The Boy Who Has No Redemption (Soulless 8)

I walked up to his desk and watched him look up to stare at me, to wear that same soft gaze he always gave me now. “The interns are starting tomorrow. I’ve got the orientation taken care of, but do you want to stop by and say a few words?” Each intern had met Derek in person once at the interview, but they probably wanted to see him on their first day too.

“I can’t,” he said. “I’m at the hospital with my mom tomorrow. My dad has to head to the office because he pretty much dropped everything these last eight weeks, so he’s got a lot to catch up on.”

“Don’t worry about it. They’ll understand.”

He didn’t bow his head and get back to work. He continued to stare at me. “How was dinner with Mom last night?”

I’d assumed she would tell him. “Good. She seems to be doing well. She didn’t seem stressed out before, but I think knowing Deacon feels better is a huge relief to her. That’s just how she is, worried about everyone around her and not concerned with herself at all.”

“Yeah, she’s always been that way.”

I lingered when I shouldn’t, seeing life returning to his skin and eyes. He still seemed sad, but not distraught like before. Like his father, he’d started to revitalize. “Well…goodnight.” I turned away.

“My mom told me you turned down that job.”

I stilled on the spot, staring at the exit that seemed light-years away.

“Emerson?” His feet hit the floor as he moved around the desk and came closer to me.

I slowly turned back to him, keeping up my stoic composure. “It just didn’t seem like the right time to leave…with everything going on.”

Now, he stood directly in front of me, his brown eyes absorbing my features like they were words on a page. He tried to study me, tried to read between the lines, tried to decipher my thoughts to know the truth in my soul. “You have no obligation to me. I don’t want you to lose a good opportunity because you feel bad for me.”

My arms slowly moved to cross over my chest, trying to physically keep him out of my heart…even though it was no use.

“Unless that isn’t the reason why…”

I dropped my gaze.

“Baby.”

I lifted my eyes to meet his. “They wanted me to start in two weeks, and that wasn’t enough time to hire and train a replacement. I know I have no obligation toward you, but I care deeply about your work and the principles this company stands for, so I won’t leave until the position is filled by the perfect person.”

He stared at me for a long time, his eyes shifting back and forth quickly.

I held his gaze, smelling his cologne, aware of how close he was to me.

He continued his hard stare, like he saw something deep in my eyes, saw something he couldn’t ignore.

“What?”

He turned away and went back to the bench. “Nothing.”

“Derek?”

He moved back around the desk and faced me once more, his features impossible to decipher. Then he looked down at his work like nothing had happened, like I hadn’t just asked him a question.

When I walked in the door, Lizzie sat at the dining table with her schoolwork spread out. Her math textbook was open along with her notebook, and she watched a video on her phone with her earbuds in her ears. When she watched me walk inside, she pulled them out of her ears and put her phone on the table—facedown.

“Good.” I set my purse on the kitchen island. “You’re doing your homework. I don’t have to pull teeth to make you do it.”

She shrugged. “It’s not so bad.”

I went over to the slow cooker and opened the lid to see what my mom had thrown together for me so I wouldn’t have to make dinner when I came home. It was a pot roast with potatoes and carrots. “This looks good. Hungry?”

“Sure.”

I made two bowls then carried them to the dining table.

She pulled hers toward her, but her eyes stayed on me.

“What?” My daughter didn’t look at me like that very often. She either wanted something, or she had something to say.

“Are you going to keep going on dates and stuff?”

The question was unexpected, so I stilled when I heard what she said. “Why do you ask?”

“Well, we had that weirdo come to the apartment, so…”

Oh, the humiliation. “No, Lizzie. I’m done dating.”

She looked at her pot roast then grabbed her fork to pull out a piece of meat. “Does that include Derek?”

“Yes.” My answer was immediate because I was done with men at the moment. I was emotionally exhausted by all of Derek’s attempts. He fearlessly wore his heart on his sleeve now in a way he never had before.

She chewed her piece as she looked at me. “Does it have to include Derek?”