So, I knock. “It’s me, Casey. Open up.”
Nothing.
I knock a little louder. “I can do this all night.”
No response.
George appears at the end of the corridor. “She playing hard to get?”
“Playing hard-headed, is more like it, Sir.”
“You know she can hear you, right?” George asks.
I direct my comment to the door and raise my voice. “That was kind of thepoint.”
He walks down to her door and I step out of the way.
He knocks. “Casey, please unlock this door, or I’ll take a selfie of me blowing Declan with my work phone, and post it to my official Instagram ac—”
The door flies open, her eyes wide. “You wouldn’t fuckingdare!”
“Tryme,” he says in a threatening tone that, frankly, hardens my cock.
Dammit.
Apparently, I’m a well-conditioned pet.
Then he motions for me to head inside and pulls the door shut behind me. “I’ll be waiting in my office,” he calls through it. “I expect some sort of resolution before we all leave here tonight. So please get to it. I’m really fucking exhausted and would like to go home.”
She stands there with her arms crossed over her chest and her focus on her feet.
I take a deep breath. “Where do you want to start?”
She shrugs.
I decide to be the bigger man. I walk over, arms open, waiting.
She’s got to meet me at least halfway.
After a moment, she lets out a sigh and hugs me. “I’m sorry,” she says. “I reallywasworried about you. You never ignore my texts. You never have before. I…panicked.”
“I needed to blow off some steam.”
We stand there for several minutes. “I’m sorry I set you up with George the way I did,” she whispers. “I violated your consent. You have every right to be angry with me over that.”
I kiss her forehead. “I’m not…angry. Idolove him. Please tell me you love me, though.”
“I do love you.” She looks me in the eyes. “I’minlove with you. I’ve never lied to you about that.”
“Then why haven’t you spent any time with me lately? I miss you.”
“Because heneedsyou.” I’m not used to this soft, pained tone from her.
“Yeah, well, I need you, too,” I tell her. “Why can’t the three of us do this together?”
“I don’t know how to make that work.”
“Wemakeit work, that’s how. We justdoit.”
