Page 69 of The Confidentiality Clause
“Oh, um, I don’t know if I have just three.”
“Name a few, then.”
I toy with the hem of his shirt. I’ve thought of this sort of thing plenty, but never shared it with anyone other than Sutton and occasionally Bethanne.
“I guess I’d want him to be ambitious and goal-oriented, since that’s how I am. Into fitness, but maybe not so much so that he wants me to run a marathon.” Brock and I both share a laugh. “Of course I need to have chemistry. The bane of my existence.” I sigh. “But I think the most important thing is that he would care about me and put me first. The way that Shaw does for Sutton, you know?”
He nods and flips the omelet.
“I want an earth-shattering kind of love,” I continue. “The kind that others would take one look at and just know we were in love.”
“So you want to be as sickening as Shaw and Sutton?” he asks.
I smile. “Worse, I think.”
He laughs. “I don’t know if it can get worse than them.”
“Maybe not, but I want to find out.”
Brock sets an omelet on a plate in front of me. He meets my gaze. “You will. A woman like you is made for that kind of love.”
Unexpected tears sting the backs of my eyes.
“Thanks,” I whisper, afraid to say anything more for fear I’ll start crying.
Brock looks like he’s about to say more, when his phone starts to buzz on the counter. He pauses for a second before turning and grabbing it.
“Jones,” he answers. “What?” The tone of his voice makes my eyebrows raise. “When? Last night!” he exclaims. “Get me the next flight out. Tell them I’m on my way.”
He hangs up and starts haphazardly throwing stuff in the fridge.
“What’s going on?” I ask.
“One of my clients is in some kind of trouble. I have to head to California for a few days to fix it.” His voice is tight. “I should already be on a flight. I can’t believe I missed the news alert yesterday.”
“I don’t think anyone can reasonably expect you to know about everything as soon as it happens,” I say, hoping to help him feel less frustrated.
He lets out a bitter laugh. “Yes, they can, and they should. This is my job. I’ve been trying to explain that to you.”
I flinch at his sharp tone. “I was trying to help. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“Yeah, well, yourhelphas distracted me, and now I’m a beat behind when I should be a step ahead.”
He slams the fridge shut. I stand in front of him and cross my arms.
“No, you don’t get to talk to me that way. Not after this.” I gesture to the breakfast. “Things are different now, Brock. You can’t flip a switch and change because of one incident.”
He shakes his head. “I haven’t changed anything. That’s the problem. You think that a couple of days away from work is going to make me want something different, but it hasn’t. This is what’s most important.” He holds up his phone.
“I don’t believe that.”
“You don’t have to, but it’s true.” He rakes a hand through his hair. “I need to get going. I have a flight to catch. Your car is out front. Stay as long as you need to.”
“So, that’s it? You’re going to leave like this.”
“What more is there to say?”
We stand in his kitchen watching each other. There’s so muchIcould say, but what’s the point? After all we’ve gone through, I thought he was changing. I wasn’t so delusional as to think he didn’t have a long way to go, but I thought I saw a marked difference. Maybe I was wrong.
