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If I ask him and he says yes, I won’t have to wait until this summer to see him when I’m back home.
But I can’t ask him.
It hasn’t even been a full day since our escapades in the park and he didn’t fight it at all when I told him I had to leave. We were both really clear that it was a one-and-done thing.
I’ve always been Elijah’s little sister to him. If I call him and ask him to come all the way to Connecticut, what will he think of me?
The last thing I want him to think is that I’m needy or using him.
So I don’t know what’s come over me when I smile like an idiot and watch Marjorie’s face drop. “I do have a date. His name’s Ben.”
Chapter Four
Ben
I made it to thirty-one before making the biggest mistake of my life and now I’m living in the aftermath of it.
Phoebe was in my arms, and I let her walk away. I’ve never been so angry with myself.
At the moment, I thought I was doing the right thing. But now I don’t give a shit about the right thing. I want her back.
I have half a mind to jump on a plane and fly to her today. But she has school and I have work.
The last thing I want to do is disrupt her life. She made it abundantly clear we were fucking and parting ways. I don’t want to be desperate. Or I guess I don’t want her to know how desperate I am.
Still, I can’t help wondering if the way she hesitated after she told me she had to leave in the morning was a missed opportunity for me to beg her to stay.
I’m not used to begging, but damn, I would go back in time and figure out a way to extend what we had, whatever it took. I’d never keep her from going back to Connecticut, but I would have planned something for the future. Anything to keep our conversation going.
A copy of It’s in His Kiss on the corner of my desk catches my attention, and I clutch it like a lifeline.
It’s so obvious.
I’m about to text her some ideas for the next book we can read when Elijah walks into my office.
“I need those copies for the Rodriguez project by tomorrow.”
“Sounds good.” My cheeks prickle and I struggle to meet his eyes.
“Everything okay?”
Before I can answer, he sits across from me and tents his hands on my desk. His eyes are gray, like Phoebe’s, but they do nothing for my heart.
His hair is a darker shade of her red than hers—something I’ve always known, but never really noticed.
He quirks his brow and watches me watching him.
I clear my throat and plaster on a smile. “Still feeling a little hungover from the wedding.”
“You could’ve taken today off—”
“Yeah, but the deadline with the Rodriguez project has me losing sleep.”
He sighs and leans back in his chair. “Same. The downsides of owning a business, eh?”
I smirk and shuffle some papers on my desk to appear more natural and not like I’m picturing his sister with her skirt hiked up right before she took every inch of me.
He’s right. Owning Trees of Steel comes with a lot of rewards and benefits, but some days are hard, like this one. We’re here doing paperwork on a Sunday while the rest of Clover Creek enjoys another day of sunshine.
