Chapter 25 #2
When he arrived, the corners of my mouth lifted in a smile of their own accord. I leaped to my feet. He stopped just a few inches in front of me.
“You look like you need to be thoroughly kissed,” he said.
“Then what are you waiting for?”
He cupped my face with both hands and kissed me deeply. Far from satisfying my need for him, it made me even more greedy. I pushed myself up to my toes, wrapping both arms around his neck. I didn’t want this kiss to end.
I let out a growl of protest when we paused to breathe. Reid was smiling at me, amusement dancing in his eyes. Oh, he thought this was funny, did he? I peeked to my right, and then to my left. Okay, so maybe this was a little funny. People were staring at us.
I crossed my fingers behind me, taking a step back. That was the only thing I could think of to resist the temptation of jumping him again. Clearly, I couldn’t be trusted.
“Want to tell me what’s wrong, pretty girl?”
I nodded, and as we both sat at the table, I recounted my conversation with Cameron word for word. Reid ordered tea as well.
“He’s blowing this out of proportion.”
“Not really. I can’t do right by my clients, so I’m no use to the agency. But hey, the move will have some perks too. I’ll have the chance to acquire some new skills.” Yes! Finally, I’d found a positive angle to this whole ordeal.
Reid stopped in the act of pouring sugar in his tea. “Wait, you already accepted?”
“What else could I do?”
His jaw hardened. “Maybe tell him that you need time to think? Did it ever occur to you to talk to me about it?”
“Wh-what?”
“We’re a couple. We’re supposed to decide things like this together.”
Oh crap. I could totally see his point, but when I sat there in front of Cameron, it had honestly not even occurred to me to tell him anything but yes. It hadn’t felt as if he was really asking.
Reid was right, but I was hard-pressed here. I needed his support, not accusations. I really couldn’t take him putting me against a wall for this, turning against me.
“This is my boss telling me it’s Houston or nothing.”
“Right.”
“I’m serious. Cameron values me, and honestly, he didn’t even have to do this. He could just have told me to pack up my stuff. He’s giving me an opportunity here. I don’t have a choice.”
“You can quit.”
I stared at him, annoyance trumping all the fuzzy feelings that had resurfaced since he’d entered the coffee shop.
“You know me too well to really think I’d do that. I’m not a quitter.”
He twirled the teaspoon between his fingers, smiling sadly. “Am I even a factor you’re considering in all this?”
“Are you serious? Of course you are.”
“It doesn’t feel like it.”
“Reid, why are you being like this?”
“Because I’m ready to do anything for us, and yet you decide something like this… just like that?”
“I’m….”
My voice was small. I didn’t know what to say.
All I wanted was to leave this coffee shop, have him take me in his arms. I hadn’t handled this well, I realized that now.
If the situation was reversed, and he told me he’d just signed off on a project on the other side of the country, I’d be pissed, but I was already so on edge, so exhausted from all the battering that I couldn’t think straight.
“You don’t want me to go,” I stated, as it finally dawned on me.
“I can’t tell you what to do. I’m not sure you care, anyway.”
“Reid, of course I care. Don’t be absurd. It’s just for a few months. I can travel here every second weekend….” My voice faded as a frown creased his forehead. “And… you could come on the other weekends. If… you want to.”
Suddenly, I wasn’t so sure of what he wanted anymore.
“You’ve got everything planned out,” he muttered. “What if it lasts longer?”
“Then we’ll figure it out.”
“We? Are you sure?”
Pain throbbed through my right temple. I pressed two fingers there, drawing in a deep breath.
“Reid… I don’t know what you want me to tell you. This isn’t an easy situation, but we can figure it out.”
“I can’t just hang in here and hope for the best, not knowing what will happen, what you’ll decide.”
Here he went again with that. What I’ll decide.
“Look, I understand that not talking this through with you was….” My voice faded as his words registered. My throat was dry. “What do you mean, you can’t?”
He said nothing, just shook his head, and I felt every muscle in my body clench tight.
“So, let me get this straight, if things don’t happen on your terms exactly, you just give up?”
“I love you, Hailey. You know I do.”
“But not enough, apparently.” I blinked fast, trying to ignore the burning in my eyes.
“Don’t turn this on me,” he said. “You’re the one who just decided to move away without even talking to me about it.”
My shoulders slumped. The inside of my chest suddenly was heavy. The fear was choking me. God, the fear that all this happiness would just be taken away from me, and I’d be left with nothing. I bit the inside of my cheek. Do not cry.
I tried to put myself in Reid’s shoes. I knew who he was.
That he liked to know what would happen ten steps ahead before he decided on something.
I knew that his schedule was planned to the second, that traveling wasn’t his thing, that he’d been hurt before, and yet…
all I was asking for was support for a few months, and he couldn’t even find it in himself to give me that?
Sure, Houston wasn’t exactly close. Seeing each other wouldn’t be a walk in the park. But damn it, wasn’t I worth any effort at all?