Page 91 of Until He Confesses

All I had to do was accept that our agreement was over and given the annoyance I still nursed from the project that had wasted our resources but produced no result. It wasn't too hard to regain my focus. I was exhausted, but I worked through it.

Around midnight, I was interrupted once again by a phone call. It was from the lobby, stating that a woman I had an appointment with was there to see me.

At first, I was completely perplexed as to what woman he was referring to, until it occurred to me that Callie had probably come over. My eyes widened in surprise but then narrowed in amusement. This was definitely a surprise as I had expected her not to care at all and to just head back to wherever she had been coming from, but apparently, this wasn't the case.

"Hand her the phone," I said, and he did so.

A few seconds later, her unmistakable voice came through the receiver.

"You better be here," she said, and I couldn't help but smile.

I turned around in my chair to stare out of the window, wondering if there were stars out tonight because it seemed to be a peculiar one.

"I'm here," I replied, and the call came to an end.

43

CALLIE

"We need to learn to respect each other," he said firmly.

You're a fucking asshole, was what I thought but didn’t say out loud.

I did think of all the comebacks I had ready for him but couldn't quite make up my mind. What I knew for sure was that I was severely irritated, and he was going to pay for it.

When he pulled the door to his office open and I met his gaze, I briefly forgot what I wanted to say. The first thing I realized was how tired his eyes looked.

He had taken off his suit jacket and possibly his tie, and now he just looked casual. His sleeves were rolled up his arms and more than one button was unbuttoned on his dress shirt.

He gave me a look, probably wondering why I was staring at him, and then turned around without a word to return to his desk. I watched him head over and didn't know what to do until he had taken his seat again and leaned into his chair.

For the first few seconds, he didn't pay any attention to me as he gathered the papers on his desk and pushed them to the side. Not long after, though, he lifted his gaze.

"You're not supposed to come here," he said, and I sighed.

Then I began to head over until I was standing before his desk.

"We need to stop being so vindictive toward each other."

"I'm not vindictive toward you," he said. "We have rules, and you keep breaking them."

"I'm human," I told him. "Aren't you?"

His frown deepened, and it was a clear message that I was once again crossing the line. "Maybe we're too familiar with each other," he said. "I don't think this is working out."

I watched him, disbelieving that he was actually saying this.

"It's not a relationship," I said. "Therefore, there are going to be bumps in the road. The good thing is that we don't need to do much to resolve them. This is a simple exchange. When we allow our emotions into it, it becomes complicated." He cocked his head.

"Reacting the way I am now to you brushing me off, is emotional?"

"Yes, it is," I said, although something warned me that I might regret saying this, but I didn't care.

"Okay," he said. "Since that is emotional to you and not accepted, then I will propose something different. We won't be exclusive."

At this, every trace of ease instantly disappeared from my face.

"I won't do this with you if we're not exclusive."