Total pages in book: 34
Estimated words: 32155 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 161(@200wpm)___ 129(@250wpm)___ 107(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 32155 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 161(@200wpm)___ 129(@250wpm)___ 107(@300wpm)
I stare around the empty conference room, waiting for my boss to join me, and I don’t have to wait long.
Ian joins me a few minutes later. “Hey, thanks for coming in,” Ian says.
“What’s up? Because I’m fucking exhausted.”
Ian studies me, his face a mask of disgust. “No wonder clients are complaining about your mood.”
“Are they really?” I ask, suddenly concerned my job is at stake because I haven’t been able to get walking out on Talia out of my mind.
Or how easily she let me go.
I run a hand through my too-long hair and glance at Ian.
“No, not really. Although your coworkers think you’re a pain in the ass. Want to talk about it?” Ian makes a gagging sound following the offer.
I choke back a laugh. “Wouldn’t want you to exert your feminine side.”
Ian rolls back his shoulders. “I don’t have a feminine side, asshole. What I do have is a woman in my life, something you don’t. So if you want some of my wisdom, now’s the time to ask.”
I scrub a hand down my face, lowering myself into the nearest chair. “After my divorce, I told myself a relationship wouldn’t work with this kind of job. I travel, I’m in danger often, and my ex was too damned fragile to handle both. She wanted me around and safe. So I figured when I’m finished with bodyguard work, maybe it’ll be time for a relationship.”
“Let me guess. Then you met up with Talia again. I could have saved you the aggravation and told you not to fight it from the beginning.”
“Why didn’t you then?” I ask.
“What fun would that be?” Ian slaps me on the shoulder. “Seriously, some things a man has to experience for himself. You wouldn’t have believed me unless you were forced to walk away and feel like you were missing a part of yourself.”
I reel at the accurate description. Ian nailed my feelings on the head. Abandoning Talia left me hollow. Like she took the part of me that enjoys life.
“And as for what she needs in a man, she seems like she handled danger just fine,” Ian notes. “And from what I’ve heard of her in our investigations of the mess she was in, she’s a workaholic. She’s not going to be sitting, wringing her hands, and waiting for you to come home.”
All valid points, I think, my mood looking up for the first time in weeks.
“So I hope you’ve gotten your shit together and are ready to tell her how you feel,” Ian says.
I glance down at my clothes, wrinkled from a long flight and the plane grime I want to wash away. “I wouldn’t mind a shower first,” I mutter.
“Too bad, because she’s waiting out front.” Ian grins, looking altogether pleased with himself.
“Excuse me? Talia’s here? And you’ve been shooting the shit in here with me?” I shook my head. The way my boss’s thinking works boggled the mind.
“I had to make sure I had you in the right headspace before meeting up with her. See, she met Charlie, and my wife likes her. I promised Charlie I’d prep you so you didn’t do anything stupid.”
Talia is here. I stopped listening to anything Ian said beyond that.
“I’ll send her in. Don’t fuck it up,” Ian says, and walks out the door.
* * *
Talia
I do as I promised my brother. I gave a lot of thought to a relationship with Shane. I consider what I want out of my life and what I am willing to give of myself. Because it isn’t fair to ask him to get involved when I’m not willing to invest myself, too.
Being forced to look inward isn’t easy, and I don’t like what I learn. Because I dive into work for all the right…and wrong reasons. It is right that I want to find a cure for what ultimately took my mother from me. It is right that I dedicated my life to a cause. But it is wrong that I buried myself and my feelings and needs because I was afraid of more loss.
I essentially lost Shane when he walked out of my life almost three weeks ago, and I haven’t had a good day since, so I know what I have to do.
I rub my hands together nervously. I don’t want to show up on Shane’s doorstep only to find he isn’t home, so I called McKay-Taggart to ask when he’ll be in the office. My call was transferred directly to Ian, which surprises me, and he was almost gleefully willing to help. He called me this morning, letting me know Shane is back in the office.
So here I am, following Ian down the hall. He pauses at the entrance of the same conference room where this all began. “Go easy on him,” Ian says, a grin on his face.