Falling for the New Guy

“Tess?”

She looked over her shoulder. He didn’t look up from his coffee preparations even as he spoke.

“Just to be clear, my door’s always open for...whatever.”

Not sexual, Camden. “I appreciate that.” And she did. More than she probably should. Because even if Marc was her friend and her coworker, she couldn’t always ignore helping her father. She couldn’t always distract herself from it. More, she couldn’t always count on Marc to drop everything for her. Eventually he’d build his own life here.

She stepped into the hall, closing the door behind her. Maybe Marc wouldn’t always be around to help, but for the time being, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to take a little bit.

* * *

AT THE KNOCK on the door, Marc’s heartbeat kicked up. “Moron,” he muttered into the empty apartment. An apartment that hadn’t felt all that empty until he’d come home from work this afternoon. Empty had been his way of life—it had felt like solitude.

It was not normal or okay that Tess had whirled into everything and made it feel like a void instead. Like the quiet was too quiet and the alone was too alone. He had spent the entire day working side by side with her. He’d had two hours of alone time this evening.

But he’d told her he could help. He’d told her they were friends. So he opened the door and tried to not look irritated. Besides, he wasn’t a total asshole. He could definitely be her friend without also wanting to get her naked.

Or at least he wouldn’t act on it.

“Brownies!” Tess said cheerfully. “Now, I’m no culinary genius, but I have mastered the art of the perfect box brownie.” She waltzed her way in as if she belonged. As if that was something people normally did in his life.

Hell, his mother didn’t even waltz into his place like that, and she was the overbearing sort—just more focused on Leah.

“Brownies, huh?”

“Since friends don’t say thank-you for helping each other out, they bring brownies. Also, I wanted brownies, but if I keep this whole thing in my apartment I will eat it all tonight.”

He was spared having to respond to that when his cell phone rang. Since the caller ID read Mom, Marc had to think whether or not to ignore it.

“Go ahead,” Tess said with a wave, already in his kitchen drawers, presumably rooting around for a knife to cut the brownies. Hopefully a plate, too. Because if she ate without a plate, there would be brownie crumbs everywhere and—

“Answer it,” she insisted.

Right. He clicked Accept and stepped toward his bedroom. He wasn’t sure he wanted Tess to be able to hear his conversation. He wasn’t sure he hid his pathetic mommy issues so well when he was actually talking to his mother.

“Marc? Is silence how you greet your mother? Because I know that phone of yours tells you who’s calling.”

Marc stepped into his room, gingerly closing the door and hoping Tess wouldn’t notice.

“Hi, Mom.”

“Much better. Now, I need to talk to you about next Friday.”

“Next Friday?”

“Your father and I bumped up our trip. I’m hoping if we get a house lined up it might spur your sister or Jacob on in the engagement process.”

Marc closed his eyes. A weight settled in his chest. A helpless feeling that he’d moved here for nothing. Mom wasn’t ever going to look up and say, “Why, Marc, you’ve been a kind of exceptional son. Thank you for that.”

Because all that mattered was Leah. Now Leah and Jacob.

Which shouldn’t be something he got so tied up about. He should be adult enough to accept it and move on. But he was here, so the likelihood of that was slim at this point.

“Marc?”

“I was looking at my schedule. I can’t take off, but I’ll still be on days, so I’ll be free after four every day. How long are you staying?”

“Two weeks. More if I can finagle it.”

“Okay, well, I’ll have Monday and Tuesday off.”

“That’s fine. Leah said she can take off whatever days we’re here. Your father and I can always entertain ourselves, or Jacob said MC’s doors are always open. But of course we’ll want to have you come over for some family meals, too.”

We.Come over. To Leah’s house. Even though he’d moved here because they’d asked him to so they could be one big happy family, and being the idiot he was, he’d thought that would put him on equal footing. He’d thought that meant he mattered.

But he was being invited to dinners like an outsider while they stayed with Leah and Jacob.

He needed this conversation to be over. “Yeah, sure. Just keep me up-to-date.”

“Have you spent any time with your sister?”

“I stopped by MC the other day, and we’re going to have lunch next week.” Although with Mom and Dad coming maybe he could get out of that. Hell, maybe he could get out of the whole damn thing. Maybe he’d moved here for them, but if they still didn’t want to see him...maybe he didn’t need to be seen.

“I’ve got company, Mom. Gotta go.”

“Oh, what kind of company?”

“A friend from work.”

“Oh.” Mom’s disappointment was palpable, but at least that was something. If he really wanted her to care, he could probably mention the friend from work was a woman. A very attractive woman.

But as desperate as he was for his mother’s attention, he wasn’t that bad. “I’ll talk to you later.”

“Sure, sweetie, love you.”

“Yeah. Love you, too.” He clicked End and tossed the phone on his bed. Maybe Tess had the right idea about ignoring the parental phone calls.

Yeah, because her father is an abusive jerk, not because she’s pathetic and desperate for attention like a four year old.

Years of self-flagellation didn’t change the fact that he was always looking for the crumbs of attention his parents deigned to throw his way. Could he break the habit now? Maybe he should try.

Maybe he and Tess could be each other’s distraction. Not sexually. If he reminded himself of that enough, maybe he’d believe it. He stepped out of his room, leaving his phone inside.

“Sorry about...” He blinked at the empty kitchen, then looked around the living room. She’d...left?

He should not feel disappointed. Then he looked down at her pan of brownies, a generous chunk missing, a little note on top. Had to run out for a bit. See you tomorrow.

He should let it go. This was none of his business. He was the distraction friend. He didn’t need to be more than that. Maybe he was overreacting to think she was going to see her father. Maybe it was something else. He didn’t know everything about her life.