When they take your land, you’ll have to spend more of your paycheck on rent.”
“I’ll make it work.”
“Anna, just let me help you. I know it doesn’t make up for what happened, but I want to do this. Please,” he pleaded.
I wanted to tell him no, but it felt like he needed this to let go of some of the guilt. And honestly, I didn’t want him to feel guilty. I had moved on from our past, and I wanted him to be able to also. He didn’t need to live with this hanging over his head.
“Fine, but only enough to help me with my down payment.”
I could tell he wanted to argue. He wanted to pay for the whole house, but I couldn’t accept that much money. He nodded. “Alright, enough to help with the down payment.”
I smiled, wanting to end this on a good note. “Alright. Thank you. I appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome.”
I leaned forward against my better judgement and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. “You’re a good man, Robert.”
He cupped my cheek before I could pull away. “Just not good enough for you,” he said, his voice a low grumble. I stared into his eyes, wanting to tell him he was wrong, but also not wanting to give him hope. He blinked and looked away, breaking the spell between us. I shifted back into my seat and opened the door, stepping outside.
“I’ll see you later.”
He nodded and waited as I walked into my house. When the door was shut, I heard the roar of his engine as he drove away. I leaned back against the door and sighed. I wished things could be different. I wished that I could go back and change what happened between us. Maybe things would have worked between us. Maybe everything would have been different.
My phone was incessantly ringing, but my brain wouldn’t wake up fully. I fumbled for my phone, knocking it on the floor. I finally found it under my bed and answered it as it rang again.
“Hello?” I grumbled.
“Anna,” Robert’s panicked voice came through the phone. “I need you in the city now!”
“What?” I asked in confusion, glancing at the clock on my nightstand. “It’s not even six.”
“I know. Rebecca’s husband found out that she came to see us. We need to do damage control now. Rebecca’s on her way into the office and she expects you to be there.”
I sat up suddenly, all sleep fleeing my body. I ran to the bathroom, tripping over my clothes that I had left on the floor last night and fell into my dresser.
“Ouch,” I shouted as my shoulder connected with the corner of the dresser.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” I grumbled, rolling over and holding my shoulder. “How long do I have?”
“She’s on her way to the office now.”
I could hear the urgency in his tone, so as much as I wanted to ice my shoulder, I got up and rushed into the bathroom. My god, my hair was a nightmare and I had bags under my eyes from lack of sleep. There was no way I would be presentable in time.
“Robert-“
“Just hurry.”
He hung up and I quickly brushed my teeth, ran a brush through my hair and pulled it back, then pulled on the most presentable clothes I could find. I ran out the door, barely remembering to pull shoes on. I was halfway to Chicago when I realized that I needed to call Eric and let him know that I would be out for at least part of the morning.
“You’d better not be calling in sick,” he said, his voice gruff.
I winced and tried to think of how to best phrase this. “It’ll only be for a few hours.”
“You work for me.”
“I know, but Robert needs me to-“
“I need you to be in the office. I had nobody to deal with Mrs. Cranston yesterday. My ass is all over her Facebook page again.”
“Look, you’re just going to have to face the fact that women like to see you working. You have a nice body and that’s what the people want to see.”
“Are you hitting on me?” he asked suddenly.
“No!” I exclaimed. “I’m just saying, you’re a man. Suck it up and deal with it. I’ll call you as soon as I’m done in the office.”
“The office? Now you have another office?”
“Look, I’ll take care of this. I promise. I’ll have donuts tomorrow morning for you.”
“I don’t even like donuts,” he grumbled.
“Yes, you do. You always sneak mine when you think