Egomaniac - Vi Keeland Page 0,98

chance. I’d fucked up—I could place blame on a million experiences in my life, but the truth of the matter was I’d fucked up. And I was about to start fixing it.

There was an out of order sign in front of two of the elevators in her building. I stood in front of the lone functioning one, tapping my foot as I watched the numbers come down over the doors. It stuck on nine for thirty seconds, then stopped at eight for just as long. I don’t have time for this. I’d already wasted enough time. Looking around, I saw the sign for the stairs and broke into a jog. My heart pounded as I took them two at a time up to the third floor.

Then I was standing in front of Emerie’s door, and it dawned on me for the first time that I had no idea what I was going to say. Two hours on the plane, and I hadn’t come up with an opening statement. Good thing I’m a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of guy when it comes to oral arguments.

I took a deep breath, steadied myself, and knocked.

When the door opened, I realized how completely unprepared I was.

Because it was Baldwin staring at me from inside.

Chapter 45

Drew

“Where’s Emerie?”

“She’s getting dressed. We have a breakfast meeting at the college to attend this morning. Not that it’s any of your business.”

Professor Putz was still standing inside, and I was the one out in the hall. The symbolism ate at me. I brushed past him and went into Emerie’s apartment.

“Sure, come on in,” he mumbled, sarcastically.

I turned to face him, folding my hands across my chest. “Now leave.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“I need to speak to Emerie alone, so I would appreciate it if you would disappear.”

He shook his head. “No.”

My brows lifted. I didn’t think the peckerhead had it in him. If it were any other time, I might’ve been impressed with his tenacity. But right now, it just annoyed the shit out of me.

I took a step forward. “You can either leave on your own, or I’ll help you leave. Either way, you’re leaving. What’s it gonna be?”

Finding I wasn’t playing around, he took the smart route and opened the door. “Tell Emerie I’ll see her at school later.”

“Yeah. I’ll be sure to give her the message.” I gave the door a shove, slamming it closed on his heels.

Turning around, I found Emerie’s living room cluttered with office furniture. The place barely had enough room for a couch and chair before. Now it was also filled with a desk, office chairs, file cabinets, computer equipment, and everything else from her office.

The door to her bedroom creaked, and Emerie walked out, looking down as she scrolled through something on her phone.

“I pulled up the psychology department bios on the college’s website. Tell me again who we’re meeting? I’m so bad with names.”

My answer stopped her in her tracks. “It’s just me and you.”

Emerie’s head whipped up, and she blinked a few times as if she were imagining the man standing in her living room.

“Drew. What are you doing here?” She looked beyond me. “And where’s Baldwin?”

“Gone.”

“Gone where?”

I looked down at my feet for a minute, then caught her in my gaze. There was a crushing sensation in my chest as I found the same sadness that loomed inside of me behind her eyes.

My voice was low and hoarse. “Do you love him?”

She stared at me for long seconds, the wheels in her head turning. I held my breath the entire time. Finally, she shook her head.

Thank God.

That was all I needed to hear. Anything and everything else we could work out. I could make her forgive me, she could learn to trust me again, but I couldn’t make her not be in love with another man. She was still standing in her bedroom doorway, and suddenly there was way too much space between us. I stalked over to her, not giving a shit if it was a caveman move. The overwhelming urge to touch her outweighed any need for etiquette.

She didn’t move. With every step I took, my heartbeat grew faster. She still didn’t move when I reached out, cupped her face in my hands, and slowly brushed my lips against hers, testing the waters. Taking that as a green light, or at least not a bright red flashing one, I went back for more. Planting my lips over her mouth, soft went out the window, and I kissed her hard.