Uniting the Souls (Souls of Chicago #6)(4)

I’d always had a bit of a crush on Matt, but it wasn’t until I got a little older and began working for him that my attraction had really developed. Unfortunately, Matt had never shown any interest in me, not that I’d seen him show an interest in anyone. Matt was a very private man who never discussed his personal life.

That night, however, I’d seen the flare of desire in his eyes as he’d watched Hudson moving towards us. I’d felt jealous at first, but then he’d turned to me and the look in his eyes was different from the way he normally looked at me. I wasn’t quite sure what that look meant, and unfortunately, I hadn’t had an opportunity to try and find out because Matt had left shortly after Hudson introduced himself and I hadn’t seen him the rest of the evening.

Someone had come up to me shortly after that wanting to discuss the new center and I’d grudgingly turned away from Hudson to talk to them. When I’d turned back around, the sexy man was gone. My eyes searched the crowd, but it was like he had vanished. I’d been shocked by my reaction to Hudson because up until that point, Matt had been the only man that had ever made my heart race, not that I had ever let him know that.

Still, to suddenly find myself attracted to both of them had been disconcerting. I’d been left feeling completely confused by it all, but I hadn’t seen Hudson again after that and Matt had been avoiding me ever since, unless it had to do directly with our work at the center.

As if he’d heard my thoughts, his head lifted and his gaze caught mine from across the room. I could see his brows furrow slightly as he looked at me, but then he turned his attention back to the kids he’d been talking to. My shoulders slumped and I let out a low sigh. I was going to have to try and find a way to talk to him so I could figure out what was going on. If I’d done something wrong or upset him in some way, then I wanted to know about it so I could try to correct it. Matt was too important to me to just let it go.

I said goodbye to the kids at my table and told them I’d see them after school then I picked up my dishes and walked over, placing them in the sink. After refilling my coffee mug, I made my way back down the hall so I could get started with my work.

“Good morning, Isaac!” Allison said as I walked towards my office.

I smiled at the vivacious brunette sitting at the front desk. Matt had hired her to run the front desk shortly after we made the move into the new building. He’d explained that since I knew more about the center and the direction he wanted to take things than anyone else, that I was the perfect person to be his assistant.

I’d been speechless when he’d shown me to my very own office right next to his and I’d stood there for a long time, tracing my finger over my name engraved in the gold plaque on the door. I’d had to swallow several times around the lump in my throat before I was able to tell him thank you, but the soft look he’d given me told me that he knew how much the gesture had meant to me.

The center still relied heavily on volunteers from the community, but with the attention that had been drawn by having Carter’s Creed involved, the number of people willing to help had risen considerably. Matt had increased the permanent staff though to include more kitchen help, an on-call pediatrician, and of course, Allison. The only position that hadn’t been filled was a therapist who would be willing to come in as needed to talk with the teens and help them work through some of the things they were dealing with.

I’d just sat down at my desk when there was a knock at the door. I looked up to see Matt standing there with a tentative grin on his face. I wished I knew why he’d started acting so differently around me. I smiled at him, trying to put him at ease, but his eyes widened and he dropped his gaze to the floor. I sighed.

“Have I done something wrong, Matt?” I asked quietly.

“No, not at all. Why would you think that?” He sounded surprised as his eyes shot up to mine.

“Because you’ve been acting really strange lately. Almost like you’re avoiding me or something,” I told him, shrugging my shoulders casually so he wouldn’t know how worried I’d been. I watched him carefully as his shoulders slumped and he reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose.

“I’m sorry, Isaac,” he said with a sigh. “You haven’t done anything wrong at all. I’ve just had a lot on my mind.”

“Is there anything I can help with?” I offered. The smile Matt gave me that time was more genuine.

“No, it’s something I have to work out on my own, but thank you. I actually stopped by to see if you had time to go over some ideas I had for a project that I’d like to get the kids involved in; kind of a way for them to give back to the community that’s helped them so much,” he explained.

“That’s a wonderful idea. I have time right now,” I told him.

“Great! Do you mind coming to my office? I have all of my notes in there,” Matt said.

“Not at all,” I told him. I stood from my desk, stopping to grab a notepad and a pen before following him next door to his office.

I sat across from Matt as he explained his idea for the kids at the center to help with a community beautification project in which they would spend a couple of Saturdays each month cleaning up and making repairs to neighborhood parks and local playgrounds. I, of course, thought it was a brilliant idea and Matt became more animated as we began planning how we could turn the idea into reality.