“I’ll call you after?”
Another nod and he kissed her head before lowering his lips to her ear.“No lunch with Mason.”
She leaned back to meet his eye.“Definitely not.”
Was that a question or a statement?Was he assuming she wouldn’t do lunch or asking her not to?Well, huh, she wasn’t the only one sending mixed signals.Some of that uncertainty must’ve conveyed to him because he dipped to touch his lips to hers.Not something they’d ever done in front of people.
Okay, so it was a peck, hardly a clinch of passion, but, still, more than they usually showed.
His friends and family had little hope of figuring out what their relationship was when they couldn’t figure it out themselves.
TWENTY-FIVE
WORK.It wasn’t like she was thrilled on any normal day to be going into the Brooker building.This day though… was particularly special.One up there for the record books.If she was fired, she would… What?She couldn’t guess.That was her life right now, dot, dot, dot.Nothing was finished.There was no starting over.Nothing was definitive.Fluid wasn’t as exciting as some might think.
What was she supposed to do without a job?All the way from Cam’s and into Brooker, she tried to answer that question.If Allan fired her, her job with Cam would be over.He wouldn’t like learning she’d lost her job, or Allan sending someone else to fill her position.She couldn’t say she was a fan either.The idea of anyone else taking care of him was crappy, but what could she do about it?
Losing this job meant finding another.Fast.She had bills; everyone needed money.How could she possibly interview after kicking their paparazzi plan into motion?She didn’t want to be hired for her notoriety or disregarded for it either.
Speculation was pointless.She walked out of the elevator with her head held high and crossed the bullpen without making eye contact with anyone.They could think what they wanted and if she had to walk out for the last time—
“Elle!Elle!”
Oh, God, she knew that voice.
Terra fell into step beside her.“Oh, my God, Elle!Hi!Can we talk for—”
“I’m going to see Allan.”
“He’s in with Mason right now.”
“Course he is.”
At Allan’s door, she peeked through the glass and, yep, Mason was there too.Allan raised an index finger, indicating he’d seen her.Okay, so he knew she was there.She’d wait.Not like she had anywhere else to be.
Sinking into one of the tub chairs by the door, it really made her day when Terra sat next to her.
“Where’s Roxie?”the chirper asked.
“Where’s—how do you know Roxie?”
“Everyone knows Roxie!”Terra declared.“She’s the Stream Queen.The Crimson Empress!”
Ah.“So you don’t know her, you just know who she is.”
“You should’ve told me you knew her personally.”That came with a loose wrist push and a laugh fit for another kind of friendship.She and Terra were not friends.Did that have to be clarified?“Why didn’t she come to Cam’s party?”
“She wasn’t in town.”And if Roxie had been in town, the party would’ve been a different affair.“You left the party early.”
“I wouldn’t have if Roxie was there.”
Hence why it would be a different affair.She wasn’t casting aspersions, she’d left too.Well, not left exactly, just retired elsewhere in the building.What she wouldn’t give to be in that same place right now.With Cam or without, being in his space guaranteed no Terra.
That out of the way, she had to wonder.“Can I do something for you, Terra?”
“Allan asked to see me too.”A regular parade.“I think I’m after you though.”
“No need to entertain me.I’m happy sitting here myself.”
