“He’s gone.” She had to scream it in my ear, but I heard her.
I contemplated playing dumb, but there was no reason with her. All I did was give a small nod.
There has been a crack in my heart since last summer. It widened a bit more every time I saw him.
It grew quite a bit wider tonight.
CHAPTER 7
Maryellen
Chase did a fantastic job of steering clear of me at work the day after the party. All day. It was for the best. I spent more time thinking about how to handle what to say to him if I saw him rather than doing my job, which stressed me out. The fact that I didn’t have to in the end was better.
But now it was Monday, and we had meetings scheduled together. Talking and being in the same room would be unavoidable.
“Good morning, Maryellen.” Gage greeted me, walking into his office while distracted on a phone call, so I simply waved.
Since Chase did not currently have an assistant, my duties were almost doubled. And today was going to be one of those days where I would almost need to be in two places at once. One of them was scheduled in five minutes, across the floor, in Chase’s soon-to-be new office.
With the contractors…and Chase.
I grabbed my tablet and made my way down the hall. Behind me, the doors of the elevator opened and footsteps fell in behind me.
I felt him.
The temptation to turn and see him was strong.
I kept walking. As I reached the door to his new office, his hand reached ahead of me and opened it.
I wished, at that moment, I hadn’t worn my hair up in a bun. A cascade of hair to cover the side of my face would have been very helpful. Instead, my pink cheeks were on display for him.
“Thank you.”
The clean, fresh scent of his cologne or aftershave wafted through the air between us. I wanted to lean in and inhale deeply but forced myself not to.
“Of course,” Chase said. “And good morning.”
“Good morning.”
He followed me into the room, and we looked around. It didn’t seem the office would be completed as soon as they kept promising. There was still so much to do. The plumbing wasn’t installed in the bar area yet, and there were no light fixtures. Plus, all the painting, furniture, and decorating still needed to happen. The entire space was covered with construction litter and debris, making it hard to move.
“Who are we meeting here?” he asked. Turning, I found him looking out one of the tall windows down to the street below.
Pulling out my tablet, I tried to find the answer. “Um, it’s either the plumber or the electrician. Let me check.” As my finger swiped along the screen to find the correct calendar, Chase’s hand covered mine, stopping me from looking.
“It doesn’t matter that much. Either way, this is no place for you.”
Shocked and ready to argue, I put my hand to my hip.
“Hey,” Chase said. “All I mean is this place isn’t safe. I don’t want you in here because I don’t want you getting hurt. I’d much rather you wait outside the room. Or better yet, go have a seat at your desk. When they arrive, I’ll manage things in here, then send them down to you.”
It was times like this my head spun with confusion regarding Chase Parker. He completely avoided me on Friday. Because of somethinghehad done the night before. Then he acted like this.
Caring…and thoughtful…and nice.
“OK,” I said. “Thank you. I’ll work on your schedule for the week while you’re taking care of this.”
Chase asked Gage to join the contractor meeting. They’d been with them much longer than anticipated. In the meantime, Harper arrived for her lunch date with Gage.
