His mouth curves up in a reluctant smirk. He smothers it in a hurry, but the damage is done. I had him there.
He rubs his jaw as if to wipe away the evidence of his smile. “So, you think coming in here and quotingHappy Gilmoreis going to fix this?”
“I don’t know. Will it?”
His eyes narrow. “You forgot ‘I’m stupid, you’re smart.’”
“Let’s not get carried away.”
He squints further, considering me. With no warning, he straightens and his chair snaps upright, startling me.
“You called me acaveman. After I spent the night taking care of you.” His eyes glitter in anger, all signs of joking gone.
I bite back my first instinct, a fiery retort. Instead, I take a deep breath and wait for my heart rate to slow. “You’re not a caveman. I shouldn’t have said that.”
“You’re damn right you shouldn’t have.”
“Andyoudidn’t need to make me feel worse,” I snap. Welp, so much for restraint. “Look, I’ve spent the last year of my life working on this bill, and right now it all feels like a colossal waste of time. I’m embarrassed that it failed, I feel guilty that I made my boss look bad, and I’m angry at myself for getting my hopes up about one stupid thing in this town. And now I get to add to it that I humiliated myself in front of you.”
His face softens a fraction. “You don’t need to feel embarrassed in front of me.”
“Sure I do.”
There’s a loaded pause. “Well, I’m sorry I made you feel worse.”
It’s a stiff apology, and I know why: it’s because he meant every word he said during that argument. And if I’m being honest with myself, I’m more embarrassed by the truth of his words than angry at him for saying them.
I decide I’ll take what I can get. “Shall we call a truce, then? Put this behind us?”
He blinks at me a couple of times, then nods slowly.
Mission accomplished. Quit while you’re ahead.
“It’s late, I’m gonna head out.” I move to stand, then decide to extend an olive branch. “I’m grabbing some dinner on my way home. You’re welcome to join me.”
When he makes no move to follow me, I feel every ounce of the crushing weight of his rejection.
“What, not enough groveling for you?” I force a laugh, trying to disguise how deeply pathetic I feel.
His expression is unreadable. “Nah, I’m just not quite done here. How are you getting home?”Of course.
“Walking, as usual. And yes, I have my scary rape whistle and Mace,”I say, jingling my keys at him. “Though perhaps I could ask George to escort me? Since he’s been tasked withkeeping an eye on meand all.”
Ben’s eyebrows jump.Caught.
“Yeah, I know what you’ve been up to. I’m surprised you haven’t implanted a tracking chip behind my ear. Or maybe you did in the middle of the night and I slept through it.”
“I probably could have, you were snoring so loud.”
“I donotsnore.”
“You sure about that?” He smirks.
It’s the first sign of the old Ben, the Ben I know. Bantering Ben. Relief washes over me like a waterfall.
“Okay, well... have a good weekend,” I say, giving him an awkward little wave. I’m halfway out the door when I hear his voice.
“Kate. Wait.”
