asleep on the couches in the waiting room. So he’d been the only one to see the expression in the doctor’s eyes when he’d come in to talk to them—an expression very similar to the one in Ellie’s landlord’s eyes.
“No,” Garek said again.
But this time his voice emerged a harsh, cracked whisper.
“I always thought he was a jerk,” Robbie growled. “You should have let me smash his face that first time—”
“Robbie!” Ellie shifted on the dingy couch in his apartment. Her back still ached from sleeping on its springless cushions and she had a headache from Robbie’s cologne, which he had a tendency to apply too heavily. She was in no mood to listen to his threats. “I need advice, not violence. I need logic and common sense.”
“And you came to me?” Robbie, sitting on the couch next to her, dumped some more salsa on the cold taco he was eating for breakfast. A diced tomato flew into the air and landed on the prenuptial agreement lying on the coffee table next to his plate. “Hmm, well…” He grimaced. “You need to talk to your grandfather. He would know about this kind of stuff.”
“No.” Ellie brushed the tomato off the document and frowned at the slight red stain left on the paper. “I can handle this myself.”
“But you can’t,” Robbie pointed out with impeccable logic. “Otherwise, you wouldn’t have asked me for advice.”
Ellie glared at him while he chomped on his taco. Yesterday, she’d just wanted a place where she could think without having to explain everything. But this morning, she wanted to talk about it—she wanted advice.
“You know, Ellie,” Robbie said, swallowing a large bite, “I don’t think you can really blame the guy for trying to protect his company.”
“I don’t. Not exactly. It’s just…” She paused, struggling to put her feelings into words.
“It’s just what?” Robbie asked.
“It’s just that Garek has obviously put a lot of thought and time and consideration into his company.” She swallowed the sudden lump in her throat. “I just wish he’d spare the same thought and time and consideration for me.”
Robbie sighed. “Look, if the guy doesn’t love you, he’s an idiot and you should dump him.”
“I think he does love me. I just don’t think he knows how to love me.”
“He’s a virgin?” Robbie glanced down at his limptaco. “Well, if you want me to give him a few pointers—”
“No, that’s not what I mean,” Ellie said. “I mean he doesn’t know how to have a relationship. I don’t think he knows how to discuss things, how to compromise, how to allow himself to be vulnerable.”
A doubtful look crossed Robbie’s face. “Does any guy know how to do those things?”
“Maybe not.” Ellie felt aburning behind her eyes. The sad thing was that she suspected that if Garek ever let down his guard, he would be more than capable of all those things—and much, much more. But it would take a long time for her to breach the walls he’d erected around himself. If she were lucky, in five or ten years, maybe—maybe—he would actually admit that he loved her.
Was she just wasting her time?
That’s what she needed to know.
She never should have come to Robbie. She should have called Martina. Or Aunt Alma. Robbie was hopeless when it came to advice. He’d never had the least bit of common sense. He never let logic, or anything else, get in the way of his feelings.
But then again, maybe that was exactly the answer she was looking for.
Chapter Sixteen
Garek sat at his desk, staring blearyeyed at the paper in front of him, the words running together in an unintelligible mess. He’d been trying to read it for the last hour, but his aching eyes and pounding head refused to cooperate. It was almost four o’clock in the afternoon and he still hadn’t heard from Ellie. He’d told Mrs. Grist not to put any call through unless it was from her. So far, the phone had been completely silent.
He yanked at his tie, then pulled it off completely. He rose to his feet and paced around the room, rubbing his unshaven jaw. He’d left a note at her apartment. “You don’t have to sign anything,” he’d scrawled hastily. “Call me.” Her landlord had promised to give it to her when she came back for her suitcases.
Garek had gone home after that, but he hadn’t been able to sleep, so he’d come to the office. He had plenty of work to do.