The chamber settles into quiet, but my mind, not so much.
Holy shit!
It’s going to be a mess.
“Anything else?” Vector asks.
“No, sir.” I get to my feet and keep my expression even. “The frontline will be moved back to the Draig border by midnight.”
Vector gives the smallest nod of acknowledgment, and just like that, I’m dismissed.
I walk back out through those heavy doors and pull them closed behind me.
My job just got a hell of a lot more difficult.
2
Carla
I look at the building in front of me and swallow thickly.
I can do this.
No, I can’t.
Yes. I absolutely can!
I don’t move so much as an inch. Okay, that’s not true; my chest rises and falls faster because I’m panicking, and I never panic.
I’m going to stop thinking about it and just do it.
I let go of my steering wheel and flex my fingers. The parking lot is busy. There are black SUVs in neat rows. The building itself is all dark glass and clean lines, rising three stories.
Why am I even here? This is humiliating. I’m about to throw myself at a man who, six months ago, took me home, gave me the best night of my entire adult life, and then never called me again, which was absolutely fine.
It was a one-night stand. A hookup. It was good, and then it ended.
Only I saw him again recently, more than once, and apparently decided I wasn’t done with him.
I unbuckle my seatbelt. Then I buckle it again.
I’ll call him instead. That would be the sane thing to do.
I can do it from the comfort of my desk. I could even do it right now, and then I wouldn’t have to humiliate myself.
I pull my phone out of my purse, find his contact, and then lock my phone again, tossing it back into my purse.
Crap!
He’ll turn me down if I call. I know he will. He’ll say something polite and noncommittal, something like “I’ll get back to you,” and then he won’t. Same goes for a text.
It has to be face-to-face.
I’m sure he’ll agree to a date…or a coffee…no, a drink…something.
Holy crap!
I’ve never been this up and down before, and I don’t like it one bit.
