AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Good,” he said. “I’m here if you need me.”
“Thanks, Dane.”
She put the letter in her purse and was going to go on with her day for now.
21
Sad And Distant
Royce had been impressed with how Chloe kept their meeting strictly to work at her office. Grant and Garrett stopped in and she was almost more professional and distant than normal.
It could have been overkill, but he could see both of the Fierce men were baffled by the interaction. He shrugged it off and didn’t take it to heart either.
But now that he was at Chloe’s apartment, her demeanor was still like it was earlier and he wondered if there was more going on.
Could it be him? Was she deciding this wasn’t working out already and didn’t want to say it?
No, she was pretty straightforward. As much as it would pain him to end what they had, he’d honor it if she said it wasn’t working out as well as she thought.
She was cooking burgers right now in a pan and there were fries in the oven. They didn’t attack each other like they had the past two times. He really wasn’t sure what to expect.
“Everything okay?” he asked.
“What?” she asked, turning to him. She’d given him a kiss when he walked in, but it wasn’t as passionate as most of their other liplocks.
“I asked if you were okay? I thought you played it up well in the office earlier and Grant and Garrett were both confused, but now I see you’re acting the same way. If tonight wasn’t good you could have canceled.”
“It’s good,” she said. “I’ve just got a lot on my mind. Sorry.” She put a smile on her face and he could see it was forced. “After dinner I expect you to put me in a better mood. How is that?”
“It works for me,” he said. “But if you’d rather talk, we can too.”
Who was this guy that just offered to talk over sex? Wow. Elise would be laughing hysterically if she’d just heard that.
Chloe stopped working on dinner and turned to him. “I’ll be fine,” she said. “I know we are keeping this light.”
He let out a sigh. If she was troubled he didn’t want her holding it in or pushing it off because he was here for sex.
He moved closer to her and pulled her into his arms and gave her a hug. She stiffened and then relaxed. He just held her and it felt better than he thought it would. Must be it did for her too because she relaxed and then sniffled and he wondered if she was crying.
Shit, he wasn’t equipped for this. He lifted her chin with his hand and saw her eyes a little glossy.
“Everything is not okay,” he said. “Tell me what is going on. I’m here and you’re cooking for me. No reason to sit in silence or make up a conversation.”
She grabbed a paper towel and wiped her face and eyes.
“You don’t want to hear about my drama,” she said.
Surprisingly he actually did. “I’ve told you enough about mine,” he said. “There are two parts to our agreement. Friends and then benefits. You’d tell a friend, right?”
She snorted out a laugh and then covered her mouth. “Actually, no, I don’t think I’d tell my friends this because they don’t know the whole part of it. But you do and that got me thinking why I said that to you.”
“What part?” he asked.
“The adoption part,” she said. “I’ve never told any of my friends. Not in adulthood. It’s not like I’m embarrassed or upset or hiding it. It’s just one of those things in my life that just is and I forget half the time.”
“Which shows your parents love you a great deal,” he said. He could say that because he felt it with his father, just not his mother.
“They do. They’ve always been open with Dane and me. You know, even telling me like it is that I don’t compromise in life and will probably end up single with ten cats at some point.”
