Page 96 of Fallen Hearts

“I’m considering it,” he admitted. “But nothing’s set in stone.”

“Obviously you’re considering it,” I said, trying to keep the judgment out of my voice. “That’s your career. It would be insane not to consider it.”

But…

I left the rest unsaid.

But I thought you liked it here. Liked me. Just the other day when we sat on the back deck, you’d said the troubles of the city seemed so far away.

Maybe I’d read too much into that, but part of me thought it was an admission, of sorts.That you liked Cedar Falls more than Manhattan. That maybe, just maybe, you’d decided to stay.

“I talked to the chief on Friday.”

It was odd he hadn’t mentioned that earlier. “What did he say?”

“Just that he wants me to come back. Reminded me the clock is ticking, as if I wasn’t fully aware of the fact.”

“I see.”

For a second I thought Mason would get up from his chair and come over to me. Lean in for a kiss, tell me not to worry, that we would be okay. I knew what we had talked about, but every day since then, we’d grown closer. Learned more about each other. This morning, waking up in his arms, I’d almost convinced myself all was well, and that we were a regular couple.

But we weren’t. The ticking time bomb of Mason’s two lives was about to explode.

He didn’t move.

“I’m sure the guys are wondering where you went off to. Is Beck painting too?”

He nodded. “Yeah.”

“I’ll finish up here and head back soon to get ready for lunch with Delaney.”

His brows drew together. “I didn’t know you were meeting her for lunch today.”

That was because I wasn’t. But hanging around here while Mason was working… while it had seemed earlier like a good idea, the picture of domesticity, now it didn’t quite appeal. He was pulling back. So this was me just matching his energy.

“Last-minute thing,” I said. So last minute, in fact, Delaney didn’t even know about it yet.

“Hmm.” Mason stood. “I’ll let you get back to work.”

I could have continued to look at him. Beckoned him with my eyes. Asked for him to come to me. I could have stood and gone to him. But I did none of those things. Instead I mumbled, “Sounds good,” and turned to my laptop as if I were an air traffic controller about to prevent two planes from colliding.

Without another word, he left. Whether Mason was mad that I’d become closed off or was just distancing himself because he had already made a decision about heading back to work, I couldn’t be sure.

One thing was for sure. Though no voices were raised or ill words spoken, Mason and I had just experienced our first fight. As a couple. Or not. Because we weren’t a couple. We were just two people who wanted each other very badly, and one person who was dumb enough to catch feelings despite all of the warning signs that it was a bad idea.

I shut my laptop. There was no way in hell I could work today. With any luck, Delaney could actually go to lunch with me. I texted her, and it took all of two minutes for her to respond. She’d love to meet for lunch. Great.

Thank goodness for girlfriends.

33

MASON

The week went by in a blur.

After Sunday, nothing was the same between Pia and me. She came to work every day, leaving before I was finished painting. It was as if we’d come to a silent understanding, that if I were going back to the city, we were better off distancing ourselves now. More than once I’d wanted to march upstairs, head into her office and clear the desk again.

Or text her at night, asking what she was up to.

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