Page 103 of Going Deep
She stared at him. Was he kidding? “To Chicago.”
“You’re coming back?”
She couldn’t say exactly why, but the blank shock on his face pissed her off. “Yes.”
“I thought…”
“You thought what?” she prompted when he didn’t continue.
He grimaced. “I thought you’d decided not to. Because of me.”
Definitely pissing her off. “You thought I ran back to Ohio because you dumped me?”
He didn’t reply, but the answer was plain on his face.
She let out a harsh laugh. “Wow. That’s some ego.”
He shoved a hand through his hair. “Look, this isn’t what I wanted to talk about.”
She tossed her purse onto the coffee table so hard it skidded off the other side and landed on the floor. “Clock’s ticking.”
“Shit.” He closed his eyes, then drew a deep breath and opened them. “I was wrong.”
She waited, but he didn’t say anything else. “About what?”
“About all of it.”
“I’m afraid I’m going to need you to be more specific,” she said.
She sipped her latte while he paced, grateful for the caffeine. She was working on four hours of sleep, and if she could’ve stood the taste, she would’ve ordered a triple shot of espresso.
“I should’ve told you about the Center,” he said finally, coming to a halt in front of her. “About my family connection to it.”
She kept her eyes on his. “Why didn’t you?”
“It’s complicated,” he hedged.
“I’m sure it is,” she drawled and flicked a gaze at the clock on the wall. “Eight minutes.”
“Shit. Fine. People get weird when they find out I—my family—has that kind of money.”
“I bet,” she muttered, but she was listening. “Weird, how?”
He shifted his shoulders in a restless shrug. “They want me to do things for them. Pull strings, or pay for stuff.”
“They try to take advantage.”
He shrugged again. “Yeah.”
She nodded slowly. “Okay, I can see that. But you were pulling strings, getting me that job interview.”
Unease flickered over his face. “I know. I wanted to. I just… didn’t want you to know it was me doing it.”
Now she was baffled. “Why?”
“I’m not sure,” he admitted, looking as baffled as she felt. “Look, it’s possible I might have some unresolved issues about this stuff.”
No shit, she thought. “Okay.”
