Page 46 of Until He Confesses
He smiled, his gaze on the tablet he was once again scrolling through.
“You can’t tell me what to do, sweetheart,” he said. And then he looked at me. “Why does it bother you anyhow? Isn’t your goal here to do your job? Why does it matter that I am the client? Aren’t the personal things between us solely in the past?”
This was an argument I wasn’t going to win and so shaking my head, I walked out of the room, my mood more sour than it had ever been.
20
LUCAS
No matter how hard I tried, I still couldn’t get myself to focus on work. And so eventually I set the tablet down and settled under the covers.
I was lost in thought when a message came from Michael a few minutes later asking if I was done with the reviews so he could draft a response and send them to the needed departments.
I ignored the message and instead fixed my gaze on the ceiling.
It was still incredibly hard for me to accept that she was just a few feet away from me but yet I had absolutely no access to her.
It was a feeling that I was no stranger to. From the time I transferred to her high school, it had been the same challenge that had plagued me.
Then I wasn’t ready to step forward as I was convinced that my attraction to her was a passing occurrence that could be ignored.
Fate had smiled down on me though and allowed that incident at the cafeteria to happen which to an extent melted the ice between us. It became the norm for us to have lunch together at the same table, but it was always with Anna and Brett present. Until one day, and for some mysterious reason it was just the two of us.
I had been delayed in getting there but when I arrived, I found that she was the only one seated.
Brett was in their grade and not mine, so I had no clue why he had skipped that day although was there an explanation for Anna’s absence?
At first, I had almost considered turning away and returning to my class but then she caught my gaze and held it. I had decided then there was no need to run. I wanted to spend this time alone with her even though I was convinced that the majority of it would be in absolute silence.
This time around I didn’t sit opposite her like I usually did.
Instead, I sat right by her side and even though we weren’t too close and didn’t look at each other I wanted to feel the warmth I knew would ensue being so close to her that I could touch her. Being able to feel her heat and scent had been glorious.
We had both eaten side by side and then she had spoken up all on her own.
“Anna’s not feeling very well so she’s resting in the nurse’s office. And Brett, well I have no idea where he ran off to.”
“Mn,” I replied. “It’s better this way. More focus on eating and less on talking.”
Her response was an amused snort that sort of took me off guard despite how hard she tried to hide it. I turned and watched her lower her head and turn her face away.
I could no longer look away.
“Don’t you agree?” I asked and she finally lifted her gaze to mine. This time around and although it took some seconds, I could tell that she was finally able to hold my gaze and I loved every second of it.
Warmth pooled in the pit of my stomach and my heart began to beat slightly faster. It was an extremely wonderful feeling, and I couldn’t get enough.
“Were you trying to say that I shouldn’t speak either?” she asked.
“No, I was referring to them.”
“Oh, okay,” she smiled. “They do talk a lot.”
“What about you?” I asked.
“What do you mean?”
“You seem quiet. Is that just because you’re reserved around strangers or do you really not talk much?”