, not meeting my eyes.

“Me too. I mean, part time.”

She nodded. “I know.”

Right. She followed my social account. That was how she’d messaged me in the first place.

Was her job a secret? Was it embarrassing? Now I was really interested.

James inhaled through her nose and leaned back in her chair, as if she was bracing herself. “I’m a baby name consultant.”

“What the hell is that?” I blurted out. “Sorry.”

She waved that elegant hand again. “I usually get that reaction. I meet with parents and help them choose names based on the meanings or cultural significance or find ones from history. Names can be important.” She would know. I’d never heard of a girl named James before.

Intrigued, I asked the question that I had wondered for many, many years. “Why did your parents name you James?”

She shrugged. “The ultrasound tech must have messed up, plus my mom was absolutely convinced she was having another boy. So when I came out and obviously wasn’t, they named me James anyway. It came from my grandfather.”

Oh. That wasn’t as good a story as I had always assumed.

“Huh,” I said out loud.

“Were you expecting something else?” she asked.

“No. I guess not. It’s just unusual.”

“I own it. It was one of the only things my parents did right for me.” Ouch.

Our food arrived and she went quiet again. We’d been doing so well for a little while there.

Guess it was my turn. “My parents just picked my name out of one of those books. They went over so many options. I was almost Darcy, which might have been fun.”

James put her fork down and studied me for so long I felt myself blushing. Being under that kind of scrutiny was unnerving.

“You don’t look like a Darcy,” she announced.

“Why not?” Darcy was such a cute name. Plus, it made me think of Pride and Prejudice .

“It’s not right for you. Means ‘descendant of the dark-haired one.’ Clearly not for you.” She nodded at my hair.

Wow. The fact that she was able to tell me that without even looking it up was bizarre.

“And what does Delaney mean?” I asked, almost terrified to know the answer. What if it was something bad or gross?

James smiled slowly. “It means ‘dark challenger’ or ‘angel from heaven.’ Much more suited to you.”

My entire face heated up. Wow. I had no idea. Who knew hearing your name’s meaning was so intimate.

“How do you know that?”

James picked up a piece of bacon and crunched it. “I looked it up a while ago and remembered it. And I recently had a client who picked the name Darcy. I don’t just have an encyclopedia of name meanings in my brain all the time. It would make things easier if I did.”

Still, it was impressive she’d managed to pull those two out.

“How did you even get a job like that?” Hopefully my blush had faded.

James methodically cut her eggs into small pieces. “I got an English degree and worked in publishing for a few years, but it wasn’t stable enough or consistent enough. I was tired of relying on other people and wanted to build something on my own. That way, if I failed, it was on me and not because of the whim of someone else. And I guess I wanted to see if I could. I got served a random video online with another woman talking about doing it and I knew it was the perfect thing to do with my English degree and research skills. I had to basically make things up as I went along, but I’ve been doing it for almost two years now and I am constantly turning potential clients away.”

That was truly wild. A job I had never heard of and she was drowning in clients.

“Damn, I am in the wrong line of work,” I said.

There was that almost smile again. “It’s a lot of work and there are really hard days too. But it’s rewarding. I also offer to help trans and nonbinary people pick names as well, but that’s just for fun.”

Wow. Now that she was talking about her job, she seemed much more relaxed and open, her eyes clear and bright. Loving your job was something I was very familiar with.

“I know what you mean. I love being a bookseller. On the good days, I’d do it for free if I could. On the hard days, I tell myself that I don’t get paid enough.”

Then something happened that I never expected. We both started laughing at the same time.

If you’d told me a week ago I would be sitting across from James St. Clair having brunch and swapping work stories, I would have said you must be thinking about a different Delaney with a different James because it definitely wasn’t me with this woman.

Eventually we lapsed into silence while we each demolished our plates of food. I kept having to tell myself to slow down so I didn’t choke because damn, those were good waffles.

Our server came to ask if we wanted anything else and James asked for the check.

“I’ve got this one,” she said.

“You already bought the croissants,” I pointed out. It wasn’t that I wanted to pay, but it rankled that this was the second time I’d gotten food with her and she was paying again.

“It’s not that big a deal. I’m not going to fight you, Delaney.” I wasn’t going to fight her either. It didn’t matter that much to me.

“It’s the least I can do. You’ve helped me more than you know,” she said when the server brought the check and she took it. Huh? Oh, right. The whole reason we were sitting here was because I had pity on her for having to deal with Connor. That would be my good deed for the day. It should really count as my good deed for the week.

“Yeah, sure,” I said, not wanting to get into it. I didn’t want to think about having sympathy for James.

Our meal had concluded, but neither of us knew how to end this bizarre interaction. James finally got up, and I followed her example, wanting to roll my eyes as she held the door open for me and I muttered my thanks under my breath.

“Sooo…” I said, drawing out the word as we stood outside facing each other.

“So.” Short and to the point.

I opened my mouth to say “bye” when she beat me to it. “I wanted to ask you something.”

Oh god, what now.

“Okay?” This could be anything from “can I borrow a pen?” to “can I borrow a kidney?”

She glanced up the street. “I was hoping to join the book club at Between the Sheets, but I didn’t know if that would be weird for you. Since you work there.”

Oh. That was less than a kidney but a little more than a pen.

“Yeah, that’s fine. Whatever.” In my effort to appear like I didn’t care, I sounded like I cared. Crap.

“You can do what you want,” I added, only making things worse.

James studied my face and I hated the way her eyes felt like they were peeling off my outermost layers and seeing all the ugly squishy embarrassing things underneath that I did my best to hide from everyone, even my own family.

James saw me in a way that was so uncomfortable that it made my skin itch.

“Okayyyy,” she said, drawing the word out. “I didn’t want to show up and surprise you.”

“I probably won’t even be there,” I blurted out, knowing full well that I never missed book club. It was one of the best parts of my job and I would have shown up for free even if I wasn’t getting paid.

“Oh.” James moved her lips into a smile that was there and gone in a blink. “I’m sure you have other things to do today.”

That was sort of true. My plans today included soaking in a tub with a bath bomb, reading, maybe some laundry, working on a new shirt design, and eating leftover chili with nacho cheese chips instead of a spoon, followed by a sleeve of Girl Scout cookies that had been hanging out in my freezer. You know, important shit.

“I do,” I said.

“Right.”

“I’m gonna go now,” I blurted out, since one of us needed to leave and I guessed it was going to be me.

“Bye, Delaney. Thank you.”

“Yeah, uh huh,” I said, backing away from her and then turning around. I was heading in the wrong direction, but she didn’t need to know that. I just kept walking and swung a right so I could make a loop to get back to my apartment.

It wasn’t until I made the turn that I stopped feeling James’s eyes on me.