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Daniel spun around. “Stop it, Angela.”
“Why?” she wailed. “I have a right to know. We’ve been sleeping together for over a month now and if this relationship isn’t going anywhere and is a colossal waste of time, then I need to know. I need to know, Daniel.”
“Why do you need to know?” He walked as far away from her as he could, to the opposite side of the room. He couldn’t think when she was that close, pressing her lush breasts against his back. “This has nothing to do with you. It was another time and place. It doesn’t matter now.”
“You’re fooling yourself, Daniel, because you’re not over Mia, and that hurts because you won’t share it with me even after everything we’ve been to each other.”
His head began to pound at her anguish. “I don’t want to hurt you, Angela.” He massaged both of his temples with his hands. “Why are you making this harder than it needs to be? Can’t you let this go?”
“I can’t because I—” Then she stopped midsentence and her eyes implored him as tears slid down her beautiful cheeks. “Please, I—I just need you to talk to me.”
“No!” Daniel walked toward the door and, grabbing his keys off the nearby hook, he opened the door. “I will not talk about this.”
Seconds later, he was slamming the door shut and heading for the elevator. He knew it was a coward’s way out—to walk away from Angela with no explanation—but he couldn’t talk about Mia with Angela. It was all jumbled in his head and he needed time to sort through his feelings.
CHAPTER 20
Angela was so devastated she took the day off. She’d foolishly been banking on one thing: that if she showed Daniel who she truly was, if she was there day in and day out, supporting him, caring for him, loving him, he’d see they shared something real. She wished he could see through her eyes that they had something special to build on. But he couldn’t or wouldn’t see anything except his past love and hurt.
She didn’t know what happened between Daniel and Mia and doubted she ever would. Daniel had closed himself off to her. He’d walked out on her after she’d begged him to let her in. How much more could she put herself on the line and get nothing back in return? How many more times was she going to beat her head against the wall and expect a different result?
It would always be the same.
Daniel was still in love with Mia.
Would always be, just as Farrah had predicted.
Angela had foolishly thought their relationship might be different, but as soon as she’d begun trying to break through the barriers he had around his heart and show him she was there for him and not going anywhere, he’d predictably run scared. A few little items of clothing in his closet had sent him into a panic that she was trying to become a permanent fixture in his life.
And that, Daniel couldn’t have.
He wanted to be alone to wallow in his misery of a love gone wrong, or a love unrequited or some other cliché.
She was going to have to move on, but that was going to be difficult given that her professional career was tied to him. She’d only been at Cobb much less than a year. How would it look to a new employer if she bailed so quickly on such an elite firm? They would probably think she couldn’t cut the mustard, but she would have to take that risk.
There was no way she could continue to work for Daniel given the state of their relationship. She couldn’t bear to watch him date other women and hear the office gossip of the infamous love-’em-and-leave-’em Daniel Cobb. It would crush her spirit if she did.
She needed to figure it out and get her life in order. Facing Daniel would be difficult, but Angela was prepared to do it.
But she didn’t have to.
When she returned to work on Wednesday, Daniel didn’t show up. She learned from Myrna that he hadn’t been there the day before, either. Angela was thankful for the reprieve because it gave her time to put out feelers for a new job. Her old boss had even graciously agreed to allow her to come back if she wanted to. He’d heard how well she was doing at Cobb, but she wasn’t keen on that option. The only thing she did know was that she couldn’t work at Cobb any longer and would turn in her resignation letter.
