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When he said anyone, it sounded like he was including her.
“You don’t believe that.” She wasn’t accepting a brush-off. Not when she had invested in him. She cared about him. Couldn’t he see that? She’d stayed instead of filing out the door with everyone else. She was here now, trying to understand him.
“You didn’t cause your friends’ deaths,” she tried again.
If Tag had been here, or Reese, what would they say to Eli to pull him out? How would they reach him? Like a flash, she knew. She didn’t miss the flinch of hurt when Reese teased Tag about resembling their mother.
“And you didn’t cause your mother’s death.” She put a hand over his forearm to soften the blow. “You’re good for a lot of people.”
Like me.
“What the hell do you know?” Rage permeated his features, his eyes going cold. “You, who continue coming back like a kicked dog no matter how I treat you.”
“I do not.” That wasn’t true. Not even a little. She was here because she cared about him. Because of what they’d shared.
Eli got to his feet. “It wouldn’t matter what I did, would it? You’d stay.”
“Are you trying to make me to leave?” she asked with an incredulous laugh.
“I always knew you were smart.” He turned and crossed the room, leaving her sitting on his bed in shock.
Oh. Hell. No.
She stood in the center of his bedroom, anger vibrating across her shoulders. It was so like him to wall up and shut down just when she was reaching into a part of him he hid from everyone.
She followed him as far as the hallway before she shouted after him, “You asked me to stick around today! Change your mind?”
Fists balled at his sides, Eli froze, jaw clenched, eyes on his shoes.
“If you’re too afraid to deal with your feelings, that’s fine. But if you’re treating me like shit because you don’t want me to see them, that’s unacceptable. Not after what I thought we had.”
Her heart thudded while she awaited his answer. None came. With a frustrated shake of her head, she decided to call him on his bluff. “You don’t have to fire me this time, Beast Crane. I quit. Enjoy being your own assistant.”
His fists unclenched, but the final steps he took weren’t toward her. He disappeared into his office. A moment later, the sound of papers rustling and the computer firing up came from the room, and Isa had a very important realization.
She cared about him and he had used it against her. He was pushing her away when he should be the one chasing her. She deserved better. She deserved to be pursued. To be swept into his arms the way Tag did Rachel. To be cared for the way Reese cared for Merina.
Merina had said Crane men were worth it, but Isa was worth it, too. That lesson, she’d learned when she walked away from Josh. She mattered. And if Eli didn’t see it, then that was his problem.
She collected her coat and purse, chin up and confidence in full force. Eli had retreated, but that was on him. She wasn’t in charge of his emotions. She was in charge of his business.
Or was, anyway.
Eli believed he was completely capable of getting along without her.
And so she decided to let him.
***
“Just left?” Chloe asked, her mouth agape.
“Yes.” Isa bustled by, file folder in hand. The staff with new assignments had already checked in and left for their employers’ offices. The second Isa and Chloe were alone at Sable Concierge, Chloe had pressed for an Eli update, and Isa had shared the truth: He was very boyfriend-like when he’d invited her to have dinner with his family, but very one-night-stand-like when he shut her out.
“Are you going back?” Chloe followed Isa to her desk.
“No, I’m not.” Isa plunked the file on her desk and sat in her chair, punching in her password on the keyboard. She was determined to get on with her day.
“Ever?” Chloe sounded worried.
