Page 59 of Unprofessionally Yours

“No.” My spine strengthens with new resolve. “I don’t have time for this. I don’t have time foryou.It would be best if you leave. Go back to Seattle. It’s where you belong.”

His shoulders seem to slump a bit, but his eyes stay glued to my face. “I know that you’re not ready to listen to me yet and that’s all right. I fucked up. You’ll never know how sorry I am for the things I said to you. Since you obviously want me gone, I’ll leave this room, but I’m not going anywhere.” He points out to the hallway. “I’ll be right out there when you need me.”

“Don’t hold your breath,” I mutter while he turns and heads back out the door.

∞

The next day is filled with doctors, tests, and the ever looming presence of Archer. Every time I leave Mom’s room, I see him sitting in the small waiting area near the nurses’ station. He’s always either typing away on his phone, speaking with the caseworker, or staring simply at the entrance to our room. He doesn’t try to come speak to me. He’s just… there.

When I finally realize he has every intention of sitting there until I come and speak to him, I’m done. I have enough to deal with without him sitting there as a constant reminder of what I lost and what I could have again if I could just forget how poorly he treated me.

I make sure Mom’s situated before heading out to the waiting area. As usual, he’s sitting in the chair that’s become his in my mind. I’m not sure the man’s even gone to the restroom since I banished him from the room. He just always seems to be there. His face is decidedly scruffier than it was yesterday and his eyes look bloodshot.

I stand in front of him with my arms crossed protectively over my chest. His golden-brown eyes search my own and I’m both devastated and elated by the glimmer of hope I see in them.

“We need to talk,” I bite out.

“Great.” He gives me a smile and raises out of the chair before following me down the long empty hallway. It’s evening now and there aren’t as many people around, but there are still enough. I decide to search for a place where we can have some privacy.

Archer grabs my hand and my first instinct is to squeeze it more tightly to reassure myself that he’s really here. Instead, I jerk my hand out of his grasp. He looks down at me with a frown but says nothing and doesn’t try to recapture my hand. I pop my head into room after room until I find one that’s apparently unoccupied. I usher him inside and leave the door cracked open behind us because I can’t trust myself to be behind closed doors with him.

Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. The rooms on this floor are huge, but standing beside him, it feels like it’s the size of a broom closet. It’s hard to think when he’s standing so close to me and I need to have my wits about me for this conversation, so I take a step backwards, adding to the space between us.

His frown deepens, but he doesn’t do anything to close the distance.

“You need to leave my family and me alone. I don’t want any of this. The doctor, the bills, the rehab. I don’t know why you’re doing it, but you need to stop.” He takes another step closer to me and I don’t back away this time, not wanting to give him an inch.

“I’m doing this because it’s my job, Hollie. It’s my job to take care of you and make sure you’re alright.” He stops and shakes his head. “No actually, that’s not right. It’s not my job. It’s what I want to do. I want to spend every moment taking care of you, making sure that you’re safe and happy.”

They’re pretty words and I want to believe them, but I can’t. Not after everything that’s happened. “I don’t need you to take care of me, Archer. This is my family. I’ve been taking care of them for a long time without any help from you or anyone else.”

“I know you have, angel, and you’re amazing at it. But don’t you understand? You’re my family now. You’re the only family that I have left, and that makes your mom and Paige my family too. I want to take care of all of you.”

I suck in a breath as my eyes fill with tears. There’s nothing more I’d rather do than believe him. It would be so much easier to let him help me, let him carry some of this weight. Instead, I stand there, silently looking at him and trying to hold back my tears.

“You can’t move back here.” His tone of voice says he’s upset and his fists are clenched at his sides.

“Archer, I don’t have a job. My sister needs me, and my mom obviously needs help, so I’m going to be here. I don’t understand what’s happening. How did you even find out I was here?”

“I went by your house and spoke to your roommates.”

I’ll kill them both.

He must be able to read the look on my face because the next words out of his mouth are, “Don’t be upset with them. I basically threatened to camp out on your porch like a bum if they didn’t help me get in contact with you.”

“Why were you at my house?” I whisper.

“Because I’m a fucking idiot, Hollie.” Well, I can’t argue that point. He moves towards me and I take a matching step back. I can’t let him touch me. If I do, I will give in to him in a matter of moments. “I’m so fucking sorry. I should have listened to you and I should have believed you. There’s no excuse good enough, but I was just so stunned. I could have never imagined that Patrick Shaw was your father. You never mentioned him and we had just lost the Santa Cruz deal. The proposal never made it to Caroline DuPont, and you were the last person to have it. Add that to what Patrick said at the dinner and I jumped to all the wrong conclusions.” Well, shit. I was the person who sent out the proposal’s. No wonder he thought I had something to do with it going missing.

“I would never do that, I swear—” He shushes me and continues.

“I know it wasn’t you, angel. None of this was your fault. I found out my uncle and your dad have been working together for years from the sound of it. They’ve been working behind the scenes to mess things up for me and the company for a long time. I should have known, I should have seen it. But I was so goddamn scared of how totally in fucking love with you I was that I freaked out. I was ready to give up Santa Cruz, to give up everything really, as long as I had you.”

There’s blood rushing in my ears as I study those whiskey-colored eyes that have captured me since the moment we first met. There’s nothing but pure sincerity in them and maybe something else. Something that looks a lot like love.

“You loved me?”

“Love.” He corrects and reaches out to grab my chin, pinning his gaze to mine. “I love you, Hollie. I can’t live without you. You have to take me back because you’ve completely ruined me. I could never want anyone else. I need you with me, by my side, in my bed. Please, say you’ll forgive me.”

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