“She’s his sister, but he’s the only parent she knows. He was barely eighteen when they died, and he refused to let her go to extended family. We were in college and he wanted to leave to take care of her. I left with him.”
I stared at him, and now I was certain he was blushing as he continued to watch his friend become more animated, talking to Jules.
“Why are you blushing?” I asked, confused that he almost seemed human.
Almost.
Mr. Easton cleared his throat again just as Cole threw back his head and let out a hearty laugh. Aurora smiled brightly, watching her brother and my best friend lean into each other.
“They died in a rather compromising position.” He rubbed the back of his neck.
My mouth hung open. His face was growing more red by the second. “Compromising position? From a car accident?”
“Yes, their mom was distracting their dad.” He widened his eyes, attempting to push the mental image into my head so he wouldn’t have to use his words to verbalize.
“Were they fighting?” Obviously, his eyes and my brain were on different wavelengths because I was not catching what he was mentally throwing at me.
“Fuck, you’re going to make me say it. Their mom was giving the dad road head. The dad got distracted, and they crashed, killing them both on impact.”
Just when I thought my jaw couldn’t drop any farther it proved me and physics wrong, practically laying on the top of my boobs.
“Anyway,” he continued when he noticed that my jaw wasn’t going to reset itself anytime soon, “the kids in Aurora’s class were bullying her relentlessly. We sold his parents’ house, moved to San Diego, and used what money we had left to start our business. Aurora got to reinvent herself. Cole closed himself off from people, especially women, and dedicated himself to raising Aurora and giving her the best life he could. This,” he gestured with his calloused hand toward our friends who were still grinning at each other, “is promising.”
I shook my head before he even finished his sentence. “It might appear promising, but I promise you it will not go any further than this.”
Mr. Easton tore his attention from our friends and pinned it on my face. His jaw ticked, a dimple fluttering in and out of his cheek like a bad cell connection. “You are technically working with Aurora, this is her project. We are just her backers, there is nothing stopping Cole from pursuing Jules.”
I rolled my eyes, annoyed that he immediately went to legalities and not emotions. “It has nothing to do with fraternizing with the help,” I spat, not understanding where my annoyance was coming from, but not ignoring it, either.
“Jules had a horrible break-up in college, and she has sworn off men. She is a serial dater and refuses to let anyone get close to her.”
“My best friend isn’t just anyone. He has been through so much,” Mr. Easton stated, his dimple twitching even faster on his cheek.
“Neither is mine. I don’t want him to get hurt, because he will get hurt. I know my best friend, and she won’t do it on purpose, but she will not change for him. I don’t want this to mess with our working relationship. As you stated, this is the biggest account we’ve ever had.” With one last glance at his flickering dimple, I took a step toward our two best friends, ready to end the impending disaster before it had a chance to start.
Mr. Easton grasped my hand to stop me. I waited a beat, but he didn’t release me. When I turned, he was staring down at the ring on my very important finger.
He ran his finger over the smooth surface of the diamond before releasing my hand.
“You’re right, I don’t want Cole to get hurt.” With a curt nod that made my stomach knot, he stepped away from me.
I followed closely behind him, running my finger over the diamond like he’d just done.
Aurora noticed us first. Jules and Cole were still engrossed in whatever they were talking about.
“Hi, what took you so long?” Aurora asked, as she stood up to give Mr. Easton a hug before enveloping me in a rib-crushing hug. “I think my brother likes your friend,” she whispered.
“I think your brother should be careful. As much as I love Jules, she does not do commitment, and I don’t want him to get hurt.”
I hated sounding like such a downer, but I liked Aurora and I didn’t want her to get upset when Jules hurt the brother she so obviously adored.
We’d already signed the contract. We were legally in a business relationship, and I didn’t want it to get uncomfortable.
When Aurora moved back to search my face, her eyes were so much older than her age. She’d been through so much in her young life, and I felt oddly protective of the innocence she had left.
Mr. Easton pulled out a chair for me before settling into his own.
“Have you ordered yet?” Mr. Easton asked, his gaze ping-ponging between Jules and Cole.