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“Office space? Why are you—”
“It’s a long story.”
Joss lifted her hand and placed it over his. “What happened?”
His scowl deepened. “I turned in my notice.”
“What? You’ve been with Wellington, Wellington and Deere for years. How could you quit when you’re up for a…? Oh, Tobias.”
His hair hung over his forehead as he stared down at their tangled hands. “They gave the partnership to someone else.” He smirked, but she could tell it was for show. One glance revealed his hurt, the anger rolling off him. He had every right to be angry, too.
Mr. Wellington was one of her father’s friends, but she knew him well enough to know he played favorites and often made promises he had no intention of ever keeping, all in the name of business. “Are you looking for office space to open your own practice?”
“Maybe. I don’t know. I’m going to check into things and I thought I might contact a headhunter.”
She stiffened. “You can’t leave town.”
“Why not?”
“Because…your family would be upset. Garret, too. You had a bad day, Tobias, but you don’t want to leave.”
“What about you?”
Jocelyn swallowed, the sound audible in the otherwise quiet building. “What do you mean?”
“Would you care if I left?”
Chapter 14
“OF COURSE.” She tried, oh, how she tried, but his lion eyes wouldn’t let her look away. “I know you’re angry but—”
“Why?” he insisted.
“Garret—”
“I’m not talking about Garret. Wouldyoucare if I left?”
What did he expect her to say? “You’re a good friend, Tobias. If you hadn’t helped me with the permit, I wouldn’t be able to open.”
“In other words, I’m the go-to boy when Garret is busy.”
“Of course not! I meant—What do you want me to say?” The words came out sharper than she’d intended.
“Nothing. I don’t expect you to say anything. I was just wondering if you’d actually have an opinion of your own.”
The cut on her hand hurt like crazy but Tobias’s comment caused more pain. She had plenty of opinions, plenty of brains and—“I’d care. What kind of space are you looking for? There’s an empty office above the gallery here.”
Joss turned away and stooped to pick up the box cutter. Her father would be furious. Garret wouldn’t care, of course, but her father—
“You want to rent me the space upstairs?” He sounded surprised. No wonder. She wasn’t sure why she’d offered.
“I merely mentioned it’s available,” she corrected, trying to backpedal and not doing a good job of it. “It’s sitting there and the rent would help meet my payment. Never mind. You obviously aren’t interested.”
“I’m interested.”
She closed her eyes. “I should probably mention it to Garret before—”
“Can I see it?”
