Startled, Lena’s gaze shot to his. “What do you mean?”
“You tell me. I know you guys have been spending a lot of time together. And I know he had a meeting with his parents this morning, and he hasn’t quite been himself since. So, what happened?”
She sighed and leaned her head back against the couch. “We’ve been working on a plan to convert their family charity into a foundation that actually does good things for people. Elliot asked me for ideas.”
“And did you have any?”
Her lips puckered up in a self-deprecating smirk. “Always. We came up with a foundation he wanted to call KidsCase.”
Oz’s eyes grew wider the more Lena told him about the foundation idea. “So, the two of you cooked this up and took it to his parents.”
“He presented it to them. They don’t seem to like me much.”
Oz snorted. “They don’t like anyone outside their own circle much. I’m assuming it didn’t go well.”
She bit her lip. “They’re happy he’s showing an interest. They just don’t want him changing things.”
Oz squinted, looking at her thoughtfully. “How much of all this was your idea?”
She shrugged again. “About half probably. But I couldn’t have done it without Elliot.” She fought to keep her voice steady, though her throat was thick with tears again. “We really were a pretty great team.”
Her brother stared at her. “You care about him, don’t you?”
Lena’s mouth dropped open, her eyes wide. It was a simple question. So why was her pulse pounding in her ears? She hadn’t even admitted to herself how much she cared about Elliot. How much she wished they could be together for real. Her few days with him had meant more to her than any other relationship she’d ever been in. And despite her misgivings over Elliot’s complete lack of parenting skills, he was good with Tyler. The parenting stuff could be learned. It was that special connection that couldn’t be forced. And Elliot had that with Tyler already. She would love to see if they could make it work between them. But that wasn’t going to happen. So she’d tried not to even think about it. Tried and failed.
Oz nudged her shoulder. “I’ve seen you guys together, Len. I’ve been watching Elliot with Tyler. Watching the three of you together. It’s not something I would’ve predicted,” he said with a laugh. “But you guys work.”
Her eyes filled with tears again. “No, we don’t.”
Oz gave her that I’m-the-big-brother-so-I-know-better smile. “Yeah. You do. The three of you together…” He beamed at her. “It works.”
Lena didn’t know what to say. She was afraid to agree, afraid to voice how much she wanted what he was saying to be true. She sucked in a deep breath. “Tyler seems to really like him, doesn’t he? I mean, he likes most guys. But… It’s different with Elliot, I think. More natural. Even though Elliot has no clue what he’s doing,” she said with a quiet laugh.
“Neither did I when you two first moved in. I learned.”
Her heart melted a bit. “Yes, you did.” She looked down at her hands, twisting the wine bottle around. “I didn’t think Elliot would be good for Tyler, or for me. But… He’s kind of surprising, isn’t he?”
Oz smiled. “Like I said, you three work. I don’t know what happened this morning, if it had something to do with his parents or what. But whatever’s going on… Isn’t something that works worth fighting for?”
She looked down at her clasped hands. Did she want to fight for Elliot? Was Oz right? Did Elliot care about her, too? About them? If he did… She looked up at her brother, a smile spreading slowly across her lips. “Yeah. Yeah, it is.”
“Good.” He drew her into a bone-crushing hug. Then he gave her a quick kiss on her forehead and stood up. “I better get going. I’m getting married tomorrow.”
Lena laughed. “Go get your beauty sleep. Cher’ll kill you if you look horrible for the pictures.”
Oz winked at her. “Not possible for this to look horrible,” he said, waving his hands at his body like he was the main prize on some game show. Then he sobered a little. “It took me a while, you know. But looks like I’m finally going to see something that works all the way through to the end myself.”
Lena gave him another hug.
“Love you, Ozzie.”
“Love you, too, Lenny.” He opened the door. “See you at the wedding,” he called over his shoulder.
Lena wrapped her arms around herself. So… Oz thought she and Elliot worked, huh? Looks like she had a lot of thinking to do. Because she was having a hard time talking herself out of believing it, too.
Chapter Sixteen
Elliot took another sip of his drink, some ridiculous tropical thing that he’d only ordered because it came in a coconut. And coconuts reminded him of Lena. He hadn’t realized that was why he’d ordered it until he’d taken a drink and the coconut scent had wafted over him. The smell made his heart clench with the memory of the scent in Lena’s hair. On her lips. Her skin.
He took another sip, letting it linger in his mouth so he could savor it.
He didn’t notice anyone had sat next to him until she spoke. “If you are too drunk to walk down the aisle tomorrow, I’m going to be pissed.”
Elliot saluted his sister with the coconut and took another drink. “I promise I will be able to walk down the aisle.”
“Not if you keep drinking that thing, you won’t.”
“I didn’t say I’d be able to walk well.”
Cher shook her head, but she couldn’t help but smile. “Give me that.” She took it from him, sniffed it, and took a sip.
“Heh. Not bad. A little fruitier than I thought you liked.”
He shrugged. “I was in the mood for coconut.”
Cher looked amused. “I bet you were.”
Elliot’s eyes narrowed, trying to figure out what she meant. The words might be innocent, but there was a smug undertone to them. Then again, he might not want to know what she meant. Cher had always had a certain intuition when it came to him. Maybe it was a twin thing. Whatever it was, she always seemed to know what was wrong with him before he did. Although in this case he was pretty well aware what was wrong, and he didn’t feel like delving into it too deeply.
He’d really screwed things up with Lena. He’d let his anger and disappointment over his parents’ rejection of their plan get the better of him. He let his doubts about himself and his future cloud his decisions over Lena and any possible future with her. And shutting her out after everything she’d done to help him, and after everything they’d done together, was inexcusable.
And then trying to make up for it by trying to force her to accept his help with her own business. Yes, he could admit it had partially been a way to keep her in his life. But that had never been the plan to begin with. They were just supposed to have a little fun. So why did he feel like absolute shit?
The problem was… He didn’t know what to do about her. He knew how he felt when he was with her. And with Tyler. But how did that translate into a relationship? How would it even work with them? They lived a thousand miles apart. And thinking of how his parents would react made his skin crawl.
He sighed and took his drink back from his sister, draining the last of it and signaling the bartender to bring him another one. He had no idea how to have a healthy, long-lasting relationship. Hell, until he’d met Lena it had never occurred to him that he’d want one. Let alone one that included a kid. Being with Lena meant jumping right in, with both feet.
“Come on. What’s up, Smelliot?” Cherice asked, using her childhood nickname for him.
The bartender brought him a new coconut, and he twirled it in his hands. “Are you happy, Cher?”
She blinked at him, her eyes widening slightly in surprise. But the smile that quickly followed warmed him right through to his bones. “Very. More than I ever thought I’d be.”