“Think about what I said,” she said quickly. “Don’t jump into anything, one way or the other. Weigh your options, and if you think it’s best to wave her off as she drives off to wherever she’s going, then do it. But for what it’s worth, I like her.”
“I do, too,” he said. “Bye, Anna. See you next Friday.” They hung up, and he set his phone down, face first. “What’s all this?” he asked, gesturing toward the bag she brought with her.
“You never told me you worked in the opposite direction of the courthouse from our building,” she said, crossing her arms. “The courthouse is not on the way at all.”
He winced. “Guilty as charged.”
“Why drive me every morning if it adds fifteen minutes to your commute?” she asked, cocking her head. “I could just as easily take the bus.”
He took a step closer to her. “Because you’re worth fifteen minutes. Hell, you’re worth hours of extra driving, as long as you’re in the car next to me.”
She sucked in a deep breath and held it. “Eric…”
“It’s true.” He closed the distance between them, gripped her chin, and tipped her face up to his. “I’d drive you anywhere you wanted to go, Shel.”
She gripped the lapels of his suit jacket. “I’m already exactly where I want to be,” she said, a touch of surprise to her voice as if she couldn’t quite believe that was the case.
“Me, too,” he said, leaning down and kissing her. Pulling back, he smiled down at her and whispered again, “Me, too.”
Chapter Fourteen
Shelby fisted his jacket, staring up into those gray eyes that she could get lost in forever. There were big flecks of blue in them today, and every time she hung out with him, those flecks got bigger and threatened to take over the gray. When she met him, they’d been more gray than blue, but that wasn’t the case anymore. She liked to think the blue meant he was happy, and being around her brought out the color, but that would be presumptuous of her.
Just because she was happier than she’d been in years didn’t mean he was. Just because she wanted to spend every waking moment in his company didn’t mean he felt the same way about her. Yet here she was at his office, crashing his late work night because she’d been thinking about her job offer, and the idea of saying good-bye to him permanently left her with an aching emptiness inside her soul that she had a feeling would never be filled no matter how far she ran from here.
He rested his forehead on hers. “I like you, Shel. A lot.”
“I like you, too,”
she whispered, her heart cracking because, God, it was true. And soon, she was going to have to tell him she was leaving him. This was what she’d wanted. What she’d waited so long for—a chance to start over in a small town, with no city madness. But now that it was here, and it was almost time to tell them whether or not she accepted the job, she felt…
Trapped.
Like no matter what she chose, or where she went, she was giving up something even bigger. That feeling, that knowledge, pissed her off. She’d sworn she would not get attached to Eric, and here she was, missing him before she even left.
He, though, showed no such signs of impending loneliness.
Of course, that might be because she hadn’t told him about her job offer yet.
That was going to change tonight, though, because tomorrow, she was going to accept that job offer, and she was going to move on to the next chapter of her life…in Texas.
That’s what she was here to tell him.
She was leaving.
“What’s in the bag?” he asked, watching her intently. “Are we celebrating something?”
Could he sense the words she was about to say? “It’s a bottle of cold champagne.”
“Nice,” he said, stepping back and tugging at his black tie. She’d watched him put it on this morning, at his place. “What’s the occasion?”
“I…” She licked her lips, the words on the tip of her tongue, but once she said them, it would be so…so…final, and for some reason, she wasn’t ready for that. So she chickened out. “It’s for nothing. It’s just for fun. A short break from working hard, before I leave you to it again. If you have the time?”
“I’ll always have the time for you.” He went over to the bag and pulled out the bottle, staring down at the label. “I’d love a glass.”
She forced a smile. “Great.”
He walked over to the door and shut it, turning the lock. When she lifted her brows, he said, “Too many people come in here, and we want privacy.”