Sleeping with the Boss (Anderson Brothers, #1)(37)

I’m not his lover, nor will I ever be. In her mind, it was over, but he couldn’t seem to let go. He knew she’d be more receptive if he gave her more time too cool off, but she was leaving soon and he didn’t have time.

The light turned red and he pulled up behind a cab with an ad for a new Broadway musical stretched across a mini-billboard above the trunk. The ad depicted a happy couple with sparkly grins and their arms around each other. And they lived happily ever after was scrawled across the bottom in swirly gold letters.

The light turned green and the cab inched forward, but a car stuck in the intersection forced him to endure staring at the 2-D happy embrace a little longer. That’s what he wanted: a fairy-tale ending, even if the happily ever after only meant two weeks.

Traffic started moving again and the cab switched lanes and turned. He would give anything for another chance—anything, including doing something risky. But hell, what was left for him to lose? Will took a right at the next light and right again, heading back in the opposite direction.

…

Claire rolled up another coffee cup in bubble wrap and placed it on top of the others in the box. She’d thought that packing would bring back that anticipation of leaving she craved. Sadly, every item she placed in the box felt more like a nail in the coffin than a step toward adventure.

Telling Beth off had felt fantastic, but at the same time, it made her sadder for what she was missing—a big, hot, honest, kind man with painfully talented hands. And other talented parts, too.

Her phone dinged again as Heather left another voicemail. She appreciated her friend’s concern, but right now, she just wanted to be left alone.

She sighed and wrapped another cup. By Monday, she’d have enough of her stuff boxed up to start moving it to storage. Then she’d leave this big, loud city behind. That’s what she’d always wanted, right?

No. Not anymore. She wanted Will. More than money or even Egypt, and the realization sucked. And with that miserable thought, she crumbled to the floor, wrapped her arms around her knees and cried. She was long overdue for a cry, and damn, it felt good.

The banging on the door caused her to jump. The doorman hadn’t called to announce a visitor. Maybe it was a neighbor. Something had damned well better be on fire for someone to knock on her door after ten o’clock.

Barefoot and wearing warm-ups and a T-shirt, she wiped the tears from her face, wandered to the door, and stood on her tiptoes to peer through the peephole. Will was the last person she had expected. She opened the door without hesitation as her heart did a somersault in her chest at the sight of him filling her doorway. The closed look on his face, though, gave her pause.

“I’m sorry. I had to come. If it’s a bad time, I can go,” he said.

And then his facial expression made sense. He was protecting himself.

“No. It’s okay. I was packing up some stuff. Come on in.” She sniffled, and realized she must look a mess since he’d interrupted her cry. “How’d you get in?”

“There’s only one guy down at the desk at night. He’s gotta go pee sometime.”

She stepped aside and he entered, stopping right inside the doorway. Instead of his usual confident demeanor, he was tentative. It must have been hard for him to come here. Risky even. She knew now that he had been sincere and that meant there was a lot at stake for him—just like there was for her.

“Look, Will, I—”

“Wait.” He held his palms up. “Please. I need to say some things.”

As if a hole had opened up in the floor, she felt like she was sinking.

“I know I hurt you. And it was inexcusable,” he began. “And I was probably taking things too fast, so I understand why you thought—”

“Stop.” Her voice was much louder and more forceful than she’d intended. Time stood still as they stared at each other, gauging each other. She didn’t want their relationship to end. “Yes, I was hurt, but you didn’t do it on purpose. You get why I was upset, and I get why you did what you did. That’s it. An ugly set of circumstances.”

He stood straighter, his face relaxing slightly, but he didn’t respond.

“As for taking things too fast, they couldn’t go fast enough for my tastes,” she said, relaxing a bit herself. “They still can’t.” She regretted blurting that out until the look in his eyes completely changed. It was as if they had darkened and deepened. She could drown in those eyes.

He wiped a remaining tear from her cheek with his thumb, then held out his arms and she stepped into them, loving his warmth and the faint smell of mint.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered into her hair.

“Me, too. I’m glad you came by. I didn’t expect to see you again, especially in light of our game of ‘keep away’ going on in the office.” She pulled back enough to look into his face so she could read his reaction.

His smile was bittersweet and dimple-free. “I couldn’t stay away. When I watched you with Beth through the security cameras, I knew I had to try to talk to you, even if you turned me away.”

Turning him away would have been impossible. “How did you and Beth end up together? She doesn’t seem like your type. She’s so…”

He dropped his arms from around her and took a step back. “Self-absorbed?”

She nodded. “You guys were together a long time, though.”