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He snorts. “But?”

“But I do.” We stare at each other in silence for a minute. “I’ll take the job, but we’ll have to wait and see about the rest.”

“I’ll take it. For now.” He slides a folder across the table to me. “Here’s the offer in writing.” I look at the salary, the hours, the details about the apartment. It’s real. Too real. Kinda like what I’m feeling for Bones. All too real and totally surprising.

Before I think too hard about it, my mouth runs off. “When can I start?” I’m already anticipating the look on Hender-slime’s face when I quit.

“Does Monday work for you?” Bones gives me a smile that melts me from the inside out.

“Monday’s perfect.” My voice comes out way too soft.

He pulls his phone out of his pocket. “What’s your number?” he asks.

I tell him my number and watch as he types it in. A few seconds later, my phone buzzes in my pocket. “So you have my number, too,” Bones grunts and stands, dropping a couple of twenties on the table. Then he holds out his hand and helps me to my feet.

We walk back toward my office in silence. The sun should make everything feel normal, but my blood is still fizzing with adrenaline and… something I’m not naming. Every time I glance at Bones, he’s watching me. Like he already knows what I look like naked and is counting down the hours until he gets the real thing.

When we reach my building, he stops in the shadow of the overhang and angles his body to block out the whole damn city.

“You want me to come up with you while you quit?” His tone is dead serious, like he’d follow me into a war zone with zero hesitation.

I almost say yes. But I can do this myself. “Thanks, but I’ve got it covered.”

His lips twitch. “Didn’t doubt it.” I reach for the door. He leans in, so close his stubble nearly scrapes my ear. “I’ll be at your place tomorrow morning, and we’ll start moving your stuff into your new apartment.”

Oh, that won’t work. I have my Saturday afternoon book club meeting, and I have a ton of packing to do. “Can we do it on Sunday instead?” I ask him.

He stares down at me, and I’m pretty sure Bones is about to argue but then he shocks me. “Does 9am Sunday work for you?”

“That’s perfect. See you then,” I tell him and head into the office building.

I ride the elevator up and quickly pack up my desk. It only takes me two minutes to type out my letter of resignation. Then I send out the accurate quarterly projection reports to all the senior management. Let’s see how Hender-slime weasels his way out of that. Oh well, not my problem anymore.

I set the overflowing box on the edge of my desk and take the letter with me as I march down the hallway. Henderson’s door is ajar, as usual, so he can listen in on hallway gossip. I don’t knock. I push the door open, and the first thing I see is his stupid face, lips wet from chewing on a pen, tie crooked, hair already losing its daily battle with gravity. He’s on the phone, and when he sees me, his eyes go wide and then narrow like a snake’s.

“I’ll call you back,” he says, and drops the phone on its cradle. “I was just about to page you. We’ve got an emergency with the Harmon report⁠—”

I place the letter on his desk. “This is my resignation, effective immediately. I’m out.”

There’s a beat of pure silence, then the color rises in his face until he looks like a ham left in the sun.

“Excuse me?” He actually stands, looming over his desk like he’s expecting me to kneel and beg forgiveness.

“I quit, Henderson. The keycard’s in the envelope. I’m not coming back.”

His hands flatten on the desktop. “Sit down, Eden. We need to talk about this like adults.”

I stay standing. “I’m done talking. I’m done being your errand girl. I’m done covering for your mistakes and picking up your slack. And I’m not going to falsify reports for you.”

He stares at me like I’m speaking Mandarin. “You think you can just walk out? You signed a contract, Eden. You walk now, and I’ll blacklist you in every firm from here to the county line. You’ll never work in this city again.”

I feel the old, familiar terror building up in my gut, but I push it down. “You and I both know you don’t have that power.”

His expression flips from rage to panic in a blink. “Let’s not be hasty, Eden.”

“Drop dead, Hender-slime.”

I grab the box off my former desk and walk out the office. Damn. I feel lighter than I’ve felt in a long freaking time.