“Love you, too.”
As Dad left the office, I turned to gaze out the window at the city skyline.Once again, my mind wandered back to Callie.I wasn’t even trying to fight it anymore.She’d become my happy place.
I told myself not to get my hopes up, but, deep down, I knew it was too late.
CHAPTER TEN
CALLIE
My mind was reeling.The meeting with Gene had started horribly.No matter how much I tried to take charge, he seemed to ignore me altogether.Wick had offered sympathetic smiles but said nothing.
Then Emmett had stepped in—well, technically he’d stepped out.I was grateful.More than grateful.I wasswooning.I needed to shut that shit down immediately.
I was shuffling the papers on my desk into a neat stack when someone cleared their throat behind me.Emmett stood in the entryway of my cubicle.
“Why don’t we call it a day?”
“It’s only four thirty.”
He winked and my insides lit up.
“I won’t tell if you don’t.”
I gathered my things, disappointment and relief warring inside me.Being in his presence was becoming overwhelming.My conflicted feelings were pulling me apart.“Thanks again for earlier.”
He smiled.“Don’t thank me yet.We still have a long road ahead.”
At that moment, his words seemed to have a double meaning.I swallowed, wondering if he felt this magnetic pull between us, too.What would that mean for our working relationship?Did I have the strength to maintain proper boundaries?
I slung my bag over my shoulder, making for the cubicle door, but Emmett didn’t move.
“Well, uh…” I stumbled over my words, wondering if he was planning to move.“I guess I’ll, um, see you tomorrow.”It came out almost like a question.
“Have a drink with me,” he said, a glimmer of something in his eyes that I couldn’t put my finger on.It looked a little like hope.
If it was, I would have to crush it.No matter what Marco said, I would not sleep with my boss, and I woulddefinitely notfall in love with him.
“I can’t,” I said.He visibly deflated before shifting to stand at his full height and taking a big step back.
“Goodnight, Emmett.”I hurried past him before I did something I’d regret.There was too much at stake.Even if Emmett looked at me in a way Hugh never had—a way that made me feel like the only woman in the world.
The evening air was cool against my skin as I hailed a cab.Emmett’s invitation had shaken me.I needed to clear my head.Fortunately, I had the perfect remedy: an evening binge watching Netflix with Marco.
Twenty minutes later, we were curled up on the couch with a bowl of popcorn.But I couldn’t stop thinking about Emmett.The warmth of his gaze.The husky timbre of his voice.The way I felt both grounded and weightless in his presence.
Marco nudged me.“Earth to Callie.Are you even watching?”
“Sorry.Just distracted.”
Marco’s heavy gaze burned into me, making me squirm in my seat.“You’ve been different lately—ever since you started your internship.It’s like you’re lighter—more carefree.”
I wanted to tell him about my feelings for Emmett, about that weightless feeling I got whenever he was near me.I wanted to tell him that all my other thoughts and desires had been replaced by a flirty billionaire with bright blue eyes, a brilliant mind, and a heart of gold.He waseverything.
But I couldn’t bear to admit the truth out loud.He was my boss, and I wasn’t the kind of girl who’d let a man come between her and her goals.I wasn’t my mother.
I should have known better.My best friend could read me like a book.He paused the movie and turned to me.“Alright.Out with it.”
“Out with what?”
