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“I’ll go check on her,” he says.
“A thousand.” I hand him my card. “I’m good for it.”
He studies me. “I could get in trouble.”
“I’ll sue whoever comes at you.”
“I’ll go get her.” He waves at the lady behind the desk and points to the elevator. He starts walking, and the minute the elevator opens, I’m in it with him.
“Oh, come on, Mr. Summer.”
“I’ll pay you the money.”
“I don’t want your money. Just don’t cause a scene up there.”
“I have only good intentions.”
He grimaces and faces forward. The elevator opens, and he doesn’t get the chance to exit first. I am out and down the hall at Cat’s door, knocking, before he is halfway here. She flings the door open, and she’s in a burgundy dress, and mascara has smudged the skin under her eyes. “I made you cry,” I say.
“Why are you here? How are you up here?”
She tries to shut the door, and I catch it. “My mother has my phone. She showed up at my place melting down and hysterical. I left her there to go get you at the restaurant. And now I’m here. I left her to come to you. I need to go back. I need you to go with me.”
“Your mother?”
“Yes. My mother.”
“Oh.”
“Oh.”
“Ma’am, I can remove him,” the guard says.
“No,” she says, and I pull her to me.
“I’m sorry. I hate that I made you feel this.” I cup her head. “I wouldn’t do this to you. I’m not that guy.” I kiss her, a long, deep, tell-her-I-love-her kind of kiss, when I can’t tell her yet. It’s too soon and the wrong time and place. “Come home with me.”
“I shouldn’t because—”
“You should for about a hundred reasons I can’t list now. Come with me. I need you, Cat.”
“I actually need you, too.”
Relief washes over me. “Grab your things. What can I carry?”
“I just need my purse,” she says, rushing inside and grabbing it before returning.
We exit to the absence of the security guard and hurry to the elevator. Once we’re inside, I turn to her, my hands on her waist. “Cat—”
She pushes to her toes and kisses me. “It’s okay. How are you and how is your mother?”
“How am I? I don’t know if anyone has asked me that in years.”
“I am.”
“And I’m more than fine because you’re here. My mother is a wreck.”
“I might embarrass her.”
