Page 15 of Philly
Nate scrunched his nose. “Not even a token you-can’t-go-because-I’ll-miss-you?”
Callie laughed. She and Nate had worked together for more than six years and as close as she got to having friends, he was one of the few in that circle. “Of course I’ll miss you. And I’ll be jealous that you’ll be working under Denise Howard, right?” He nodded. “I’ve heard nothing but good things about her.”
“Me, too,” Nate agreed.
“Not to mention all four of your brothers are in Chicago, as well as your parents,” she added. Not all families were close—her own being case in point—but Nate’s was. “And then there’s Mel?—”
“Don’t finish that sentence,” Nate interrupted.
She grinned. “The price to pay for having one too many and spilling your guts to me three holiday parties ago. If she’s really the one who got away, being in the same city gives you the option of seeing if something’s still between you.” She’d lost her chance with Gabriel all those years ago, but that didn’t mean she didn’t want happy-ever-afters for other people.
Nate let his head fall back. “She still might not see me as anything other than a friend.”
“Only one way to find out. And?—”
“I’ll regret it if I don’t try?”
She laughed. “I will miss you finishing my sentences.”
“Liar. You find it annoying.”
“A little,” she agreed, smiling. Then, pausing, she studied him. “Don’t tell me you’re thinking of turning it down.”
He hesitated. “No, not really. But…”
Then it hit her, and her heart warmed a little. “But if you do, I’ll be the only one left of the original crew, other than Osborn, who doesn’t count, and you’re worried about leaving me behind.”
He made another face. “Does that seem patronizing? It’s not like you can’t take care of yourself or that you haven’t had other offers.”
She could and she had—one offer from the New York office and two from private companies. But she didn’t want to leave until she made progress on Liza’s case. It wasn’t that she couldn’t work on it in a different job, but if she started somewhere new, she’d want to focus on building trust and learning her teammates’ strengths and weaknesses.
“I appreciate it, Nate. Really, I do. But I’ll be fine. Maybe I’ll stay, maybe I won’t. And besides, if youdon’tgo, what happens if I decide I do want to take another offer? Am I supposed to stay here for you?”
He narrowed his eyes. “I’d never want you to stay to keep me company, and yes, I hate that you have a point. A valid one.”
“Life is more than work, Nate,” she said. A true statement for most people, if not for her. “You have family and maybe more in Chicago. If youdon’ttake this opportunity, I may have to stop working with you anyway because I’d question your sanity. Or your priorities.”
He shot her a sardonic look. “Doesn’t the job always come first?”
She met his with one of her own. “Not for normal people, no. Or it shouldn’t.”
“You are normal, Callie.”
She was in the normal range of fucked up, but not normal-normal. She didn’t want to get into that with Nate, though. It was an old argument. Instead, she gave a little shrug and picked up the file she’d compiled based on Liza’s information. “I have a meeting with Chrome now. Wanna come?” she asked, waggling her eyebrows as she rose.
“Not a chance,” he replied, rising as well.
“When are you going to accept the offer?”
“Pushy much?”
“It’s my best quality.”
He bobbed his head. “I don’t know if I’d say it’s yourbestquality, but I won’t argue that it’s come in handy in the past. Good luck with, well, whatever you’re talking with him about.”
“I’ll need it,” she replied. “More than you know,” she whispered to herself as she rounded the corner and headed to her supervisor’s office.
Marie, his assistant, waved her in when she approached. Callie knocked on the door before opening it and poking her head in. Chrome’s bald patch glistened in the bright light of his office as he studied a document on his desk.
