Page 35 of Steal My Heart
“No.”
“Has he said he’s leaving?” Gran asked, and Brian shook his head. “Then you don’t know squat. So some guy came in here with a job offer. If you ask me, you need to give Hilliard a reason to stay and not come back here with your tail between your legs. If you want Hilliard, then win him. That’s what Chester did for me.”
“How?”
Gran wrinkled her nose. “First thing, go upstairs, shower, and get cleaned up, because you stink. Then put on something nice and maybe a little sexy. Then go over there and give him a reason to stay.” She winked.
“He said he had something to tell me.” Brian just knew it was something he didn’t want to hear and was trying to put it off.
“Then go clean up and find out what it is. You’re just assuming that you know and catastrophizing. Stop it. Go over and see what he has to say.” She shook her head. “It may be something good. Now go before my nose decides to run for the hills, because you stink.” She waved him away, and Brian trudged upstairs and went right to the bathroom.
Gran was right: he stank. As soon as he stripped off and got under the water, he started to feel better. At least he was clean and could get his heart broken without smelling like a swamp.
“TAKE THEdogs with you,” Gran said as Brian got ready to leave. She was still sitting in her chair, and Brian wondered if she was in pain. Sometimes she barely got out of the chair, and he was getting worried that if she didn’t get up and move around more often, she wouldn’t be able to at all. “And stop in the garden to cut some flowers to take with you.”
“Gran,” Brian said, rolling his eyes. “That’s so… predictable.”
“Then do things your way,” she said. “But take the dogs. They need to go out, and a walk will do them good.” She slowly got out of her chair and headed toward the kitchen.
“I can make you something to eat before I go.”
“I’m fine. You go and have some fun. I’ll have a light dinner.” She waved him off, and Brian got the leashes, admonishing the dogs that tangling them around his legs was not nice, especially when Poppy decided to immediately try running in circles around him.
“Stop,” he said sharply. Poppy sat, looking up at him with her big eyes, probably wondering why he had paused her fun. She blinked while he untangled the lead and then got Gigi’s on. “Bye, Gran.”
“Have fun, sweetheart,” she called back, and he stepped out into the cool, slightly damp evening air.
“Come on. Let’s go see Hilliard and find out what he wants.” He led them down the street, the dogs half prancing with excitement. As soon as they caught sight of the house, both dogs began pulling, trying to tug him closer. As Brian approached the front door, Hilliard opened it, and Brian let the dogs run right up to Hilliard, who lavished them both with attention.
He waited for Brian and ushered them all inside, then took off the leads and let the dogs roam the house. “I guess they’re excited.”
“They were in the house most of the day and needed some exercise.” Brian smiled as Hilliard swept him into a hug and then kissed him. Within a fraction of a second, all his concerns flew from his mind as Hilliard held him tightly, deepening the kiss until he couldn’t think straight.
Brian held still, holding Hilliard in return, hoping like hell that his knees didn’t give out. “What was that for?” he asked when Hilliard backed away a few seconds later. “I mean….”
“I missed you, and….” Hilliard’s breath came in pants, and Brian smiled. He loved the way Hilliard’s eyes glassed over and the way he tilted first to one side and then the other like he was off-balance and his head spun as much as Brian’s did.
“Okay. I like that you did.” He rested his head on Hilliard’s shoulder. Then he straightened up. “How did the visit go with your friend?” Brian needed to know what was happening there, and he was already bracing for bad news.
“Okay. We talked, and then he went back to his inn for the night. He and I had breakfast this morning, and then he headed back to the city.”
Brian nodded. “I wasn’t sure how long he was going to stay.” He might have said, but Brian’s mind had been on other things, like Hilliard’s job offer and him moving away. “Do you have calls and stuff scheduled?”
“What for?”
“His job offer?” Brian felt confused.
“God, I would never work with Al. He would drive me crazy. Way too competitive, and not in a good way. Every case that he won would be compared to the cases I won. It would be a dick-measuring contest for the rest of my life.” Hilliard grinned. “And we both know that mine is bigger.” Brian snickered, because that was something he couldn’t argue with. “Besides, yeah, I think I’d have loved working at a large law firm with their resources, but I got too used to being my own boss. I liked calling the shots and deciding if I wanted to take on a client or not. I did pro bono work because I believed in the client, but all that would be up to the managing partner instead of me.” He sighed. “Big firms have their advantages, but in the end it’s all about the bottom line.”
“So you aren’t leaving?” Brian asked, finally allowing himself the chance to voice his real concern.
“Not to work with Al. He’s a good friend, but nothing more than that, and I’m not going to take a job with his firm. Yeah, I bet they’d like to have me, and that feels pretty good, but I’m still trying to figure out what would make me happy.” Hilliard held Brian’s shoulders in his big hands. “If I’m honest, being here with you makes me happy, but if I stay here, I’m going to spend the rest of my life writing wills and doing property deeds. I loved being in the thick of things, arguing cases, because that’s what I’m really good at.” He looked around the room.
“Then you need to go where you can get what you need,” Brian said, darkness closing in around his mood.
“That’s just it—I don’t know if there is a place like that, so I’m trying to figure out what I want to do. I know I need to make a decision soon….” He sighed and pulled away, walking toward the kitchen. “This probably sounds really stupid, but so far things have just happened as far as my career. It was Alan’s idea to open the firm, and he was the real force behind it. I wanted to build a firm, and together I thought we would both get what wewanted. It didn’t work out that way.” He stopped. “I love it here, and I love the people here.” Hilliard kept his gaze glued on Brian to the point that he tugged at his collar. “I just want to make sure that I make the right decision.”
Brian could understand that. “So is this… whatever is between us just filler until you figure out what you want?” It always seemed like his life was on hold because of what someone else wanted or did.