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I sighed. I was the one who had put him in the awkward position of having to keep something from another friend.
It didn’t matter. The secret would be out soon enough. Now it was a question of what would happen after that.
Chapter 14
Alex
As I drove toward town hall Monday, I realized I was going to need my own truck soon. It was one thing to live in the cabin and get work from Carl but another to be taking his truck all the time. I had the money. Just because I wanted to stay at his ranch didn’t mean I needed to be a total bum.
My gaze drifted to a brown sack sitting in the passenger’s seat. Nothing fancy. Just some coffee and a snack from the coffee shop.
When I thought about it, I realized it was kind of dumb to bring coffee to someone who worked in an office. But at least the muffin and apple would be a nice little meal. Or so I hoped.
Shit. I wasn’t sure. She’d told me to stop over at lunch, but I didn’t know what that really meant. I couldn’t even guess what she wanted to talk about. Whatever it was, it didn’t sound like it’d be all that fun from her tone on the phone.
Maybe she wanted to tell me to get the hell out of town and never come back, that she hated me and wanted to spit in my face for avoiding her.
I didn’t know what else I could say. I’d gotten everything out Sunday morning, and she’d made her feelings clear. I hadn’t expected much more but knew it could be much worse.
But now I was getting more. I didn’t want to get my hopes up, but it was hard not to. She’d had time to think over everything I told her. I’d been honest about my screw-ups.
Isn’t that what women wanted? Honesty? A willingness to change, and all that crap?
I pulled Carl’s truck into the parking lot of town hall. Aspyn’s car was parked there, the car seat obvious in the back. That at least meant she hadn’t run off to avoid meeting me. The idea that she might have occurred to me more than once.
I opened the door and stepped out of the truck. My heart pounded in my chest. I couldn’t really say what I was feeling, some mix of fear and hope. Whatever was about to happen, it was probably going to be big.
As I walked toward the front door to town hall, I glanced at her car again. I thought over the whole idea of her running away. I had no right to think she would be the one to run away. I was the one who’d run away, from town, my pain, from her.
She’d stayed. She’d tried to call me. I’d never called back, even if I had my reasons. Or excuses, whatever someone wanted to call them.
I opened the door and stepped inside, my heart sinking. Perri was there chatting with Joe, but no Aspyn.
Perri looked over at me and gave me a guarded smile. Did she know what was going on? Joe gave me a friendly nod.
“Is Aspyn not here?” I said, trying to keep the disappointment out of my voice.
“She’s in the ladies’ room,” Perri said. “She said for you to go to the conference room when you showed up.” She gestured.
I offered them both a nod and headed to the conference room. I sat in a nicely cushioned rolling chair at the huge brown table dominating the room. After placing the bag right in front of me, I placed my hands on the table.
About a minute later, the door opened, and Aspyn had stepped in. Her hair was up, and she was in a dark, thigh-length skirt and a cream blouse. Beautiful as always.
Her purse hung over her shoulder. Maybe she planned for us to go out after all?
My gaze dropped to my hands. Dirt and dust covered them. Just like it did the rest of my clothes and shoes. I’d been a lot dirtier in my life and didn’t mind, but it was hard not to think about Aspyn’s
look. So clean, perfect, professional.
I lowered my hands under the table to grip the armrests tightly. Damn it. She looked hot as hell in her jeans and a T-shirt, but in her work look, she was even hotter. Maybe I was crazy, but the light makeup and outfit worked perfectly to scream that she was a beautiful woman.
One I’d made sweet love to. One I still wanted, body and soul.
I swallowed. No. I couldn’t think that way, no matter how much I wanted to cross the table and kiss her.
What the hell was even going on? I was supposed to making my peace with the idea she might not ever be my friend again, and now suddenly I wondered what it’d be like to close the door, bend her over the table, and fuck her right there in the conference room like some sort of office porno.
My cock hardened at the thought, and I grunted. I needed to concentrate on earning the woman’s trust back. Obviously, she wasn’t ready to push me away entirely because she’d called me, but I could screw that up if I couldn’t concentrate.
