He snorted. “It was a long day, that’s all. You were the best part, though.”
I blushed, feeling weird, giddy butterflies that I hadn’t felt since high school. “Flirt.”
We dressed as quickly as we could, wiped any evidence of our evening from the couch and Dane’s desk, then headed towards the exit.
Once we were outside, we both hovered for a moment, shifting our weight from foot to foot.
What did we do now? Kiss? Hug? Should I ask to go back to his place? Invite him to mine?
He cleared his throat. Not knowing what he was going to say made me panic. Sure, I had thrown everything aside in the heat of the moment, but we hadn’t made anything official.
I was tired to the bone. Now wasn’t a great time to decide if it was worth risking my career prospects for some action.
Luke wasn’t just some guy, though. And it wasn’t just sex I wanted.
If I spent the night at his place, waking up next to him; smelling his aftershave on his skin, having the heat of his body pressed up against mine, there’d be no going back.
I gave my head a little shake. “Well, see you Monday.” The words came out artificially cheery, and a frown appeared on his face. He gave a small nod, then watched until I’d gotten into my car and backed out of the lot.
I showered on autopilot, too tired and numb to think about everything that had happened today. There were a lot of unanswered questions, both personally and professionally, and I didn’t want to think about a single one of them. After my shower, I tossed on a t-shirt and climbed into bed with my hair still wet and the ghost of Luke’s touch on my skin.
I woke the next morning, my eyes gritty and my hair looking like a small animal had nested in it. I perched on the edge of my bed, my body tired and wired in equal measure. It was Sunday. I needed to get groceries, do laundry, and clean my apartment. So, naturally, I grabbed a coffee and went to Rosalind’s house.
It was still early, but dammit, she was the one who had encouraged me to fuck Luke again and now I had…feelings. Icky, conflicting feelings that made me want all that white picket fence stuff when what I really needed was a stable income.
“Morning,” Rosalind said brightly, before her smile dropped. “What’s wrong?”
“Everything.” I pushed past her and into the house. We sat down at her kitchen table, and I spilled the entire story. “Anyway, now I don’t even know how I feel. Am I actually feeling more for him or am I just tired? Or am I being a stubborn, short-sighted, fraidy cat by not pursuing this?”
Maybe I just needed some distance.
I’d know more tomorrow about how the event went, how the reviews were and whether Luke would be my happily ever after.
“Hunny, this isn’t Vegas. The fact that my parents fired you won’t matter to a business in Springwood. You already found one job, and I know you’re doing great work for them. You’ll find another. This isn’t as life or death as you’re making it out to be.”
I shot her a look. “Easy for you to say. You were born into money.” I bit my lip, then thunked my forehead on the table. “Sorry, that was shitty. I just—”
She reached out and squeezed my hand. “No, you’re right. I was born into money. Money that I later turned down. Obviously, I had one hell of a head start in life, but now I run my own business. If all else fails, maybe you can do the same.”
I straightened back up. I hadn’t thought of that. The work I was doing for Think Ink was short term. Come in. Fix a problem. Walk away. That would be excellent work to do as a contractor with my own business.
“Mer, you don’t need to figure everything out right this second. You don’t even have all the info on how the event went yet. Have your meeting tomorrow. Talk to Luke, and just remember, you have friends in this town. You’re smart and you have options. Don’t just think inside the box.”
When I got home, I was restless. I wouldn’t know for surehow things went until after the meeting tomorrow, but there was one thing I was feeling more sure about by the second. I pulled out my phone and texted Roxy.
Hey, my employment contract was pretty vague since it was all so last minute… What is the shop policy on coworkers dating? Hypothetically.
A reply came through after only a moment.
I don’t care if you fuck Luke. Just don’t do it in my office.
Huh, okay. Guess we weren’t as subtle about our longing looks as I thought.
Chapter Fifteen
Luke
Monday morning came around as it always did, way too fucking early. Today was different, of course. I had spent Saturday night and all day Sunday kicking myself for how I’d left things with Meredith after we’d had sex at the shop. I treated her like an anonymous hookup by not inviting her to my place or, fuck, even just kissing her goodbye. I hadn’t been sure how she felt, and I froze up. Casual, no strings was not what I wanted with her. I don’t think it was even possible for her. She meant too much to me. I could never put a space between us.
