Business Casual (Lovelight, #4)

by B.K. Borison

“Everything good in here?” His knuckles brush against my arm as he dumps the dirty dishes in the sink and he stays close after. A silent show of support. “Yeah, everything is good.” I flick the water back on. Beckett allows it. “We were just talking about vines,” Beckett says, voice dry as a bone. “Oh, nice. The ones in Nova’s studio? They look great.” My eyes slip shut. Shit. “Beckett,” I start. But he’s already shaking his head, looking down at his boots. He doesn’t look mad. It’s worse than that. He looks hurt. “Am I the only one you haven’t let inside?” “He just stopped by for a minute,” I try to explain. “He was walking me home after the harvest festival meeting and—” “It’s fine,” Beckett says. But it’s not fine. He won’t look at me and his mouth is set in a firm, frowning line. My stomach hollows out. The only thing I’ve ever wanted to avoid is disappointing my brother, and it seems I somehow managed to do it anyway. “I, ah—” He puts down the dish he was drying and tosses the rag on the counter. He scratches roughly at the back of his head, a nervous tic that makes my heart squeeze in my chest. He glances at me briefly and then looks away again, like he can’t bear the sight of me. A hot pressure burns behind my eyes. “It’s your choice, Nova. I’ll stop by after you open. Or…not. Whatever you want. Don’t worry about it, okay?” “Beck, I’m—” My voice catches in my throat. He gives me another half-hearted quirk of his lips and leaves the kitchen.