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“Okay?” Bryce asked.
“Yeah. Okay,” she repeated.
Bryce didn’t push for more. He wrapped his arms tighter around her, his broad chest heating her back and warming her up from her time spent on the bathroom floor. Desperate for comfort she leaned into him and let his steady breathing lull her to sleep.
Chapter 18
“You realize this is crazy, right?” Bryce asked, keeping his eyes glued to Samantha as she moved around the kitchen.
She didn’t respond, she simply glanced at him over her shoulder before returning her attention to the stove. Despite his misgivings, she had insisted he convince Lizzy to come back over for lunch. Samantha cited closure as the reason behind her demands, and that was one thing he couldn’t argue with. If he could do anything to help her find closure, she could consider it done. Honestly, he could use some of that closure as well.
“What else do you need me to do?” he asked for about the fiftieth time that day.
“Bryce, relax. I’m only making soup, and this is just lunch. I’m feeling much better, and I can handle this. I need this. I can’t keep burying my head in the sand and avoiding conflict. That part of me is over. I need to face this head on if I’m ever going to leave the past in the past,” Samantha explained gently.
“You’re right. I just feel like I should be helping somehow.”
She laughed. “I know, and it’s adorable. Just being here while I confront this woman is all the help I need. If she talks to me crazy and I try to climb across the table, then you can hold me back.”
At that, he felt his shoulders go back to their normal position as he began to relax. Picturing the gentle artsy woman climbing over the table to attack someone was nearly laughable. He had no doubt she could hold her own in a fight, and he had seen the strength she possessed in times of stress, but going on the attack? Now that he would have to see.
Walking up behind her, he pulled her into his arms and placed a kiss on her exposed shoulder. There were work emails to respond to, phone calls to make, and orders to track, but as he watched her in the kitchen, he couldn’t quite bring himself to walk away. She wore a pair of relaxed-fit jeans and a slouchy black sweater that hung off one shoulder, and he couldn’t keep his eyes off of her. Or his hands.
“You should turn the stove down,” he suggested into her shoulder.
She shivered before turning to look at him. “She’ll be here in less than thirty minutes. We don’t have time.”
“I can be quick.”
Laughing, she pushed him away playfully before turning her attention back to the stove. Her laughter was a good sign. Apparently, she really was feeling good about the lunch meeting. He considered it a meeting since they weren’t exactly getting together to socialize. Samantha had questions and so did he.
The quiet knock at the door startled him since Lizzy wasn’t expected for another twenty minutes. He made his way to the door as he heard an “I told you so,” mumbled behind him. He opened the door to an incredibly weary Lizzy standing on the step holding out a bottle of bourbon.
“This can’t be a good sign,” Bryce said with a chuckle escaping. “Come on in.”
After taking the bottle from Lizzy, he turned to see Samantha heading toward them from the kitchen and wondered if it was still considered déjà vu when the events really had happened before. Samantha stopped at his side, gripping his arm, before she finally greeted Lizzy.
“Thanks for coming back,” she said softly. “I’m sorry about the way I disappeared last night.”
Lizzy’s face was a mask of confusion as she stared at Samantha. “Why are you apologizing to me? I figured I was here to do the apologizing.”
“No. No, I wouldn’t ask you to come over here for that. Maybe if I was still in denial about my marriage. But I’m not,” Samantha clarified. “Should we sit in the living room and talk? There’s still about twenty minutes left before the soup is done.”
Lizzy nodded slowly, continuing to stare at Samantha as if she had sprouted a second head. Bryce took a moment to look her over when he took her coat to hang it up. She was not the Lizzy he knew. Her face was free of makeup, and she wore jeans and a hooded sweatshirt. She was much more approachable when she was dressed down like a normal person.
Lizzy was seated on the far end of the sectional, and Bryce took a seat on the opposite side, next to Samantha. Placing a hand on her thigh, he gave her a squeeze of encouragement.
“Did you know about me?” Samantha asked, leaning forward to study Lizzy.
Samantha stiffened beside him, and he heard her loud gasp before his brain registered Lizzy’s response.
Samantha didn’t expect to be the level-headed one calming Bryce down. She figured on things going the other way. As soon as Lizzy said she knew, Bryce was moving to stand. Samantha kept a firm grasp on his shoulder as he sat beside her with his arms folded.
“What do you mean, you knew?” she asked as calmly as her unsteady voice would allow.
“Can you let me explain? Please? I feel awful and I know what I’m going to say is going to make me look terrible.”
Samantha took a deep breath and nodded before looking at Bryce. He closed his eyes and gave a single nod. Anger radiated off him as he clenched and unclenched his fists. She rubbed his arm in an attempt to calm him down.
