“Promise.” She gave him a small, reassuring smile and slipped her hand out of his. “Have a great trip. I mean it.”
Outside the café, she blew out a long breath as she headed back toward the tower.
“What the hell just happened?”
Chapter Forty-Two: Terms and Conditions
It was almost two weeks after Alex returned from his trip before he reached out to Evie, asking her to meet him at Del Toro after his shift the next morning. She let him know she would see him there and spent the rest of the evening mentally preparing for the conversation. First, she acknowledged he might be asking to meet because he had decided he would rather pursue his friend, and she examined how that made her feel. The answer was a little disappointed, but otherwise fine.
She had kept her word and genuinely considered whether she wanted to try the relationship again while he was away, looking at it from every angle she could think of. Eventually, she concluded that the biggest thing holding her back was their sex life. If he was being honest about working on it, then that issue needed to be taken out of the equation.
The only other thing that bothered her was his occasional immaturity and his tendency to behave like an overly excited Labrador retriever. Still, Evie had to admit she had seen signs of growth there, too. He seemed more self-aware than he had before, acknowledging that although he didn’t have experience losing a parent, he had talked to someone who did to understand better what she had gone through.
Alex also seemed more aware of how his comments sometimes came across as rude or insensitive, stopping himself or at least acknowledging it was the wrong thing to say in the moment. And this time, he hadn’t pushed back against herdecisions or tried to argue her around to his viewpoint. He had questioned her reasons, but it had been a fair question.
She didn’t know whether he had pretended to make those changes to convince her he was working on himself, or whether he was actually doing the work, and there was no way to know without spending more time with him. Eventually, she decided that if he was still interested in getting back together, and as long as he understood it was not a continuation of their previous relationship but a completely new one with a whole new getting-to-know-each-other period, she would be comfortable seeing him again.
She arrived a full fifteen minutes before she knew he would be there, ordered their usual drinks, and took a seat at a table in the back corner, wanting to feel more in control of this meet-up than she had at the last one. She passed the time going over all the potential outcomes of the conversation and mentally reviewing the points she wanted to make, her knee bouncing like a jackrabbit under the table.
When he finally walked in, Evie felt her breath catch in her throat. He looked absolutely awful. He’d lost so much weight that his security uniform, which he usually filled out impressively, hung off him, and he practically radiated exhaustion. Still, when he spotted her, a warm smile appeared, and he moved toward her with more energy than he’d had walking in.
“Hey,” she said softly as he sat across from her, sliding his coffee across the table.
“Hey, yourself.” He immediately picked it up and took a long drink. “You’re a sight for sore eyes, especially with this in your hand. Thank you.”
“No worries.” Evie shrugged, studying him more closely. Up close, he somehow looked even worse. The only words that came to mind were haggard and unkempt. Deep purple circles made his eyes look almost bruised, and he must have shaved off his beard at some point because it was only just growing back, adding to the scruffy appearance.
“No offence, but you look terrible.”
He gave a low chuckle and rubbed his jaw. “Yeah, three weeks of hiking twelve miles a day in the mountains without access to weights and only MREs to eat will do that to you.” He yawned, covering his mouth and giving her a muffled apology.
“I also made the mistake of not taking a few days to recover before going back to work. I’m exhausted.” He smiled tiredly. “I guess I don’t have to tell you I was shortlisted for the Director of Security Services position.”
Evie shook her head, trying to rein in her concern about his physical condition. “I actually knew that when we met before you left. I just couldn’t say anything. Congratulations.”
“Thanks.” He settled back in his chair, letting out a contented sigh. “Sorry it took me so long to reach out. Since I was on vacation when they started the assessments for the positions, I’ve been playing catch-up.” Her disapproval must have shown because he waved a hand dismissively, already guessing who it was aimed at.
“It’s not Thorn’s fault. He told me to take my time and catch up at my own pace, that he and Mr. Sloane wouldn’t hold it against me if I was behind for a month or so.”
Evie snorted, immediately understanding. “So he just didn’t realize that your pace is frantic until you’re back where you think you should be.”
“I don’t think so, no.” He shook his head, a smug smirk curving his mouth. “Anyway, I caught up yesterday, reached out to you last night, and when we’re done here, I’m going to sleep for the next forty hours.”
“But you’re okay, right?” She had to ask; he looked like he could collapse right there.
“Yeah, sore and tired, that’s all.” His eyes brightened slightly at her concern, and the smirk widened into a pleased grin.
“Was the trip good?”
“It was amazing.” He pulled out his phone, opened his photo gallery, and passed it to her so she could flip through the pictures he’d taken. Then he flagged down the waitress for a refill. When she walked away, he leaned toward Evie, his eyes shining with excitement.
“I heard the Appalachian Hey.”
“The what?” Evie frowned, passing his phone back. “The pictures look incredible.”
“The Appalachian Hey,” he repeated. “It’s like an urban legend. You’ll be walking the trail, probably haven’t seen another soul in miles, and suddenly you hear someone call ‘Hey!’ close by. But there’s no one around.”
“Clearly there’s someone.” Evie scoffed. She loved creepy stories, but she wasn’t ready to commit to ghosts. “Based on those pictures, the brush is so thick Bigfoot could be standing just off the trail, and you’d walk by close enough to touch him without knowing.”
