He puts his wine glass down and lays his hands out in front of him, urging me to stop stressing. “Baby, they don’t care. In their eyes, you could do no wrong. They love you, Erika.”
Leon walks around the kitchen island toward me. “Like all of us, they only want you to be happy.”
Dammit. He had me at baby. “Okay.”
“Stop worrying. Let me handle the worrying for you.”
Before I realize what’s happening, he’s wrapped himself around me. “I missed you today.” His voice sounds full of sadness.
Instinctively, I wrap my arms around his waist and snuggle into the crook of his neck. At five foot nine, I’m tall, but he’s taller, and yet somehow, we always fit perfectly together.
“I missed you, too,” I admit.
It’s the first time I’ve seen him properly since breakfast. I hate that neither of us brought up what I mentioned straight after our run.
After all, I asked him to think about his actions before making any hasty decisions about us. So, I assume he’s doing that now. Thinking.
Although I wish he had spoken to me as breakfast felt forced and a bit awkward. That’s not who we are.
I hated every bite of my pancakes.
After breakfast, I kept myself busy while he spent the whole day on the phone and behind his laptop, working in the conference room here at the house. We’ve been living separately all day, tiptoeing around each other. I also hated that. I guessif I want him to come on vacation with me, then I need to cut him some slack. He’s rearranging his life for me, and I’m excited about spending sun-filled days lounging by our private pool.
Vegas and then Bora Bora, just the two of us.
Deep down, it’s what I’ve always wanted.
“Don’t be a stranger, and please don’t push me away, Erika.”
“We need to talk.” Maybe I shouldn’t have said what I said earlier, and it’ll be awkward if we don’t clear the air before we go.
He sighs heavily, as if the weight of the world is on his shoulders. “It’s all we ever do.”
We are experts in the art of avoidance. “And yet neither of us really says anything,” I admit honestly.
“It’s time, Erika.” He squeezes me and kisses the top of my head, which he’s done more in the last two days than he has in years. “My parents are staying over tonight since they have a flight to Los Angeles in the morning, and I’m dropping them off at the airport. My team will be working here tomorrow, so we can talk once everyone has left.”
“Okay.” Twenty-four hours have never felt so long, but it will give me time to think about what I want to say. He may need to peel me off the ceiling with worry before then; I’m already nervous just thinking aboutour talk. “Why is your team coming here?” I ask, switching the focus away from us.
“To review some contracts and handle any last-minute details before I leave. I didn’t want to go into the office on a Saturday.” He finally releases me from his tight grip, which I already miss. Handing me a glass of red wine, he proceeds to pick up his own. “Liquid courage for tonight. Not that you need it.” He taps the rim of his glass against mine, making themchingas they touch. “Cheers.”
“Cheers.” I’m already feeling better. He always has a way of reassuring me. “I wouldn’t have minded staying here tomorrow by myself. You have a gym, a pool, and I have a to-be-read listlonger than my legs; I would have found ways to keep myself busy.” However, I struggled to fill the day. I tried watching a new television series, but if anyone asked me what it was about, I wouldn’t be able to give a single detail about the plot. The tension between Leon and me has made too many thoughts spin through my mind, and my concentration is at an all-time low.
“My team will be here at eleven, and Sutton may arrive earlier to set up the conference room. She’ll let herself and the team in if I haven’t returned from the airport. Sutton isn’t happy about me going away because I just increased her workload for the next few weeks.” He rolls his eyes.
“Does she like anything? Or anyone?”
“What makes you ask that?” Leon looks confused as he sets his wine glass down, his brows furrowing.
“Because she hates me, and now she’ll hate me even more becauseI’mthe one forcing you to rearrange your days.”
Leon’s Rottweiler assistant, Sutton, has never said anything about disliking me; no, it’s more of a gut feeling I have. Add that to the side eyes she gives me with the hint of disdain in the way she talks to me, and you have one hell of a sulky Sutton with a chip on her shoulder the size of the CN Tower.
He waves off my observation. “That’s not true.”
I don’t usually go into Leon’s office in town, but when I do, she’s like the worst or best bodyguard in the world, depending on how you look at it. She always asks if I have an appointment.Petty, much?“It’s true. Did you hear what she said to me the last time we went for lunch?” I ask him.
“The bit about you being a bad distraction for me?” Leon knows exactly what I’m talking about. “She wasn’t being rude.”
