toward the two comfortable chairs in front of his meticulously organized desk and sat down.
When I looked back, Cynthia was gone.
Having a moment to myself, I grabbed a clean Kleenex from my bag and, holding it tightly in my hand, leaned back and closed my eyes, trying to calm myself down and give my wildly imaginative mind a break.
I couldn’t believe this was happening. I didn’t even know how many minutes had passed when the office door behind me opened and I looked over my shoulder. I wasn’t sure how or what I was feeling when Jack’s head lifted up from the phone in his hand and he noticed I was waiting there.
“Rose?” His brows snapped together in confusion as he paused with one foot through the doorway. “What are you doing here?”
I lifted my hand halfway up in a weak wave and then dropped it.
Cynthia appeared behind him, a little breathless. “I’ve been trying to catch up with you to tell you Rose was waiting for you. Do you want me to call George and push back that meeting?”
“Oh, no. Please don’t,” I cut in, standing up before he could answer her. “I just dropped by. I don’t want to mess up his schedule. I’ll leave.” I bent down and collected my bag from the floor. Keeping my eyes down and feeling like I was about to break down at any second now that Jack was actually standing in front of me, I tried to walk past him, but he used his body to block me and gently gripped my wrist before I could do anything else.
Jack turned his head toward Cynthia but kept his searching gaze on me. “Give us a few minutes before you do that, okay?”
“Of course.”
My eyes met Cynthia’s and she gave me a small smile right before Jack shuffled me inside and she closed the door on us.
“What’s wrong?” Jack asked as soon as it was just the two of us in the spacious office.
I pulled my hand away from his warm, gentle grip, massaging my wrist. Any kind of touching would just cause me to break down faster.
“Nothing. I just dropped by. I should leave.” I checked my watch and then set my gaze on his shoulder instead of his eyes. “It’s pretty late. Owen is covering for me with Sally, but I think I should head back so he can take off. So, I’m just gonna leave.”
Despite my repetitive words, I couldn’t make a move to leave, and Jack wasn’t getting out of my way anyway. A few seconds later, I felt two of his fingers gently tilt my chin up and remain there.
We looked at each other for a few heartbeats. I really was affected by the dream I’d had the night before. It still felt like there was something real between us, and it was quite possibly the worst time to feel the leftover effects of being in love with him—or, more accurately, the effects of him being in love with me.
“Tell me what’s wrong, Rose,” he said simply, his voice soft and worried. “Have you been crying?”
I winced a little then bit on the inside of my cheek as he waited patiently. “Just a little, but it’s nothing big. I just went to the doctor and—” My voice started breaking so I stopped.
“When? Why?” He let my chin go.
“Now. I mean I’m coming from the doctor’s office. I had an appointment. I wanted to get a spray or something for the allergies.” I touched my nose and his gaze followed. “For my nose. Obviously.” I smiled, but I didn’t think it reached my eyes.
“For the cold, right?”
Lately, I was always walking around with a Kleenex in my hand or had some nearby, just in case it started up when I wasn’t expecting it.
“Yes, the one-day sore throat and the…um, runny nose and the headaches. Anyway, it doesn’t feel like a normal cold. I feel completely fine if you don’t count the headaches and the nose issues, which is why I thought suddenly I’d become allergic to something. It’s like water dripping from my nose.” I let out a small groan and looked away. “Talking about my nose is not what I want to do with you at all.”
He ignored my discomfort. “I never saw you have any problems like that other than a few times.”
“That’s because it’s not dripping 24/7. Sometimes it’s okay if I’m standing up, but when I sit down, it starts dripping. Lying on my back