Chapter 7
“Need coffee,” Solace muttered as she breezed down the hall from her office toward the break room.
Their morning meeting started in thirty minutes and she’d yet to have her shot of caffeine to start the day.
She passed by Duncan’s half-open office door without stopping—only slowing her steps slightly—then kept her gaze straight ahead while picking up her pace.
She refused to make the next move. All she needed was for him to see her as clingy.
So, what if he’d never called her last night. Or this morning. He didn’t owe her anything. And so what if he’d been all possessive and?—
“Davidson…”
A slight jolt shook her at Duncan’s low command of her name, and she stopped, then turned to find him standing outside his open door.
“Yes, sir?”
“There’s something I need to discuss with you.”
Anticipation raced through her at his words. Would they have time for a quickie and still make it for the staff meeting? She met his gaze and froze before she could take a step.
No glimmer of emotion met her eyes. If anything, his gaze was shut down and flat and…
Indifferent.
“Okay,” she said, forcing her feet to move toward where he had stepped aside for her to enter his office.
The door shut behind her, before his long strides took him beyond her and to his desk.
The heat and desire found in this very office only the day before—a mere twenty-four hours ago—was nowhere to be found.
In its place, a frigid tension filled the room.
“Davidson,” he said, his voice devoid of warmth as he sat in his leather executive chair. “Have a seat.”
Davidson, again. Not Solace. Not…
Angel.
Hell, his whole manner could be considered downright arctic. How was this impassive man sitting in front of her the same passionate one from the past few days? Whoever he was now—and whatever he was going to hit her with—she needed to remain steadfast.
“I think I’d prefer to stand.”
“Very well.” Cold blue eyes held hers captive. It was all she could do not to shiver. “After much consideration, I believe it’s best for us to forget about what happened between us.”
Much consideration…
What exactly did that mean? Had he been brooding over their time together? She doubted it.
This man would have only felt relief after that first night when she’d made it easy for him by leaving his bed. It had kept them both from having to face the morning after talk.
This man wouldn’t have shown her it wasn’t just a one-time thing by fucking her brains out on the rug behind her. So, after all but claiming her as his the day before, this Duncan Sheppard made no sense.
What the hell happened? Yesterday, he was…
But that was yesterday. Today, was obviously a completely new day. Why hadn’t she steeled herself for this? She’d known it wouldn’t last. Just not that it would end so quickly.
Face it, Solace, deep down you thought he might have true feelings for you.
That errant belief had been a horrendous miscalculation on her part. So, for her own peace of mind, she would have to be as unemotional toward him as he was being toward her.
“I agree,” she said, keeping her voice level and posture ramrod straight. “I enjoy my work here and I wouldn’t want something that shouldn’t have happened to jeopardize that.”
If he was taken aback by her answer, he didn’t show it, only nodding. But he did show something.
That relief she’d expected yesterday.
Great.
All right. This was okay. If it had to happen, she was glad it was now. Before she couldn’t envision her life without him.
But isn’t it too late for?—
She shut down that thought before it could go any further. And though she knew this was exactly what needed to happen, a pang of loss twisted through her heart. This had to become nothing to her, just like it had to him.
The thing was, it hadn’t felt like nothing.
It had felt…
Stop it, Solace. He wants out and he’s giving you the opportunity to walk away.
“Of course, you’ll inform me immediately if there are…
” He frowned and his words trailed off when something on his laptop screen diverted his attention.
And it stayed there while he distractedly continued with, “Any consequences from…” He typed something, without ever looking her way. “My own personal actions.”
“Consequences?”
He closed his laptop lid, finally giving her a clear-eyed stare and saying all businesslike, “I failed to use protection.”
“Oh.”
Had the fact he hadn’t used a condom concerned her? No. If anything, she’d found it telling. At least at the time it had. She’d assumed him going without had meant there was something more happening between them.
That had obviously been the wrong assumption. But she still didn’t regret it. Having him filling her had been something she wouldn’t have missed for anything.
“I’m on birth control.” Which reminded her, she was due for her three-month shot soon. “And I trust you’re clean.”
“I am.” Of course, he was. Heat of the moment or not, he wouldn’t have risked her health. He wouldn’t have been that reckless.
“I am too.”
Having such a clinical discussion with the man she’d been naked with—twice—was slightly disconcerting. Maybe that’s why the room was beginning to stifle her.
Note to self. The morning after conversation, no matter if the morning after happened a couple of days later, was still uncomfortable.
And she was ready for it to be over.
“If that’s all, then,” she said. “I’ll go get ready for our morning meeting.”
“I’ll see you there.”
He didn’t stand.
He didn’t give her a nod or a smile.
He just bent his head to the work on his desk.
I’ve been dismissed.
Dismissed and left staring at the top of his silvery head.
So, this was how it was going to be. Duncan—no, the colonel—ignoring her.
Would she be able to do this day in and day out from now on?
Only time would tell. That time started now, after one final look at him, before she turned and headed for his office door.
This is for the best.