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“Oh,” she said, her smile falling a little. “Right.”
They walked in silence for a moment, and Faith was grateful that the coffee shop was just across the street. God, why was she so nervous? It reminded her of before they dated, when she had a schoolgirl crush on him, except this time it was lead and not butterflies in her stomach.
They ordered their coffee—a macchiato for David and a cortado for Faith—and sat at a table near the back of the coffee shop.
“So,” David said, stirring his coffee and fixing his gaze on Faith. “I’m assuming you didn’t accost me just to catch up.”
The wordaccostwith its connotation of unwillingness pained Faith, but she pushed the feeling down. “No,” she said, “I came to apologize.”
“Apologize? For what?”
“For treating you like an afterthought. For allowing my past traumas to blind me to the potential future we have. And… yeah, I just…” She took a deep breath. God, why was this so hard?
“I just want to make things work between us,” she said. “I want to be with you again.”
David didn’t answer. He tapped his finger on the table and took a deep breath.
“I know this is a lot to say all at once,” she said, “and I’m sorry that I’m throwing it at you all at once, but I couldn’t go any longer without saying something.”
He took another deep breath and folded his hands on the table. He looked over her shoulder at the wall and said nothing for a moment. When he did speak, he managed to surprise Faith.
Only for a moment, though. She realized once he asked the question that she should have predicted it.
“Are you still working on that case?”
He didn’t need to tell her what case.
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Yes. Clark—that’s my supervisor—asked me to help the agents who are running the case. He gave me the file so I can see if there’s something they missed. Consulting, basically.”
“So you’re not actually on the case, you’re just reviewing their work.”
“Yes,” she replied. “Essentially.”
He took a breath and shook his head. “The thing is that it never ends there with you. One thing I learned about you in the short time we were together is that you never do anything halfway. It’s all or nothing. Either you pour every ounce of your energy into something or you put absolutely no effort into it. It’s either your entire life, or”—he lifted his hands—“it’s an afterthought.”
He let his hands drop and looked at Faith, awaiting her response. She took a moment to collect herself, trying to keep from letting the pain she felt at his words show on her face.The short time weweretogether.
Faith’s years as an investigator had taught her that the way someone phrased something mattered. David didn’t phrase that statement as though they were on a break and trying to work things out. He phrased it as though they had already broken up, and he was frustrated with her for not allowing him to move on.
But she couldn’t give up. She wouldn’t. He was the first man she felt she could love in a long time, and she wouldn’t lose him without a fight.
“I know it’s a lot to ask,” she said, “and I totally understand if you’re not ready to try again. All I can do is tell you that I mean it when I say I’m ready to put the work in.”
“You’re ready to put the work in as long as it doesn’t get in the way of yourrealwork,” he said.
His words were a knife in Faith’s chest, not because he was wrong but because he was right. “I can’t just walk away from this, David. Thirty people have died. More will die if we don’t stop him. I can’t put my life ahead of everyone else’s. I’m not going to turn a blind eye to that. I’m willing to compromise and make more time for you in my personal life, but no, I can’t let go of my job.”
“I know,” David said, “and I wouldn’t ask you to. I just don’t know if I’m willing to accept that I’ll always come second.”
Her phone rang before she could reply. David smiled sadly at her, and she sighed and looked at the phone.
It was the Boss. Not Clark. The Boss boss.
Heart sinking, she answered. “Hey, Boss.”
“Bold. Get your ass back to the office,” the Boss replied in his typical drill sergeant bark. “Call Prince too. He’s not answering for me.”
“I’ll be there in ten,” she said. “Michael’s probably on his way already.”
