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And if the gossip was anything to go by, anything and everything I wasn’t.
Had Bernard been biding his time with me?
Settling until she came back for him?
The thought made ice race through my veins.
Still, I watched them through the glass and saw Bernard lean over the desk and offer her a bright smile. The hard feeling in my stomach grew. I wrenched my gaze away and held my hand out to Mary. She stopped typing and looked up at me, dark eyes filled with confusion.
“Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, I’ve still got a lot of work to do, so would you mind giving the USB to Mr. Shaw? I don’t think he’d appreciate it if I wasted any more time waiting.”
Mary took the USB out of my outstretched hand and nodded. “I’m sure he wouldn’t. I’ll let him know you dropped it off.”
“Thanks, Mary.” I swallowed and took a few steps back. “Have a good rest of the day.”
“You too.”
In a daze, I made my way out of the building and walked to the bust step. I couldn’t stop picturing her the entire time or seeing the two of them together. On the bus, I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to push the images away.
But they wouldn’t leave me alone.
Over and over, I saw the two of them together, laughing and smiling while she paraded his ring on her finger. By the time I made it back to Bernard’s apartment building, I was sick to my stomach. For the life of me, I couldn’t understand why he hadn’t told me about her.
Or how serious they’d been.
Especially considering everything I’d shared with him.
Bernard knew everything there was to know about me, including the messy business with my ex. Given the fact that we were trying to build a life together, I’d assumed the trust went both ways.
And I felt like an idiot for not realizing how wrong I was sooner.
I was just a placeholder for Carla Oswald.
Chapter 17: Distance
Bernard
“Why don’t we put a movie on for Ron in his room?”
“It’s not his room,” Rachel replied without looking at me. “It’s the guest room. His room is in the other apartment.”
“This room is like a spare room,” I replied, pausing to wrap my arms around her waist. Rachel continued to scrub the dishes, ignoring me altogether. “I know that you’re not ready to move in with me, but I hope you think of this place as your home.”
Rachel made a low noise in the back of her throat and didn’t say anything.
I pushed her hair to the front and placed a kiss on the back of her neck. “I wish you didn’t have to leave every night.”
“Ron can’t sleep by himself.”
“He could sleep here,” I whispered into her skin. “He loves it here, and so do you.”
Rachel cleared her throat. “I’m going to leave after I finish washing the dishes.”
I pressed my face to the back of her neck and exhaled. “Why? There’s still time before Ron has to sleep.”
“I’m not feeling well.”
