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I groaned. What now?
“Hey,” she said before I had a chance to say anything. “What’s going on with Zarek?”
My stomach clenched. “How would I know?”
“Well,” she said slowly, “that’s the thing. I’ve been at the Onyx office twice in the last two days—once to drop something off, once to kidnap Simon for lunch. Zarek’s been there both times.”
My pulse kicked up. “There? Like… working?”
“No,” Trenda said. “In the conference room with Simon and the other guys. They’re all talking serious like.”
“What did Simon say when you asked him?”
“He said to not worry, it was nothing. That means it’s something. That’s why I’m asking you.”
“Trenda, I told you how I last left things with Zarek. He hasn’t filled me in on anything that might have him over at Onyx. Should I be worried?”
There was a long pause.
Shit.
“You think I should be worried.”
“I would be, if I were in your shoes,” Trenda said.
“But we’re not talking,” I whispered.
“Then you need to start.” And there was my big sister, always willing to state the obvious.
We hung up.
And then I did the thing I was very good at.
I imagined everything that could possibly be going wrong.
By the time I grabbed my keys, my heart was already pounding.
He was home.
Seeing him—his face, his body as he opened the door—broke something open inside of me.
He let me in without ceremony, like he’d been expecting me. He moved better than the last time I’d seen him—still stiff, but not guarded.
“Want some coffee? I just made a fresh pot.”
“Sure.” I followed him to the kitchen. He went in, I leaned on the island.
He poured coffee. I accepted, then sat down on one of the barstools as he braced his hip on the island across from me.
We stared at each other like two people standing on opposite ends of a bridge neither of us knew how to cross.
“I need to say something,” he started. “About… the other night.”
I held up a hand. “If you’re about to apologize for the sex, don’t.”
He blinked. “I—”
“You did not take advantage of me,” I said firmly. “If anything, I took advantage of you.”
