Page 67 of So Right
She tossed an irritated look toward the house. “I’d beg to differ. Please let me go.”
Frowning, he took a step back. “We’ll talk later.”
She rolled up the window and backed out of the driveway. As he watched her leave, he wondered why she was even taking her car since the library was only a few blocks away. Maybe she didn’t plan to come back after work.
A cavalcade of curse words marched through his brain. He turned and stalked into the house, slamming the door after he got inside.
Paige had doffed her jacket and set her purse down and was now stirring eggs on the stove. She smiled brightly. “Can’t let good eggs go to waste. I always loved your scrambled eggs.”
Seriously? “You think I want to have breakfast with you after that?”
She shrugged. “You have to eat. So what’s the story? You didn’t tell me you had a girlfriend.”
“Because I didn’t when I talked to you. This is new.” So damn new it might not even count as official. “You also know how much I value my privacy.”
Her face fell, and he could see that she was disappointed. “I see.”
“Paige, I don’t know what you were thinking would happen by surprising me, but we’re over. We’ve been over for a long time.”
She pulled the eggs from the stove and served them onto the plates he’d gotten out of the cupboard. “Only because you live here, and I lived in California. But I have a job interview tomorrow. It looks promising. We had a phone interview last week, and we really hit it off.”
“I’m happy for you. But you moving up here isn’t going to change things.” While he’d relied on the excuse of the geographical distance for the growing rift in their relationship, he’d also told her he thought it was for the best that they break up.
She dished up the sausage, which she’d also apparently finished cooking while he’d been outside. “How do you know it won’t change things? If we’re together, things might go back to the way they were.”
How could she want that? They’d been happy for a while, but the clingier she’d become, the more he’d pushed her away. She wanted their relationship to progress, and the more she’d told him that, the farther he’d wanted to run. “I don’t want things to go back to the way they were.”
She’d carried the plates to the table while he’d been thinking and now folded her arms over her chest. “Right. That would be too much effort. I wonder if Kelsey is aware of how little you like to contribute to a relationship.”
“If that’s how you feel, why are you here?”
She dropped her arms to her sides and came toward him, stopping far too close for his comfort. “Because I still love you, Luke, isn’t that obvious? I’ve tried to move on, but I can’t.” She looked away from him, and he could see that she was truly hurting.
Damn and damn.
His ire faded. “I’m sorry. Really. But I can’t change the way I feel.”
When she looked at him again, some of the fire had returned to her eyes. “I hope you’ll be honest with Kelsey. She deserves to know that you have issues with intimacy. Or whatever it is. Don’t let her fall head over heels in love with you while you’re thinking you’d rather just be fuck buddies.”
“Hey, you meant more to me than that.”
“Did I? I’d thought so—once. But now I’m not so sure.” She picked up her jacket and purse. “If you ever felt something for me, please be honest with Kelsey. Or maybe I should tell her what you’re really like.”
The irritation he’d just quashed flared into anger. “Don’t threaten me. I never took you for nasty.”
She averted her gaze again. “I’m not. I’m…sorry.” She shook her head and sent him a sad look. “Tell Kelsey the truth so she can go into this with her eyes open. You owe her that much.” She turned and went to the door. “See you, Luke.”
Literally, if she was going to be working up here. And wouldn’t that be awkward as hell?
“Hey, where’s your interview tomorrow? Maybe I can put in a good word.” He might be annoyed with her, but at the end of the day, they’d had good times together and he didn’t wish her ill.
“Bellwether—in Salem.”
A good half hour plus away. Yay. “Hmm, I don’t know anyone, but I can ask around.”
“Only if you want. I appreciate it, thanks.” She opened the door, and he walked over to see her out.
“Good luck, Paige.”
