Page 74 of My One And Only (Very Irresistible Bachelors 5)

He kept flexing the ball in his hand, frowning.

I ran the day’s schedule through my mind and made a spur-of-the-moment decision.

“Want to go for a run?” I asked him.

David turned around abruptly, looking from me to Becca, whose mouth was hanging open.

“You know it’s nine o’clock, right?” he said. “You never want to go running this late.”

“It helps you blow off steam,” I pointed out.

David whistled loudly, tossing the ball on my desk and jamming both hands in his pockets.

“Hey, Becca. Something’s wrong with him. He’s becoming human. It’s scary.”

“Don’t be a dick,” I replied.

“He’s not,” Becca cut in. “Just pointing out a very pleasant change. You don’t change your schedule even when you’re sick, and now you’re willing to skip a meeting to go for a run.”

“I took you out for an unplanned coffee last week,” I pointed out.

Becca snapped her fingers as a slow grin spread on her face. “Wait a second...I think I know what’s turning him human. It’s Tess, isn’t it?”

“What do you mean? What did I miss?” David asked.

Becca got up from the beanbag, smoothing her palms over her black sweater.

“Our Liam here is seeing Tess.”

“And you didn’t tell me anything? That’s a low blow, dude.”

I cocked a brow. “I’m not into locker room talk.”

I was like my grandfather in many ways, not used to expressing much.

“But I am.” He came up to me, patting my shoulder. “And you can tell me all about it while we warm up for our run. That peep show in the bathroom really did the trick, huh?”

“Becca. Help!”

She shook her head. “Don’t put me in the middle of it. You two go for a run while I actually pick up your slack.” With a grin, she added, “But just saying, I’m liking this new version of you. David, we’re going to have to find something else to give him shit about.”

He didn’t miss a beat. “I’m on it.”

; The run worked well for David but not for me. I pushed myself past my usual limit, even though the cold air pierced my lungs and my thighs felt like they were about to explode. Running was addictive, especially in New York, where it was practically a religion.

We stretched again at the end of the run, and David was his usual self, still questioning me about Tess.

I didn’t really blame him. I hadn’t had anything else in my personal life except meaningless dates and sex for the last decade. I just wasn’t used to talking about my personal life, not even with my best friend.

“No talk about Tess anymore. We do have a huge workload waiting for us,” I told him in front of the entrance.

He gave me a shit-eating grin. “No, don’t worry. I’ll just bring her up during coffee breaks.”

I snickered, shaking my head. But right before I stepped in the shower, an idea occurred to me. I made a phone call to the restaurant where I’d taken her, ordering a basket to be delivered to Tess. Pity I wouldn’t be there when she received it to see her reaction, but I wanted her to know how important she was to me, how often I thought about her.

I wanted to make Tess happy. I also had a strong urge to protect her from everything—including Albert.