Take Me (Take a Chance 4)

“But we’re—”

He pointed at her hand. “Done here. Now pick up the phone.”

“I’m sorry.” She lifted her phone. “Just give me a second, because we’re not done here at all.”

He nodded, but his expression was closed. And he no longer looked vulnerable or soft or anything. She hesitated, for some reason not wanting to answer. She’d waited her whole freaking life for this and now here she was. Worrying about a man. This is exactly why she’d avoided men. Avoided feelings.

This. Right here.

She turned her back on Mike and held her phone to her ear. “Hello? Keith?” He spoke quickly, the words all blending into each other. But she’d been right. He called because she got the part. She collapsed against the wall, her whole body feeble and feeling faint. Mike grabbed her around the waist, holding her up. “You’re sure? They want me?”

“They do,” Keith said, his voice light and airy. “And you leave in a week.”

“Oh my God.” She covered her mouth. “Thank you. Thank you so much. So, so much!”

Keith chuckled. “You’re welcome. We’ll have to meet up tomorrow evening to go over everything.”

“Yes, of course! I’ll be there. Thank you!”

They hung up after a few more exchanges of her babbling like a fool, and then she turned to Mike. She blurted out, “I got the part!”

He smiled, quite obviously thrilled for her. No resentment or anger. Interesting… “I knew you would. Congrats, babe.”

She flung her arms around his neck and kissed him, almost as happy at his happiness for her as she was at this wonderful opportunity. His hands hung at his sides for a second, and then he held her against him. But it felt weird. Almost as if he didn’t want to hold her, yet didn’t want to let her go. She wasn’t sure what to make of it.

Or him.

When she pulled back and smiled up at him, he looked heart-achingly despondent. Then he grinned. Had she imagined the haunting emptiness in his eyes, or was he wearing a mask in front of her? Which one was the real Mike?

Or could it be both?

After all, she’d just told him she got the role of her life and he wasn’t acting jealous or upset. Maybe she could have him and her career. Maybe she could have the love and the dancing. Maybe he had been right—it didn’t have to be all or nothing.

She squeezed his shoulders. “I still can’t believe it. This might

be the best night of my life.”

“I’m very, very happy for you.” His smile didn’t budge. “Should we go back and share a bottle of champagne to celebrate?”

“Sure. Why the hell not, right?” She laughed and held his hand, dragging him back to the room. For once, she felt like she was on top of the world. Like she could conquer anything or anyone. “Tomorrow night I have to go sign contracts and then I leave next week. We can figure—”

“Tomorrow night?” He stopped walking. “But that’s Kiersten’s wedding.”

“Oh. Shit. I forgot.” Maybe she could change the time of the meeting. Surely Keith would be flexible in that. She’d promised to go to the wedding and she would. Even if it meant having a 6 AM meeting or something. “I’ll—”

“You know what? It’s okay.” He dragged a hand through his blond hair and gave a little laugh. “It’s probably better this way. We can call it quits a day early and save an awkward explanation to my family about why we’re breaking things off the next day. It’s not a big deal at all.”

Quits? There was no reason to call it quits. What the hell was going on? The walls closed in on her, making it harder to breathe. Harder to see anything except the fact that he was pushing her away. “But…I thought…”

“I did, too.” He closed his eyes for a second, took a deep breath, then focused on her. His demeanor seemed cold and hard. She shivered and hugged herself. “But you were right, we had nothing between us except sex.”

“But last night—”

“Was fun.” He leveled a look on her, his jaw square. “But you’re leaving next week and you need to be able to enjoy the time away—live the dreams you’ve always had—without a husband hanging at home waiting.” He opened his mouth, then pressed his lips together tight before asking, “It’s what you always wanted, right?”

Well, yeah. But that was before last night, when they’d agreed they had more than sex between them. Before he got her hopes up, then stomped on them. “Yeah…”

She thought she saw a look of vulnerability cross his face but he ducked his head before she could be sure. “Then you’ll have it. You’ll be free of our marriage. I’ll have a lawyer contact you, and you’ll never have to see me again.”