Chapter 4 #3
“I’m not looking for a relationship,” he corrected gently, those eyes holding hers as she swallowed uneasily.
There was something about this guy that just made her whole world feel off-center.
She thought at first it was anxiety, then possibly attraction because he was awfully pretty, but it wasn’t either of those in the slightest.
There was something steadying about the man that made something in her stand up and take notice.
It wasn’t relaxing, something that put her at ease, a subconscious feeling of alarm, or anything else she could describe in one word – but rather he seemed immovable, unshakeable, like he could handle whatever life threw at him… and that was powerful to behold.
“Me neither,” she admitted quickly and then winced. Why say it, Dummy? Why not admit that you think the guy is magnetizing?
“Then why did you say it?”
Busted…
“I think they’re expecting it,” she replied, pointing over his shoulder as if either of them needed a reminder of the matchmaking that they’d been thrust into.
Yeah, she was going to have something to say to Harley when she met the woman for coffee…
but that was after she picked Harley’s brain when it came to business.
“They can deal with the disappointment,” he stated simply and paused, turning his head slightly as he looked at her once more. “No offense.”
“None taken,” she offered and held out her hand politely.
“Truce?” He looked at her hand, then back at her curiously – but didn’t take it.
There was that feeling once more, she thought, feeling slightly ‘off’.
It was like this man had made it his life’s mission not to need anyone in his life at all… but that wasn’t correct.
She’d seen his ‘mask’ crack when his brother was getting married – and didn’t believe any of that for one second.
No, this guy needed someone to talk to, a friend, someone to let into his inner circle…
and maybe this is why Harley told her to check on him.
That’s cool – she could be the bigger person for some guy on the other side of the globe.
Distance that meant he was zero-threat in her mental handbook.
She shook her hand at him once more, repeating herself pointedly. “Truce?”
“There was never a battle, so there’s no need to call a truce,” he replied in a low voice, lifting an eyebrow slightly, almost in an arrogant challenge to her offer of friendship.
Maureen sighed, rolled her eyes, and grabbed his hand, slapping it in her own.
That flicker in his steely eyes met her own determined ones as she gave him her hardest glare.
“Then forget the truce… and we’ll just call it a friendly ‘parley’,” she gritted out determinedly, pumping his hand up and down in a forced handshake.
“Are we negotiating something?” he asked softly, his hand tightening to grip hers slightly. “Or is this in reference to ‘parler’ – meaning that we are on speaking terms?”
“It was in a movie,” she replied, realizing that he knew more about the term than she did – effectively deflating her sense of bravado she’d been clinging to. “I think we could be friends if you could drop that attitude just a bit.”
“What an offer…” he tossed, his voice ever so droll – but she didn’t let it faze her. No, Maureen released his hand and pulled her clutch off her wrist, snapping it open and grabbing a business card, before shoving it at him.
“You can be all lofty and high-and-mighty Elijah ‘Archangel’ Hall – but like calls to like – and I can see through your act,” she said quietly, taking a gamble and holding his gaze with a bravado she didn’t feel as she put herself out there.
“Everyone needs someone in their life at some point… myself included,” she added, hesitating as she glanced down at the card.
“If you need to talk, change your mind, or if you know anyone in the area that could use an appointment – well, I’d appreciate the help, the friendship, or the company. ”
And with that, Maureen gave him a weary smile, hoping that something in Elijah’s cool and aloof expression would give once more, just to tell her that she was on the right path.
“It’s exhausting to hold it all together and go through life all alone.
We’re not meant to be loners; it’s just tough sometimes when you haven’t found your community yet,” she whispered hoarsely, speaking straight from her soul, some of her own fears.
“I’m still searching for mine – and I hope you’ve already got yours, but if you need one more someday…
shoot me a text message or an email, okay? ”
He took the card and tucked it in his pocket, giving her a slight nod. A part of her wanted to clobber him upside the head with her clutch – but another part of her understood that sometimes the timing was just all wrong… and her timing had been terrible all of her life.
Why change that now?
“Walk with me to get some cake, so I don’t get mobbed – and then I’m going to take my slice and get out of here,” Maureen began, feeling sad and disappointed that he wasn’t giving an inch.
“I need some sugar and a little peace and quiet - that doesn’t involve trying to set me up with someone. How about you?”
“Same,” he replied and held out his arm politely to her. “Shall we run the gauntlet for that cake?”
“I guess so, flyboy…”