Page 122 of Frozen Flames

“Um, hi,” I reply shyly.

“Come in. I need to talk to you.” Harvey’s brow shoots up at his brother in question, and I head inside, clearing my throat.

I follow Harvey to his bedroom, and he closes the door.

“What’s going on?” he asks.

I shrug, trying to find the courage to tell him. It was so easy when I thought about it and put in on paper. But now, with Harvey in front of me, the task feels nearly impossible.

“How have you been? I texted you.” His tone sounds accusatory, and I know he’s not going to handle the news well.

“I came to give you my notice. I…gave it to Henrik.”

“You’re quitting—”

“Yes,” I interject, knowing I need to stand my ground.

His jaw ticks, and he looks away, his hurt eyes cutting me to the core. “Not this again.”

“I never meant to go back and forth with my employment, Harv. I never meant to fall in love with you, okay? None of this was supposed to happen.”

I sit on his bed when he wheels closer to me, taking my face between his hands, and by God, the gesture is enough to release the load of stress from my shoulders. It calms me and makes me think I can get through anything as long as I have him by my side.

“Claire,listento me. I’m so sorry for not telling Gemma to fuck off.”

I shake my head. “That’s not what I wanted you to do.”

“But it’s what I should’ve done.” He looks deep into my eyes, and I’m a pile of mush ready to fall at his feet. But I stay still, processing his apology. “It was my mistake.” He pushes a strand of hair behind my ear, causing goose bumps to rise on my arms. “I wanted us to go slow, then we had sex…”

“So that was a mistake too?”

“No.” He chuckles, shaking his head. “You have no idea how much I’ve been wanting to fuck you.”

I blush and swallow, staring him straight in the eye. He has a little smirk on his face, then he smiles. How can I quit now? How can I let go of this man until he’s ready to have me? How many excuses and chances will I make for him?

“I missed you a lot,” he says softly.

“I missed you too, Harv.” I sigh. “But I can’t keep doing this…”

He lets go of me, and I sense his irritation brewing. “So that’s it? You’re just going to give up on us? You knew I needed time, and you agreed to give it to me.”

“And I did.”But then I fell for you even more, and I had sex with you.“This week has been the worst.” My voice cracks, and I clear my throat before I continue. “And I thought about it, and I need to do this. I can’t keep waiting around. I don’t know how long you’ll need before you’re over Gemma. You texted her that you loved her, Harvey… And that’s fine. You already told methat you did, but you probably texted her that as a way to try to reconcile.”

“Absolutely not!” He looks up, scratching his jaw. “I even told you I don’t want her back. And I don’t love her the way you’re imagining it.”

“But you still do!” I exclaim, sighing and shaking my head. “And we can’t start a relationship this way—with you loving another woman.”

“So you’re essentially breaking up with me.” He chuckles darkly.

“You were never mine to begin with. I wished it with all my might. But so many parts of you belong to her in so many ways, and that Saturday proved that to me.”

“Claire, please don’t. I can’t say goodbye to you,” he chokes out.

“Hopefully it won’t be forever.”

He looks at me, anger looming in his beautiful blue eyes. I could stare into those eyes all day and never get lost.

“Claire…”

---