Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Cody
I t’d been three weeks of visiting for lunches and stealing kisses before one or the other of us walked back to work, with texts in between. I’d been out of town the first weekend—a terribly timed trip I’d planned months ago with my brother since his wife had a long weekend off work and could take the kids so he could have a break.
I loved my brother, but I wanted to be in Silverton hanging out with Charlie. Still, I made the best of it, avoiding any deep conversation about my future with a woman I was definitely still and newly in love with, and ignoring Mick’s skeptical looks when I assured him I wasn’t in over my head and whatever happened would be fine.
The next weekend, her sister had come back to town and she spent the weekend at her parents’ house soaking up family time before Merry had to leave again. I couldn’t fault her there either. Charlie’s love for her family was part of what I loved about her, and if deep down I was hoping seeing her sister was one more thing to hook her into wanting to stay in Silverton, I didn’t look at that thought too closely.
I’d hardly seen her the last two weeks between work and her schedule of social engagements with family and old friends. I didn’t begrudge her that and it made sense. She’d been gone so long and hadn’t been home at all in five years. She needed to reconnect with old friends, and she’d always been well-liked.
But as I waited for her in the lobby of the opulent Silver Ridge Resort hotel, I recognized how bad my lies to Mick and myself had been. Even now, seconds away from seeing her again, I felt a little desperate. And all this time waiting to hear her door shut quietly next door, knowing she was back from whatever catch up with friends or family, knowing she was right there and even if I didn’t get to see her, I could know she was close by… I couldn’t lie to myself about it anymore.
I loved her and I wanted her for myself and not just right now. This wasn’t some stupid ploy to get her out of my system or try and get over her so I could date someone else. She was all I’d ever wanted, even when I’d been resentful of her leaving and staying away, and I wanted her even more now that she was back.
But for how long? We hadn’t addressed that and honestly, I couldn’t convince myself to bring it up. It felt like she should. Shouldn’t she?
“We’re pleased with your work already, of course, and are hoping you’ll consider extending past February. We won’t be able to expand your responsibilities immediately, but we can work up a plan so it’s commensurate with what you’d been doing for the Richlieu group.”
Julian Grenier’s voice reached me before I saw him. Dread told me who he was talking to.
“Thank you. I’m definitely committed through February.” Charlie’s voice came through, professional and courteous.
“I appreciate wanting to keep options open. Please let me know if you get another offer and I’ll discuss it with Jonas.”
With that, the man gave a quick nod and walked off, his gait and bearing that of a soldier more than a billionaire. Though I supposed he was the only billionaire I’d ever met, so maybe that was how they all walked. And thinking about a billionaire’s walk was far more appealing than dealing with the fact that Charlie had just told her boss’s boss’s boss that she was only interested in working at Silver Ridge Resort until February.
A little over two months.
Not enough time.
“Hey! There you are. Thanks for waiting a minute.”
She kissed my cheek while I stood, my movements jerky and robotic as my brain plodded through the sludgy betrayed feeling I didn’t want to feel.
“No problem.”
Her face paled when she looked at me. “What’s wrong?”
For a heartbeat, I considered not saying anything—locking it away. I’d done that so well for years, but I couldn’t do it now. “February?”
Her lips thinned into a regretful line. “My original contract was just for seasonal work. It was a good temporary option while I waited to hear from a few other places. Everything happened so fast, I had to make sure I had somewhere to go.”
Something wrapped around my heart and squeezed without mercy as I registered she really didn’t have any intention of staying. She never had. I’d fooled myself into believing she would even though I’d tried to resist the soul-deep desire for her.
“Wow,” I scraped out, just to say something.
“It’s not a sure thing I’ll leave. If you heard Julian, you heard him say they want me to stay.” She ran a hand over my arm but let it drop.
“Yeah. I—I guess you just have to see if you get a better offer, right?” And based on historical evidence, almost anything would be better than Silverton.
Better than me.
“I don’t know what I’ll do.” She gritted her teeth and her chest rose and fell. A flush crept up from the white collar of her shirt into her cheeks. “It’s not like I know what’s here for me.”
The words found their target, spiraling right into my chest. If she’d meant to cut, she’d done the job well. Even so, I couldn’t quite believe she’d meant it the way it sounded.
My gaze found hers, my words sharp when they came out. “What?”
She swallowed and let out a humorless laugh. “I can’t weigh my options very well because I don’t know what they are.”
The heat of anger lit in my belly, and in an uncharacteristic burst of frustration, I couldn’t be near her. I shoved the paper bag that held her lunch into her arms. “Yeah. Sounds tough. You should probably think that through. I’m going to give you the space to do that.”
I turned, gritting my teeth against saying anything else. If I did, I’d tell her I hated that she couldn’t be happy here. That I wasn’t enough for her to choose without some other incentive.
“Cody, wait. You’re just going to leave without talking about this? How old are we right now?”
I whipped around. “I’m walking away because I need a minute. Can we talk later?”
Her chin bunched, but she firmed her resolve and lifted her head. “Fine. Not sure when I’m off tonight because I’m supposed to meet someone for drinks after, but yeah. That’s fine.”
I nodded, turned, and left.
Maybe this was an overreaction and I’d have to grovel later. Or maybe this was exactly what I’d known would happen, and arriving to this point had been inevitable.