Page 40 of A Labor of Hate
“I—”
Again, I stopped short.The memory of my first day at the field office flew past my eyes.Every painful detail, each inconvenience stacked onto an already hard day.Even now, I felt justified, especially considering his dismissal and condescending attitude toward me that hadn’t changed much, either.
But pointing that out—however true it was—wouldn’t help anything.We’d never move past it if I never let it go.And then there was the uncomfortable truth that his first words to me, while untactful, weren’t unkind.I reallyhadbeen the one to start it.
I swallowed hard.“I had my reasons for acting the way I did, but I shouldn’t have taken them out on you.I’m… sorry.”
The apology came out as smoothly as a milkshake made of gravel, but at least I’d managed to get it out at all.
He studied me for an excruciating minute, dark eyes flicking over my face.When he finally spoke, his voice was subdued.“Never in a million years did I think I’d get an apology from you.”He shifted uneasily, a light blush coloring his freckled cheeks.“And, if I’m being honest, I think I owe you one as well.”
Considering all the animosity between us over the weeks, he probably owed a lot more than one, but I wasn’t about to argue.One was better than nothing.
“At first I thought you were the type to flirt your way to the top like an agent I’d worked with in the past, and I—like you—thought I had evidence to back it up.”More shifting, this time accompanied by an awkward tug on his shirt collar.“But then you started pulling more hours than even I did, and I realized?—”
He shook his head like an Etch-a-Sketch, as if that could erase whatever he’d been about to say.“The point is, I’m sorry for jumping to that conclusion about you.For all the corners you cut in your personal life, your work ethic is infuriatingly solid.”
A myriad of emotions washed through me, from outrage and indignation that he’d think I would be the type to sleep my way to the top, to confusion as to what could’ve possibly led him to believe that, tomoreindignation at his opinion about my personal life, to satisfaction that he’d actually apologized to me about something.It was a trip, I’ll tell you that much.And not exactly an enjoyable one.
A slow grin spread across my face, which was apparently alarming, based on how he retreated a step.The thought that he, like so many others, negated my hard work by attributing my success to something else hurt.But, unlike the other colleagues who’d teased me for “dancing my way through life,” Colt had realized he was wrongandapologized for it.Something I never would’ve thought him capable of before now.
“Why, Colt, I do believe you just gave me a compliment,” I teased.
“No need to make a big fuss about it,” he grumbled, returning to fishing the vegetables out of their bags and lining them up on the cutting board.
I stopped him again by placing my hands on his.And, just like before, he froze at my touch.Not exactly an ego boost, but whatever.
“So… truce?”
He sighed, though he didn’t pull his hands away yet.“If I say yes, will you let me finish this?”
“Uh, actually, I had different plans for dinner.”
He arched a brow.“I’m not sure our truce could survive a night of your cooking.”
“Okay, rude.It was one piece of toast, Colt.One.”
He chuckled, gracing me with a small smile.One of the few he’d ever directed my way.And, yeah, maybe it made my brain buffer for a second.I’ll never say.
“Yeah, but I’m pretty sure I can still smell the smoke when I close my eyes.”
I stuck my tongue out.“It wasn’t even that bad.”
“Are you kidding?Colleen was seconds away from calling the fire department.”
I stifled a laugh at the mental image.I’d found out over the past few days that our neighbor had a habit of poking her head over the fence whenever she thought one of us might be in the backyard while she was.As much as I wanted to chalk it up to being friendly, I was pretty sure I also saw her curtains move whenever I walked out our front door.Nothing happened in the neighborhood without her knowing about it.
“See, I’d believe that, but we both know she’d come rushing in herself just to see what was going on.”
“Fair enough.”
He started sliding his hands out from under mine, which I stopped by tightening my grip.A mixture of confusion and concern furrowed his brow, which I ignored.
“I’ll handle dinner.”At his frown, I elaborated.“I won’t cook it myself, don’t worry.I’m sure you had something undeniably yummy planned, but today we’re going to be spontaneous and order pizza and watch a movie.To celebrate our truce.”
“Lex…”
I finally let him go, raising my own hands in a surrender and show of good faith.But if he went for the celery again, all bets were off.“Think of it like a date to sell our cover more if you need to.”
