Page 190 of Wait for Him

"You two go on," Samson says. "Have fun. Get to know each other. Take all the time you want."

"What kind of chores is he good at?" I ask. "I need a good housekeeper, and he's young and strapping."

James looks at me with a smirk already forming. "Does that make you old and drabby?"

I narrow my eyes.

"Oh, I'm going to enjoy this," Lauren says with a shake of her head.

That gets another laugh out of him, and we say our goodbyes before making our way outside.

Gerald is waiting by the car and gets out to open the rear door for us.

James stops dead. "You have a driver?"

His voice cracks on the last word.

"I do." I point toward the back of the car. "But visitors ride in the trunk. Pop it, Gerald."

"You behave now, Ms. Rose."

I turn on him in mock outrage. "Traitor. I'll have your badge."

"I never got a badge." He gestures toward the open door. "In you go. You're taking years off my life."

We slide in, and James immediately turns into a kid in a candy store, touching everything, pushing every button, testing the window three times like the third result might somehow differ from the first two.

"Do you want to take a picture with me?" he asks, already pulling out his phone.

I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. None of tonight feels realistic. I came here prepared for tears, anger, questions I wouldn't know how to answer, maybe even a rejection I would have to accept with a smile on my face. Instead, he's sitting beside me asking for a picture like this isn't the biggest emotional event of my life.

But he's here. He wants to know me.

He slides closer, lifts the phone, and we both smile. The screen shows us back side by side, and fuck, we look so much alike it's almost ridiculous. Same eyes. Same mouth. Same streak in our hair. If there were any lingering doubts about biology, the front-facing camera just closed the case.

He snaps the photo.

"I'm going to follow you on social media. Is that okay?"

"Absolutely."

"Do you lift? You're pretty ripped," he asks while I shrug out of my blazer.

I glance down at my arms and give them a little flex because I have earned these motherfuckers. "No, but I've thought about it. I started boxing this past year. Krav Maga and Jiu Jitsu, too."

He shakes his head slowly, grinning. "Bad. Ass."

"Thank you. I worked very hard to become intimidating in comfortable clothing." I fold the blazer beside me. "Do you do anything sports-related? I haven't seen anything on your socials."

"No, I'm not really athletic like that. I'm the computer nerd at school."

"You're like my brother, then. He was exactly the same at your age. I'll introduce you. We're headed toward his neighborhood now, but you can meet him whenever you're ready. No rush."

"Bennet? I know him." James looks at me like I'm the one who's behind on current events. "He comes by the restaurant like once a week and hangs out at the house all the time. He's who I'm doing the internship with after I graduate."

I stare at him.

"That fucker."