Chapter 31
After debriefing, Rob raced over to June’s work.
He had tried calling her, but his call went straight to voicemail.
Either her phone was off, or she was ignoring him.
Rob went up to the workout center first, but didn’t see her.
He headed back downstairs to Dr. Shane’s office to see if she would tell him.
Dr. Shane sat at her desk, her door open while she looked down at the paperwork before her. She didn’t notice his approach until he was in her doorway.
“Rob, you look out of breath; is everything alright?”
“Have you seen June?” he asked, forgoing the pleasantries.
“No, but even if I had, I wouldn’t tell you. What did you do to her?” Dr. Shane accused with narrowing eyes.
“Did she say something?” he inquired instead of answering.
“She didn’t have to. The girl is walking around like a ghost. Normally, she’s all smiles, and now she looks like someone just drop kicked her. Given it started about the time you left, I’m blaming you for her change in attitude. So again, I ask, what did you do to her?”
Rob felt his heart plummet to the pit of his stomach. He had really messed up. June—his beautiful bright woman—was hurting, and it was his fault. He had a lot of groveling to do.
“No offense, Doc, but it’s between June and myself.
I know I messed up, and I’m here to fix it.
The sooner I can find her, the sooner I can make it right.
Now, I didn’t see her upstairs; do you know where else she might be?
” Rob appreciated all the doctor had done for him and his friends, but he wasn’t going to explain his relationship with June.
A tic worked in Dr. Shane’s jaw. She was not a woman who was told no often. Rob understood that she was upset on June’s behalf, but what he had to say was for June and not the doctor.
Dr. Shane sighed heavily and checked her watch. “She’s about to start a session, so she’s either in the breakroom or headed to the gym.”
She was still seeing patients at this hour? It was after six at night. That PT must still be on vacation, though he’d thought they’d be back by now. “Thanks, Doc.” He nodded in gratitude.
“You fix this, Rob. I want my June back.” She wagged her finger at him, looking serious.
“So do I, Doc.” Rob took off back down the hall, walking as fast as he could, headed upstairs to make his sweep of the area for her. He stumbled to a stop when he saw June coming down the hall toward him. She looked straight ahead as if seeing right through him.
The sight of her was like finding an oasis in the middle of the desert. She was so beautiful. How he had never noticed before a few weeks ago was beyond him. She wore a pale-yellow top with white shorts.
As beautiful as she was, her face looked pale and drawn. She looked like she had lost some weight too. “June…” He walked toward her.
“Rob,” she responded coolly as she brushed past him. She made sure to pivot her body, so they didn’t touch.
He knew she wouldn’t be happy to see him after how he had left things, but he had to explain himself.
Rob spun on his heel and took off after her. “June, wait.”
“I have a session about to start. I don’t have time to talk.”
He gripped her arm and pulled her to a halt. “Please, this is important.”
June kept staring straight ahead. Her arm was tense under his hand. “So is my patient.” She half turned to glare at him out of the corner of her eye. “Unlike some, I won’t abandon them and leave them waiting.” She pulled away; he let her go, not wanting to hurt her.
“I’m sorry,” he said, though he knew she couldn’t hear him.
He wanted to follow, but she had been upset with him the first time he’d interrupted one of her sessions. So, he waited. June had waited three weeks for an explanation. He could wait an hour for her to be done.
Rob walked outside and waited next to her car. It was better to wait here than inside. At least next to her car, she couldn’t avoid him.
June walked out of the building a little over an hour later. Her gaze scanned the lot. Good girl. Always checking her surroundings. Rob didn’t know if it was because she was looking for danger or looking out for him, but either way, he was proud she was becoming more aware of her surroundings.
Her steps faltered when she saw him leaning against her car. She didn’t look any happier to see him now than an hour ago. What did you expect, asshole? They’d made love, and he’d left town without a word for three weeks. That would piss off anyone.
“You’re still here.” Her voice was void of emotion as she stared down at her feet to avoid his gaze.
“I need to talk to you.”
“Who’s to say I want to talk to you?”
She didn’t slow down her pace until she was at the driver’s door. She couldn’t open it because he was leaning against it. That had been on purpose. Her gaze met his; her eyes blazed with anger. He missed the softness as she climaxed. Or how they lit up when she laughed.
“Move,” she ordered.
Rob remained rooted. “After you hear me out.”
“You have nothing to say I want to hear.”
“I owe you an explanation.”
June laughed without humor as she looked away before glaring back at him.
“Your explanation was clear when you were gone by morning and there was no word from you the following day, or week after that, or the week after that, and even the week after that. I got the message.” She smiled through gritted teeth.
“Explanation received; now move so I can go home.”
“I didn’t want to leave you,” he explained. For the first time in his life, he’d felt conflicted between his duty and his wants. He had wanted nothing more than to climb back into bed with June and wake her in the morning with soft kisses and make love to her again.
June scoffed, looking at him in disbelief. He couldn’t say he was shocked by her pessimism, but it was the truth.
“It’s true.”
“Yes, you were so overcome leaving me, you forgot my number.” She reached for the door handle again, but Rob shifted to completely block the door from her.
“I was out of town.”
“What, don’t they have cell phone towers where you were?”
The guys were right; he should have sent off a quick text, left a note. Something. Anything.
It was easy to say what he should have done in hindsight, but at the time, he had been focused on the mission and blocked everything else out.
“Save yourself the trouble of trying to lie yourself out of an explanation and just go.” June pointed with her index finger to the right, dismissing him. “We both knew this wasn’t going to go anywhere anyway.”
Rob didn’t agree with that. His job made things tricky, but he could see a future with June. He enjoyed spending time with her. The sex had been incredible. His only regret was that they had only done it once before he’d had to leave.
It was on the tip of his tongue to just spill his guts and tell her everything, but there were too many people walking by who could overhear him.
“Can we go to your place and talk?”
“No,” she replied firmly. “Now, please leave before I call the police.”
That hurt that she’d thrown down that threat.
The sad part was, he knew she would carry through with it, but he had to keep trying.
He wasn’t willing to give up on them. He cared deeply about June.
It may not have shown when he didn’t reach out to her while he was gone, but that didn’t mean he didn’t think about her all the time.
“I want to tell you the truth. Everything. My job, all of it, but we have to go somewhere private.”
“Seriously?” She gave him a dubious look.
He was willing to break the secrecy rule for her, but he was not willing to do it in a parking lot next to a public street. “June, what I have to tell you is highly classified. No one can know about it. I need privacy to tell you.”
June crossed her arms over her chest and raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Does that line work on a lot of women because it sure doesn’t for me.” June was unmoved by his speech.
Rob had known this was going to be an uphill battle, but he had hoped she wouldn’t be so damn stubborn about talking to him.
“Look, I know I hurt you. I fucked up. I’m trying to explain myself.
Please meet me in the middle. If after you’ve heard me out, you still want me to leave, you’ll never see me again.
But please, just give me a few minutes to explain. ”