Page 146 of Theirs to Take

“I told Ben about our kiss, and he came up with the idea of us dating, to make you jealous,” she whispered. “I’m sorry, Eli. It’s my fault too for going along with the plan. I should have told him no, but I had no other ideas.”

“You did all of this to make me jealous?” he asked. “Evan and Carrie weren’t kidding when they said that Ben’s gay?” He sat down in his chair behind his desk, and she felt awful for what she had done.

“Yes,” she breathed. “We did all of this to make you jealous and Carrie and Evan both knew that Ben was gay. But they had no idea about the plan or anything. That was all Ben and me. I’m so sorry, Eli. If you need to let me go, I’ll understand.” She turned and walked out of his office, not waiting to hear the words, “You’re fired.” That would just be too much for her to bear.

Mina was angry at herself for not only losing a great job, but she had also hurt a pretty awesome guy. Seeing the hurt and confusion on Eli’s face was too much for her, and leaving work early was her only solution. She cleared out her desk, knowing that having to go back the next day to do so would be a burden on both her and Eli. He didn’t need her hanging around the office, reminding him of her deceit. Mina had already hurt him enough.

By the time she got to her apartment, her box of stuff in hand, she had a gazillion messages on her phone from Ben. He was supposed to meet her after work, for drinks, and she had totally forgotten about their plans. She quickly dialed his number, and he answered on the first ring.

“Hey,” she said, “I’m so sorry that I forgot about drinks.”

“What the hell happened?” Ben asked. “I went to pick you up at work, and Eli met me at the elevator, telling me that the jig was up. Who talks like that?” he asked.

Mina smiled because she always loved it when Eli would say stupid stuff like that. “You talk like that, Ben,” she insisted. “Iguess that’s why I find it to be adorable when Eli does it. You two are a lot alike,” she said. “In another universe, you two might even end up being friends.” But she had blown that from happening now. There was no way that Eli would forgive either of them for what they had done to him. They made him look like a fool, and that was unforgivable.

“You told him about us, didn’t you?” Ben asked.

“Actually, he already knew about us not being together. Carrie and Evan told him that you’re gay. I guess he asked about us being together and they told him the truth.”

“Shit, I’m sorry, Mina,” Ben said. “I didn’t mean for it to get this out of hand. Do you want me to talk to him?” That was the very last thing she needed.

“God, no,” she breathed. “Eli’s already been through enough. I don’t want to add to his load. Plus, I’m pretty sure that I’m fired, so it won’t matter.”

“He fired you?” Ben asked.

“Not exactly, but I’m pretty sure that it’s only a formality that he says the words to me. Or, if he’s smart, he’ll just have HR reach out to me.”

“I’m so sorry,” Ben said. “I wish that there was something that I could do to fix all of this. I messed everything up.”

“No, this isn’t all on you, Ben. You were trying to help me get Eli, and I went along with your plan. This is just as much my fault.” Mina put the box down on her kitchen counter and turned to shut the front door, finding Eli standing in the hallway.

“Your door was open,” Eli whispered.

“Um, Ben, I have to go,” she said, ending the call to Ben’s protests. She turned to put her cell phone on the counter, taking a deep breath before turning back to face Eli. “What are you doing here?” she asked.

“You ran out of my office so quickly, I didn’t get the chance to say what I needed to say,” he said.

“If you are here to tell me that I’m fired, I already know. I’ve even cleaned out my desk, so you won’t have to see me again. We’ll have to work out a schedule for the two of us to see Evan and Carrie, but I hope that you won’t try to push me out of their lives. Carrie’s like a sister to me.” She wished that she had given her plan more thought and considered how it would hurt everyone around her. She hadn’t even thought about having to give up her best friend. That was something that she’d fight Eli on though. She loved Carrie and her family as though they were her own.

“I’d never try to push you out of Evan and Carrie’s lives,” he said, “and, I’m not here to fire you.”

“You aren’t?” she asked.

“No, I’m here to tell you that I’m sorry,” Eli said. He took a few steps closer to her, keeping his hands in his pockets. “I shouldn’t have pushed you away after our kiss. I wanted to kiss you. Hell, I loved kissing you, but I acted like an ass, and I’m sorry.”

“You are?” Mina asked.

“I am. After that night, I avoided you and the topic of our date.”

“It wasn’t a date,” she reminded.

“I know that I said that, but it was a date. Honestly, I wanted it to be a date, too. I wanted you to kiss me, and God, Mina, I wanted you.”

“I wanted you too, Eli,” she admitted. She still did, but she wanted to wait him out to see where this was all heading.

“I’ve come here to ask you to come with me to Colorado,” he said.

“As your assistant,” she said, filling in the rest for him.

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