“Story of my life,” Charlie said, with an easy grin.
The three of them chatted for a few moments until Cade mentioned that he needed to get back to the office for a conference call.
“Bummer. I think I’ll play hooky awhile longer,” Charlie said, gesturing to the sun-drenched plaza.
“I didn’t realize they let bands play here,” Zach said.
“You can’t beat this city in the summer.” Charlie shook his head and sighed. “I don’t know what Brooke is thinking with this Charlotte deal. It’s sounds like a great job opportunity, but she can’t be seriously considering moving to a city where she’ll have to root for the Panthers.” He shuddered, then looked at Cade. “You need to work your magic, Morgan, and convince her to stay.”
Cade stood there, completely caught off guard as Charlie’s words sunk in.
Brooke was thinking about moving, but she hadn’t said one word to him about it.
A wave of disappointment rose up inside him, a sharp jab in the chest, but he immediately, fiercely crushed it.
That was . . . just fine.
Good for her. Really. If this job, whatever it was, was that great of an opportunity, she should take it. He’d seen her in action; she was an incredible lawyer—she deserved an opportunity like this.
Sure, obviously, this development came as a bit of a surprise to him, especially since he and Brooke seemed to be getting close lately. But it also served as a quick reminder that perhaps they’d been getting a little too close.
And he didn’t do too close.
Too close, in his opinion, was for the naïve. Too close was for people who got caught up in a moment with someone, without acknowledging the very real possibility that all the feelings and emotions that made the moment so great and perfect were entirely one-sided. So if Brooke had somehow managed to get in, to be on the verge of too close, then that, unfortunately, meant one thing.
It was time for him to say good-bye.
He and Zach left Charlie to enjoy the concert, and then walked in silence for a few moments.
“You didn’t know about the job offer, did you?” Zach asked quietly.
Cade stared at the stoplight ahead. “No.”
And, being brothers, they left it at that.
Twenty-nine
BROOKE CHECKED THE clock and began to wonder whether Cade was going to show up after all.
She’d texted him earlier, asking if they could meet. He’d said he needed to work late, but that he would swing by her apartment afterward. That had been over three hours ago, and she hadn’t heard from him since.
She planned to tell him tonight about the job opportunity with Spectrum. She was still shocked by Palmer’s offer, and hadn’t yet made any decisions. On the one hand, she hadn’t been looking to leave Sterling, but on the other hand, they were talking about a position where she’d earn $825,000 a year. She’d have be a fool not to seriously consider that.
Since Monday, she’d done a lot of thinking about what to say to Cade, and in the end had decided to simply go with the truth. Unless she was completely misreading the situation, they’d crossed beyond just-having-fun territory and had wandered into true, genuine feelings, and so she owed him that much.
She liked Cade; she didn’t deny that. But whether it was at Sterling—or more likely, Spectrum—her career needed to come first right now. After all her hard work, and with the opportunities available to her, she needed to stay focused on that. To keep her eye on the proverbial ball.
Knowing that, however, wouldn’t make this conversation with Cade any easier. But he, too, was a logical person, and they’d been honest from the beginning about their relationship hang-ups. If they kept going down this path, it would only lead to bigger disappointment in the end.
This was for the best.
Just before nine thirty, Brooke heard a knock at her door. Cade flashed that charming grin of his when she answered, the same one that had caught her eye the moment they’d first met at Sterling.
“Sorry I’m so late,” he said. “I got caught up in a witness interview that ran a lot longer than expected. Plus I had to make a stop on the way here.”
“It’s fine, I caught up on e-mail,” she said with a wave. “You know me—always something to do.”
He shut the door behind him. “I heard that congratulations are in order, Ms. Parker.”
Brooke cocked her head, not sure what he could be talking about since she hadn’t yet told