Dating the Boss (Blue Harbor #2) - Jaclyn Osborn Page 0,48
abs. Wanna join?”
There was a pause. And then, “Are you really?”
The change in his tone gripped my heart. He sounded… sad.
“No,” I responded. “I’m at home. I was messin’ with you.”
Though it was barely audible, I heard him exhale. “You should go to bed. Sleep off the alcohol.”
“I miss you,” I said as my eyes filled with tears. “I know it was only a few days, but they meant so much to me, Daniel. I miss the way you smiled at me. How you held me in your arms at night as we lay in front of the fire.” I could’ve very well blamed it on the booze coursing through my veins, but everything I said was true. “I miss waking up to you.”
“Reed.” His voice cracked on my name. “Stop.”
“I’m sorry.” Tears spilled down my cheeks. “It’s just hard for me, and you aren’t even bothered. You’ve been so cold to me this week. It’s like you’re not even the same person.”
“You think it’s easy for me?” Daniel asked with a low growl. “You think I don’t miss you too?”
“Do you?”
“Of course I do.” He was quiet a moment. “And you’re right. The person I was this past week wasn’t me. But it was who I needed to be in order to keep you at arm’s length. I was able to let my guard down around you at the manor, and that doesn’t happen for me that often. Only my family gets to see that side of me.”
Daniel had not only smiled a lot during our snowed-in weekend, but he’d laughed too. A lot. He’d been playful and even adorable at times, like when he wanted me to play with his hair. Knowing he didn’t show many people that side of him made me feel special.
As if that did me any good now, though. The only way we could continue where we left off was if one of us quit our job. And throwing away a promising career for a relationship was the kind of shit stupid people did because it more often than not came back to bite them in the ass when the person they left their job for ended up cheating on them or dumping them.
“I lied when I said I was at the club when you called,” I said. “But I really did go there tonight.”
“Oh?” There was an edge of hardness to his voice.
“Yep. And a guy came on to me. A few guys actually.” I blew out a breath and tried to swallow down the tightness that had swelled up in my throat. “But I couldn’t do anything with them because all I could think about was you. You’re all I want.”
“Pop some Tylenol and go to bed,” Daniel said, back to his emotionless tone. “Sounds like you’ll have one hell of a hangover in the morning.”
He was a master at avoiding conversation or steering it in another direction. It hurt like hell. Drunk or not, I had laid myself bare for him. His refusal to even address it stung.
I curled to my side and stared out the window, holding the phone to my ear. “Good night, Daniel.”
He breathed into the phone, and I waited for him to say something. Anything. Seconds passed. And then the call disconnected.
I tossed my phone on the mattress beside me. “Well, fuck you too.”
But damn if my belly didn’t flutter when I heard the ding of a text shortly after. I snatched it back up, hoping Daniel had messaged to say in text what he couldn’t over the phone.
Harry: Hey, stranger. Wat’s up???
“Ugh.” I tossed my phone back down and pulled the blanket over my head. I didn’t want to talk to Harry or any other guy. I just wanted to be alone.
Because that was another flaw of mine. When I liked a guy—like really liked him—I didn’t want anyone else.
Chapter Twelve
Daniel
“That’s it.” Regina slammed her empty glass on the table after downing the contents and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “You need to stop moping around, or I swear to god, I will smite you.”
“Smite me? What are you, some cheesy comic book villain?” I took a drink of beer and moved my gaze throughout the restaurant. We’d gone to Mike’s Bar & Grill, one of my favorite places to eat when I wanted a good burger. The interior was open and bright, and the bar area had high-top tables and large TV screens, almost like a sports bar but more upscale.