He tensed. Four words that held a promise he absolutely wouldn’t like what came next. “About what?”
“Before you got home, before the fire…” Her hands shook. Not a good sign. “I got a call from an affiliate in Ohio…” She moved her gaze to meet his. “They have a job opening, and they want me. I…I’m going to take it.”
A weight pressed against his chest, and it had nothing to do with the smoke from the night before.
“You know this thing between us isn’t permanent,” she whispered. All the fight seemed to drain out of her. “I think it’s best if we both move on.”
He could not accept that.
Arms crossed, he blew out a breath. “It started to feel pretty permanent when I fell in love with you.”
When I fell in love with you…The words were an anchor holding them in place. Hanging in the oxygen. Ready to devastate.
“People don’t love me, Will. I’m not that kind of person.” She glanced away because apparently the floor tiles were suddenly interesting.
“What kind of person is that?” He ruffled a hand through his hair.
She opened her mouth and closed it again. Cleared her throat and tried again. “The kind people love.”
“Didn’t get that memo.” He searched her face but couldn’t find the sliver of a future he’d hoped to find there. “I do love you.”
Her expression softened slightly. “You only think you love me. It’s just an illusion.”
She said the words, but her eyes didn’t match them.
He cleared the smoke from his throat. “I want to be with you.”
She moved her hands away. “Will, it didn’t work. It won’t work.”
He stared at her, unable to speak. She was leaving.
Unbelievable.
He tore his eyes from hers and rose from the bed, pacing to the window to put space between them. Distance, so he could think straight. He wasn’t enough.
“Will,” she said, “please say something.”
The door creaked open. “Blood pressure check,” the nurse called from behind the curtain. She yanked it open and wheeled in the little cart.
“I should, ah, go. Check in on some things.” William did what he did best, put on the mask, shut down emotion, and left without a backward glance.
“Will…” he thought he heard her say softly.
He couldn’t be sure, and he didn’t care.
…
William’s world crumbled around him. He slipped past a doctor into the elevator. His head throbbed like someone had dropped-kicked it into a professional soccer match.
He was losing Lucy.
He’d said he loved her, but it wasn’t enough. What he experienced last night was a trip through purgatory. Now he was officially in hell. A cough racked his lungs as the elevator chimed at her floor.
The doors slid open, and he moved to exit when Teresa stepped in. She glanced up and jerked to a stop.
“William.” Her eyes glistened with unshed tears, and she wrapped her arms around him.
He let her. If he was in hell, he might as well embrace it. Seemingly on their own, his arms wrapped around her as she squeezed tighter.
