It bothered him that she wanted to go, and there wasn’t a doubt in his mind that if she were more awake, she would have argued with him as she got dressed.
That’s what people do in casual relationships. They don’t spend the night…
And while he knew that was a thing, it felt wrong where Skye was concerned.
He agreed to her offer, her terms, but she fell asleep before they could talk more about it. And that meant only one thing…
They were going to have to do this again.
And for the first time in months, Elliott fell asleep with a smile on his face.
Chapter 8
If you’re afraid of getting hurt and feeling severe pain, then avoid falling in love.
Unknown
Sneaking out of a man’s bed before the sun comes up was not something Skye enjoyed.
Yet that’s exactly what she did.
Going into work later that morning had her feeling a bit paranoid and she did everything she could to avoid Josie, but as the week went on, it got harder and harder to do. They had three events planned for the weekend and on Thursday afternoon, Josie cornered Skye in the office.
“What’s going on with you?” she demanded.
“I…don’t know what you mean.” Liar, liar, liar!
“Skye, come on. We’ve hardly spoken at all this week and that’s been pretty damn annoying since we have all these weddings this weekend that we need to be communicating about!”
“We have,” Skye argued. “I sent you emails and texts and…”
Slamming her hands down on Skye’s desk, her friend glared at her. “We need to actually talk! There are too many details to manage by text!” She paused and straightened. “This is about Elliott, isn’t it?”
Skye felt herself pale. “Um…”
“Dammit, I knew it.” She shook her head.
“Josie, listen. Let me explain…”
“No, no, I get it. I never should have pushed you to go to lunch with him,” Josie said wearily, walking over to her own desk and sitting down. “And that was after I forced you to go and see him the day of the wedding.” She groaned. “It’s just…there are times when I can’t be there for him and I want to be, so I automatically think of you because you’re like a sister to him too!”
Yeah, not so much anymore…
“I get it. Really. It’s just that…”
“Honestly, I don’t know how to act around him anymore,” Josie was saying. “Like I really feel bad about the way we all ganged up on him after Tracy ran off and things are safe when we’re around my parents because no one wants to bring it up. I know if we’re hanging out alone–just the two of us–that it’s going to be a topic I can’t avoid.” She gave Skye a sad smile. “I’m sorry I keep throwing you under the bus with him.”
“It’s okay,” she said, feeling incredibly grateful that Josie had no idea about how she really felt about her brother.
“No, it’s not. I’m going to have to sit down and hang out one-on-one with him, eventually.” Pausing, she shook her head. “Oh, and while we’re on the subject of my family, they’re all coming in on Monday to start planning my grandparents’ anniversary party.”
“Don’t take this the wrong way, but…why?”
“Because we have to plan the party.”
Skye fought the urge to roll her eyes. “Yeah, I got that. What I’m saying is…why do they need to come in? It seems to me you can do all of that from the comfort of your parents’ home over Sunday dinner and then just fill me and Leanna in on what you need us to do.”
“You’re not going to believe this, but Nana is insisting on being treated like any other client. She wanted to make the appointment and come in and see our presentation.” She shook her head again. “Personally, I think she’s adorable and Pop-pop told me to indulge her and let her pick whatever she wants for the party.”
“We’re giving them a discount though, right?”
“Well, I didn’t want to just assume,” Josie replied. “We’re just going to have to wait and see what it is that they want to do and then figure out all the costs. Oh, and get this, they booked the event space at the arboretum for it because that’s where Pop-Pop proposed all those years ago. How cute is that?”
Unable to help herself, Skye sighed dreamily. “That is incredibly romantic.”
Josie shrugged as if she didn’t agree.
“You don’t think it’s romantic? They’ve been married sixty-five years, they’re renewing their vows, and doing it in the spot where he proposed! Hallmark would make a movie out of this if they heard about it!”
But Josie just waved her off. “Of course I think it’s great and I’m happy for them. But it’s more sentimental than romantic. Plus, it’s probably the only place they have a connection to from way back then. Everything else has been either torn down or changed into something different.”
All Skye could do was stare.
“What? Now what?”
“Seriously, who hurt you as a child that you are this jaded?”
“Ugh…not this again. I’m not jaded; I’m just practical.”
“No, you’re jaded, and it’s hard to see how you and Elliott are related.”
“Another thing we’re not doing again,” Josie argued and then let out a long sigh. “Can we please just focus on the weekend events now–face-to-face–and then work on a plan for my grandparents?”
“Of course.”
They had a lot to cover and Leanna came in and joined them a few minutes later. They called in a dinner order to be delivered and worked until after nine. By the time she walked through her front door, Skye was exhausted. Tossing her purse down, she padded into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water before heading into the bedroom to change into pajamas.
Whipping her bra off felt like a religious experience, and she was down to just her panties when there was a knock on her front door. Grabbing her robe, she slid it on and tried to think of who would be showing up at this time of night. Maybe it was one of the girls because she had forgotten something at the office. Or maybe it was her neighbor Mrs. Gayle; she always picked up any packages that got left on Skye’s porch while she was at work. Or perhaps…
“Skye? Are you in there?”
Elliott.
She hung her head and let out a long breath because she knew they were going to see each other again.
But secretly she had hoped to be the one to initiate it when she’d be wearing more than her robe and panties.
There was no way to avoid him so she walked over and opened the door. “Hey,” she said with a small smile.
“Hey. Mind if I come in?” He looked slightly disheveled–his hair was its usual scruffy self and his glasses were slightly askew. It must have been a long day if he’d already taken out his contacts.
Skye stepped back and once he was inside, she shut the door and leaned against it.
“You just getting home from work?” he asked, walking around her living room. Her condo was definitely smaller than his place, and right now, she felt a little self-conscious about it.