Faith straightened. “That’s okay. It’s not that many boxes.”
“I’ll see you there.” He turned and jogged to the lot where he’d parked before she could contradict him. But despite his hustle, Faith got to the BUILD office before he did, and she’d carried in almost everything by the time he slid into the staff parking in the alley.
“You really do take care of yourself, don’t you?” he said as he pulled the final box from her hands.
She slammed the trunk. “Yes. I do.”
She held the BUILD door open for him, and he carried the box into the workroom to stack with the others. “Do you want to unpack things tonight?” he asked.
Instead of answering, she gave a jaw-cracking yawn.
“Guess tomorrow works too,” he said.
“Sorry.” She gave a rueful little laugh. “Long day.”
“No kidding.”
She flipped off the lights as they walked down the hall to the exit, and once they reached the alley, she turned and fitted her key in the lock, jiggling the handle for good measure.
Leo looked around with a frown. “Is it always this dark?”
She glanced up. “Yeah. That typically happens after the sun goes down.”
“This isn’t safe. You leave out this door every night?” He realized that he’d only visited the office during the day, and he’d always parked in the lot in front.
“It’s fine,” she said dismissively. “My car’s right by the door.”
Leo glanced up and down the dim alley, which was empty save a dumpster at one end. In fact, this whole neighborhood wasn’t what he’d call desirable once the sun was down. The block was all businesses that kept nine-to-five hours, so no one would be around if Faith ran into trouble in the inky blackness of the alley. Faith or any of the BUILD employees, of course.
“Aren’t you usually the last one here at night?” he asked. “And don’t you usually stay pretty late? This neighborhood isn’t—”
“Hey.” She rested her hand against his chest. “I’ve been coming and going for six years now without any trouble. You don’t need to worry about me.”
But he would. He’d be thinking about her leaving work after dark from now on. Worrying, exactly as she said.
“Besides,” she added. “William gets here soon. I’ll have an escort.”
“Right.” He rocked back on his heels, teeth clenched. “William.”
Like he’d told his sisters, William moving to town meant that his time working this closely with Faith was coming to an end and he could focus on the job he’d actually been hired for.
That also meant he wouldn’t be around when Faith and William started working together. William, who made her laugh over Zoom. William, who charmed every woman in his orbit.
Leo would be on the outside of their little circle at BUILD, which was for the best.
It was all for the best.
THIRTEEN
The list of places Leo would rather be was short: anywhere but here.
He was trapped in a windowless conference room on a Tuesday afternoon while one of the Digham attorneys specializing in compliance droned on about action items related to the upcoming project reviews the foundation would be undertaking.
Action items might be what finally drove Leo right over the edge.
To make matters worse, those action items involved numbers—grant amounts, expenditures, debt-to-asset ratios—that made him shut down even faster than usual when faced with a task that involved sitting at a table and taking notes. Thankfully he wouldn’t be responsible for any of the program reviews under discussion today, but he’d eventually have to run them for the programs he oversaw, so Carlisle had asked him to sit in on the meeting.
Maybe it wasn’t action items that would drive him over the edge but the ever-present fluorescent lighting in this damn boardroom.
