Page 65 of Until You

She moved toward the drapes that covered the wall opposite the kitchen.

He took several steps into the living room and picked up a remote from an end table. “Check out the view.” He pushed a button, and the drapes parted, revealing a wall of windows that overlooked the Plaza.

She gasped. “I bet this is gorgeous at Christmas—when the Plaza’s lit up with lights.”

“I had a lighting party last year on Thanksgiving. We watched the Christmas lights turn on from my living room.”

“That sounds amazing.” She wanted to see it for herself, but she’d be gone by then. She paused at the spike of regret, then pushed it aside. “Your condo is beautiful…and not what I expected.”

“What did you expect?” he asked.

“You know, lots of steel and chrome and modern.”

“I could never relax in that kind of environment. Give me my leather sofa to sink into and watch a game or a movie.”

She heard him cracking eggs, and she walked over to the island and sat on a bar stool. “I’m envious of your place.”

“Your apartment is nice.”

“But it’s not mine,” she said. “It’s a rental and came fully furnished.”

He turned around to face her. “Furnished? You don’t have any furniture?”

“It’s easier that way. And corporate gives me a monthly stipend. I usually send my assistant, Stephanie, to the city we’re moving to about a month ahead to pick out a place for each of us.”

“That sounds so…impersonal.”

She shrugged. “It is what it is. But that’s about to change.”

“Because you’re moving in a month?”

She opened her mouth, about to come clean, but then firmly closed it when she remembered her chat with Randy. He’d been adamant that Tyler not know she’d talked to him about her contract, and it was probably better he not know at all. “I’m not sure what I’ll be doing in a month. I’m turning in my notice tomorrow.”

He turned around to face her, and she realized how it probably sounded.

“Don’t worry. It has nothing to do with you. You don’t have to add me to your list of crazy exes. This has been brewing for a month or two and came to a head this week.”

“Will you get a job here in Kansas City?” he asked, sounding guarded.

“No. You don’t have to worry about your no-strings fling turning into a cling-on woman. The chances of me finding something here aren’t that great.” She paused, wondering how much to tell him, but not wanting to share too much. Short-term relationships came with an unofficial set of rules, and while rule number one was don’t be clingy, rule number two was don’t overshare. Nothing screamed “desperate for a real relationship” more loudly than someone spilling all their secrets, quickly followed by their hopes and dreams. “That’s part of the reason Aiden came to see me,” she said. “To convince me to move to Atlanta and work with him.”

Tyler kept his back to her and remained strangely silent. She quickly scanned what she’d said, worried that it fell into the TMI category, but it all seemed fairly innocuous. Slightly above cocktail party chat.

He grabbed two plates out of his cabinet and set them on the counter. “Would you do time management work for Aiden?”

Why did he sound so weird? She’d said something that had bugged him, but damned if she knew what it was.

“No. I’d be a consultant, working with businesses that are either looking to expand or open their doors. Kind of like a small-business admin consulting.”

“So you’d be moving to Atlanta after the wedding?” He kept his gaze down as he scraped scrambled eggs onto two plates and set them on the counter.

“I told Aiden I’d think about it, but I’m still considering my options.”

“Have you looked at other options?” His gaze held hers, but his eyes were guarded.

She picked up the fork he’d set on the counter then set it down, even though the smell of the scrambled eggs was making her stomach rumble even more. But she’d already freaked him out. Maybe she should chalk this up to middle-of-the-night craziness, and hopefully pick this back up with him again tomorrow night after Britt and Randy’s barbecue or, if he needed more time, on Thursday when she met him at the next photo shoot. “Maybe I should just go home.”

“What?” he asked in shock. “Why?”

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