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She crossed her arms. As usual, her body had caught on before her brain. He was talking about staying. The man who’d run countless Foreign Service construction projects and whipped contractors into shape in half a dozen different languages.
The man who never stuck around.
The man she loved.
She couldn’t believe he meant it, so she spoke back a little icier than she should have. “I know a lot of somebodies.”
“Nobody else who’s qualified.”
“I know people with a better track record.”
Carson crossed his arms, matching her body language. “I’ve been here a month, Jules.”
“And you still don’t have a plan.”
“I’m trying to keep an open mind.”
“Keeping an open mind is not the same as making a commitment. You’ve got one foot out the door. There’s no way I can trust somebody to run the project who I don’t even know if he’ll be around—”
“Forget it.”
“See, that’s exactly what I’m saying. I don’t want to forget it, but I need you to talk to me. Tell me what you think we’re doing here, because I honestly don’t know. Are you going to be here in another month?”
Carson shifted uncomfortably, and his eyes went out the window behind her shoulder, toward the pond.
“You’re running out of time, aren’t you? And then you’ll go back.”
He took a sip of coffee, then stared down the mug as if it held all the answers. “I got a call.”
“When?”
“Couple days ago.”
A couple days ago, he’d made love to her with an intensity that left her breathless and right on the verge of tears.
A couple days ago, she’d admitted to herself that not only was she in love with him again but that maybe, just possibly, some part of her had always been in love with him. That her feelings for Carson had torpedoed every attempt she’d ever made at an adult relationship.
And he’d been taking work calls and engineering his escape hatch.
The son of a bitch.
“When do you leave?”
“I’m not necessarily leaving, Jules. I just got a call. They gave my project in the Netherlands to my deputy, and there’s a new one they want me to head up.”
“Where?”
“Dubai.”
“That sounds safe.”
He frowned. “It’s safe enough.”
“When are you supposed to be there?”
“Last week.”
“So are you going or not?”
