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At the sound of our names, we turned to find Elliot exiting our building, a small smile playing on his lips. It took everything in my power not to jump away from Weston when we were already a couple feet apart.
“Elliot? What are you doing here?” When he reached me, I leaned forward to kiss him on the cheek. He gave me a side hug before stepping back and shaking Weston’s hand.
“Are you really surprised I would want to see you after you were away for so long?” he asked.
I chuckled, despite my plummeting stomach. So much for one more time. “Three nights, El. That’s barely a blip.”
He rocked back on his heels, his hands tucked into his pockets. “So, I want to hang out with my sister. Do you have a better offer?”
I willed myself not to glance at Weston. “Your idea of hanging out had better involve sitting on my couch watching movies because that’s all the activity I have the energy for.”
He laughed, turning his attention to Weston. “It sounds like you’re working your employees to the bone, Aldrich.”
In my periphery, Weston went rigid. “You know me. I like to make the work environment as painful as possible and keep my employees chained down so they can never leave,” he deadpanned.
Weston started for my bag, but Elliot beat him to it. “I’ve got Elise’s things. You can head up to your place and do whatever it is you do when you’re all alone.”
Weston and I finally exchanged a glance. He smirked, but his disappointment was palpable. “Count my money. That’s what I do when I’m alone.”
“Make sure not to get any paper cuts,” I quipped halfheartedly.
As much as I’d protested, I’d wanted that final time with him, and now it would never happen.
Weston stood behind me in the elevator, Elliot beside me. His hand brushed up and down the center of my back, featherlight, but I felt it to my toes.
The door slid open on my floor, his touch falling away. I twisted around to face him.
“Bye, Weston. Have a good rest of your weekend.”
He nodded to me, his expression unreadable. “Thank you, Elise. You did an outstanding job on this trip. I won’t forget it.”
Heat rose to my cheeks. “I won’t either,” I mouthed before spinning away to follow my brother down the hall.
I let Elliot into my apartment, sighing past the knot in my chest. Saoirse was in Wyoming visiting her dad, brother, and sister-in-law for the weekend, so we had the place to ourselves.
He carried my bag to my bedroom, setting it down on the end of the bed. Then he leaned against the doorjamb while I set about unpacking. He knew me well enough not to question my need to organize immediately. We were the same that way.
“Tell me the truth,” he started.
I raised my head from my stack of clothes. “About…?”
“How is Weston as a boss?”
“Oh, he’s fine. We don’t have a lot of interaction on a daily basis.”
“You did on this trip, though.”
“Somewhat.” Oh god, I hated lying to my brother. “While we were at the factories, he did his thing, and I did mine.”
His brow lowered. “He took care of you, though? Made sure you were in your room at night?”
If he only knew how well Weston had taken care of me…
“He did. I promise, he looked out for me, even though it wasn’t necessary.” I put my hands on my hips and crinkled my nose. “Who do you think looked out for me when I was in Chicago?”
He scoffed. “It sure as hell wasn’t Patrick.”
I pressed a hand to my aching chest. “Ouch. Punch landed.”
