“Good,” Beatrice said. “Molly accepted the role of special projects liaison for Washington this morning.”
Did the earth just open up underneath me? I actually looked at the ground to make sure it hadn’t and that my chair was still on solid footing.
Logan exhaled slowly, audibly. “She told me a little bit about the opportunity you’ve given her.”
“I’m so honored that Beatrice is giving me this chance,” Molly said with a loaded glance at her brother. “I’m excited to work with Amazon.” She paused, and her eyes flicked to me for the first time since she sat down. “And Noah.”
My foot started tapping rapidly. I turned to Beatrice. “What does a special projects liaison do?”
“She’ll be your point person. She’ll be the one there every day for filming, get Amazon whatever they might need, finalize filming schedule with you, make sure the brand is protected through the process, and make sure everything goes as smoothly as possible. For Amazon, but most importantly, for you, Noah.”
Every word was like a tiny slash over my skin. By itself, it didn’t open much of a wound, but combine them all and I’d bleed out if I thought too hard about what it meant for me.
I’d be with Molly constantly.
My face was perfectly calm, but inside, a storm raged at the idea, wild and unpredictable. Because all I knew of her was that she was wild and unpredictable, something I couldn’t or wouldn’t even want to control. And she would be the one making sure everything ran smoothly.
Beside me, Molly kicked at my foot, a silent warning that her boss couldn’t see over the expanse of her desk.
Logan dropped his elbows to his knees and buried his head in his hands.
I pinched the tip of my tongue between my teeth so tightly that I tasted the bright coppery tang of blood.
“Are we excited to get started?” Beatrice asked, as happy as I’d seen her.
“Yup,” Molly said.
Logan let out a muffled curse, then lifted his head.
Beatrice stood. “Excellent. Gentlemen, I have another meeting to get to. Molly, please figure out the next couple of days with Noah before he heads to practice.” With a demure smile toward the woman sitting to my left, she nodded regally. “Dealing with Amazon is officially your responsibility.”
She left, and the thick vacuum of silence at her exit practically pulsed with all the things unsaid.
“This is the worst idea I’ve ever heard,” Logan ground out. “Molly, you cannot be serious right now.”
“You don’t get a say in it, Logan. Coach mode, remember?” She folded her arms over her chest.
He stood, spreading his arms out. “When have I ever been able to shut off being your brother? Never. And I won’t apologize for that.”
I leaned forward with a groan. This was my fucking nightmare.
Molly stood and faced him, jaw set mulishly and eyes ablaze. “Logan, outside, now.” Then she pointed a finger at me. “You, stay here. I’ll be back in thirty seconds, and if you’ve moved from that chair, don’t think I won’t hunt you down at practice. Those guys don’t scare me.”
Logan’s eyes were as wide as mine before she grabbed him by the elbow, and even though she was almost a foot shorter and a decade plus younger, she dragged my coach from the office.
MOLLY
Someone from the front office passed us, grinning unapologetically at the way I manhandled my big brother into the hallway.
Logan slicked his tongue over his teeth, ripping the hat from his head with an agitated tug of his hands. “This is a terrible idea,” he said again. Like I hadn’t heard him the first time he complained about it.
“What would you have me do?” I asked him, not even attempting to keep the heat from my voice. “Beatrice is practically daring me to screw this up. You’re not helping me think she’s wrong.”
His mouth fell open. “I don’t think you’ll screw it up, Molly.”
“Don’t you? If you trusted me to do my job, you’d be able to keep all those judgey big brother thoughts in your head.” I swirled my finger toward his face, currently frozen in a frown.
Logan groaned, tipping his chin up to the ceiling. “Cut me some slack, okay? It’s … it’s him.” He gestured helplessly back at Beatrice’s office. “The last time Noah was around for any extended period—“
“I was sixteen,” I whispered fiercely, my face hot. If he hadn’t dropped his eyes apologetically, I would’ve punched him in the balls. “That’s categorically unfair to assume I’d react the same way. You think I don’t know how stupid it was what I did? How lucky we both were that his dad walked in when he did? I get it, okay? But you need to check your impulse to remind me of your opinion every single time something big changes in my life.”
I was breathing hard, my chest heaving and my throat tight.
It was hard enough to sit next to Noah, knowing he hated me, knowing he wanted nothing to do with me, and knowing that my big shot with my boss was now partially in his grasp. What I didn’t need was my big brother treating me like a teenager again.
Logan sighed heavily and pulled me in for a tight squeeze. “I’m sorry,” he said into the top of my head.
I clutched my hands around his wide back and allowed myself to relax into his embrace for a moment. Logan might not have been my father, but he was better than the one I’d been born to. And for almost twelve years, he’d been the one assuming the legal role.
“I’m sorry too,” I said quietly. Pulling back, I glanced at his handsome face with a shy grin. “Hazards of working together, huh?”
He laughed and slipped the hat back on his head. “I suppose.”
“You’re lucky you apologized,” I told him.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. I was ready to tell Paige what happened to that picture she bought for the dining room that mysteriously shattered.”
His eyes narrowed. “You promised to keep that a secret.”
“Secrets have a funny way of coming out when big brothers act like overprotective bullies at work,” I said innocently.
“This is Paige’s influence,” he mumbled. “You four weren’t so savage until she showed up.”
I laughed.
Logan set his hands on his hips and regarded me carefully for a few seconds. “It’s hard for me sometimes, you know?”
“What is?”
“Remembering that you’re a grown woman,” he admitted quietly. “I was nineteen when you were born, Mol. That’s not that far off from how old you are now and …” He paused, looking a little melancholy. “My world changed when you were born. As much as I wish for you and your sisters that your mom hadn’t left, selfishly, I’d never want to give you four back. But it’s hard for me to forget what it felt like the day you were born. Even as you’re standing here, smart and capable and independent, I think about how little you were, all wrinkled and red and wrapped in that ugly hospital blanket.”
“I know, Logan. You’re the best thing that could’ve happened to us.” I glanced over my shoulder to make sure we were still alone in the hallway. “But you can’t protect us forever.”
He nodded slowly. “Doesn’t mean I won’t want to.”
I gave him a smile. “I know.”
“I’ll bench his ass if he messes this up for you,” he promised.
Again, I laughed. “No, you won’t.”
“No,” he admitted grudgingly, “but it doesn’t mean I wouldn’t want to.”
My hands swept down my shirt and straightened the ends. “Okay. I should get back to work.”
Logan lifted his chin. “You’ve got this.”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.