Nancy waved me off. “Distance is relative. You can be in the same room as your partner and feel like you’re worlds apart. It’s the connection that matters.”
Well, she had me there. She’d summed up my entire relationship with Don in a few sentences. Alistair and I had a connection, that was for sure, but it was still in the early stages, where everything was shiny and new. How would we feel in a few weeks when the initial excitement faded, and the distance got to be too much?
Shit.
Here I was, self-sabotaging again, completely disregarding the fact that I was happy and worthy of good things.
“Alright. I’ll read the book and let you know what I think.” I checked out the book and slipped it into my bag, earning me a smile from Nancy.
“Thank you, and make sure you tell Mr. Darcy I said hello,” she said with a wink and shrugged on her patchwork coat. “Did you want to grab a coffee?”
Our shift was over, and as much as I loved Nancy’s company, I wanted to get home and laze around before my phone call with Alistair this evening.
“I can’t today, but maybe later this week.”
She sighed and wrapped the rainbow scarf I’d made her around her throat. “I see how it is. Already ditching your friend for your boyfriend.”
“It isn’t like that at all!” I laughed, even though it wasdefinitelylike that.
“Mhmm. Next thing I know, you’ll be moving to Colorado and shacking up in a chateau with a millionaire minotaur, like in one of your books.” Nancy threw her bag over her shoulder and gave me a quick hug. “I’ll see you later this week!”
“See ya!”
While being whisked away to a mountain mansion would make for an amazing romance novel, it wasn't something I'd ever consider. My entire life was here. Tegan was getting married in the fall, and I was under the impression it wouldn’t be long before she and Atlas made me a grandma. As for Reece and Cyrus, I knew they were just biding their time, letting Atlas and Tegan have their moment before they got engaged.
There was too much happening here for me to leave. Not even a charming minotaur could change that.
As I walked out to my car, my phone vibrated with a call.
Speak of the devil.
“Hey there, pretty lady,” Alistair said on the other end of the line. “What are you up to?”
I smiled so wide it made my cheeks hurt. “I just finished my shift at the library, and I’m about to drive home. What about you? Working hard or hardly working?”
“Well, I was working hard. I’m about to head into some meetings for the rest of the day, but I wanted to call and hear your voice.”
I was too stunned to even speak.
When had Don ever called just to hear my voice?
“Pam? You still there?” Alistair asked.
“I’m here, sorry. Just spaced out for a second.”
Another laugh. “Happens to me all the time. Do you want to do dinner tonight?”
With the two-hour time difference, our version of a dinner date was Alistair video chatting me from his office while he finished up with work, and I cooked myself dinner. The first time we’d done it, I’d felt a little awkward, like I was hosting a cooking show or something, but now it was something in my day I looked forward to.
“I’d love that. I hope your meetings aren’t too painful.” I didn’t know much about conducting business at the level Alistair did, but from what he’d told me, most of his meetings could have been an email.
“They won’t be now that I have this to look forward to. I’ll talk to you later, babe.”
Babe.
My brain tingled every time he called me that in his rumbly voice.
“Talk to you then, bye.”
