“Tell him you love him.”
“I absolutely cannot do that.”
“Listen, as your best friend and a certified expert in Paigeology, I have reached the conclusion that you’ve got it bad, and you need to do something about it, which is to tell him the truth.”
I close my eyes for a second and shake my head. “There’s nothing I can do. He was very clear about the terms and conditions of our relationship. I knew it going in. I can’t turn around now and try to make it something it’s not.”
“But what if it is?”
“But it’s not,” I tell her.
“But what. If. It. Is?” she says, poking me on the last three words.
“It’s too complicated,” I answer, knowing it’s the truth. “I’m here and my career is finally about to take off and he’s all the way down near the equator, living his best life.”
Shaking her head, Vivian says, “I don’t think he is.”
“That’s because you’ve never met him,” I tell her. “The man knows who he is. It’s one of the things I find most attractive about him. Unfortunately, who he is means he’s never going to want the full meal deal.”
“That was before he met you,” she says. “I guarantee you right now he’s lying in bed, unable to sleep because he misses you so much.”
God, if only that were true. “I don’t think so.”
“He was certainly thinking about you a few minutes ago when he sent that money back.”
I chew the inside of my lip for a second, wishing she was right. Then his words about marriage pop into myhead. Looking at her, I shake my head. “No, Vivian. No matter how much I wish it could be different, he meant what he said. One and done.”
30
Cracking Some Eggs…
Paige
It’s7:55 a.m. I’m already at the office, but I’m not going up the elevator until 7:59. It’s a small but mighty act of defiance. I’m setting boundaries. Showing Guy that I mean what I say. It might sound stupid, but it’s not something that will go unnoticed. He’ll be irked, but so be it. It’s that thing about how you can’t make an omelet without breaking some eggs. Well, I’ve got an egg poised over the edge of a glass bowl, and I’m about to give it one sharp crack.
“Well, look what the cat dragged in,” Lyle calls from across the lobby. “Paige Chadwick, as I live and breathe.”
I offer him a tight smile while he walks over to me. “Yup, I’m alive. Disappointed?”
“You’ll be surprised to know I’m relieved actually,” he says, pushing the up button.
I glance over at him. “That is a surprise.”
“Guy’s had me doing all of your work on top of mine,”he tells me. “How you haven’t stepped in front of a cab to end it all is beyond me.” Looking me up and down, he says, “You look … different.”
“It’s the real tan.”
“Yes, this is much better than the orange hue you left with, but it’s something else,” he says, waving a hand at me. “Something about the way you’re carrying yourself.”
I lift my chin a little, feeling a sense of pride that he can sense my newfound confidence.
Gasping, he says, “Are you pregnant?”
“No, I’m not pregnant,” I snap.
The elevator doors open and he holds a hand out for me to get on. Checking my watch, I say, “I’ll get the next one.”
He steps on, then holds the door. “Seriously? You’re so upset that you won’t ride the elevator with me? It’s not like I was implying that you’re showing or something.”
