Chapter 15
Chase got up early the next morning and stopped at the store on his way into work. He needed something for Ashley, but nothing was coming to mind.
Three women had already left messages for him, all with high compatibility ratings, but he couldn’t seem to muster the same level of enthusiasm that these women had for him. Would it be fair to go out with someone while he was still in love with Ashley?
He scanned the candy aisle until his eyes stopped on the little individually wrapped gummies, the kind shaped like food. He picked up a hamburger one and studied it, remembering Ashley’s comment about being a hamburger and pizza kind of girl. They had a pizza-shaped candy too. He took both to the cash register to pay.
If he gave them to her today, would she know it was from him? He could just leave her a short note instead, continue to be anonymous, continue to be a coward and pay to date women he didn’t want to be with. Back in his car, he turned up his music and tried not to think about what he was considering. He glanced at the plastic bag in the seat next to him. It was just candy. It didn’t have to mean anything. Maybe she wouldn’t remember the connection.
Traffic stopped abruptly up ahead, and he slammed on his brakes. The next exit wasn’t for another mile and nobody was moving. The cars around him fruitlessly honked out their frustration.
After five minutes of sitting, he called Mr. Davidson’s office line, but no one answered. He called the main office and got transferred to Yolanda.
“Hey, I’m stuck in traffic. Will you let Mr. Davidson know I’m running late?”
“Sure, sure. But he’s in a meeting with the whole department right now.”
“He is?”
“Yeah.” Yolanda hung up, and Chase tossed his phone down.
He knew what that meeting was for, and he didn’t want it to look like he was purposely missing it as the lucky exception to the mass firing. Traffic slowly crawled forward until Chase finally passed the accident blocking two lanes of traffic and could get back up to speed.
He pulled into the parking lot and jumped out of his car, just in time to see Ashley walking outside with her box of things, the little fern poking out of the top.
She blinked back tears when she saw him. “I knew this was coming. I’m not sure why I’m being emotional about it.”
Chase took the box out of her hands and headed over to her car. She opened her passenger side for him and he put the box down inside. Then he grabbed her up in a fierce hug.
***
The comfort of Chase’s arms was exactly what she needed. Ashley rested her head against his chest, wishing he’d never let go. What would happen to their friendship now that they wouldn’t see each other every day?
“I guess this is good because I have another interview today, and I hated lying again about why I needed time off.”
“When is your interview?” he murmured into her hair.
“At two. It’s dispatch, so I’d be back to phones.” She gave a little laugh. “Might as well do what I’m good at.”
“Will you call me and tell me how it goes?”
Maybe he’d also considered what their friendship would morph into now that they weren’t coworkers. He’d given her a reason to call him.
“Of course.”
He started to pull away, and she let her hands slide along his strong arms, wishing she had the right to hold him whenever she wanted. “Chase, we never talked about what happened at the restaurant the other night.”
His face shifted. She could see bringing it up made him uncomfortable, but she plowed ahead anyway. “I stretched the limits of our friendship and I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”
Chase shrugged. “Considering I made up a girlfriend, I think I owed you one pretend appearance as your boyfriend.”
“Seeing Reid again, I was so flustered, I just—”
Flynn came out of the building, cussing and stomping over to his sports car. Chase shifted them over to behind a tall truck where Flynn wouldn’t see them.
“Did you get a chance to say goodbye to Flynn?” Chase whispered.
“He didn’t say goodbye to anyone. As soon as he heard the news about the downsize, he flipped off Mr. Davidson and started ripping up papers on his desk. He only calmed down when they threatened him with a security escort. I feel kinda bad, even though he’s been gleefully telling anyone who would listen that we’re an item.”
