to eat those all the time and never have trouble fitting into our jeans?”
Robert looked at his wife. “Please don’t leave me, baby. I’ll drown myself in our son’s syrup if you do.”
Miriam laughed and put her hand over her husband’s. “Nobody is leaving. Kathryn just needs to vent and fantasize. Don’t you, Kathryn?”
“Fantasize. Sure.”
Robert watched me uneasily and I took a little bit of pleasure out of the worried look in his eyes before diving back in to finish my pancakes and stretch the waistband of my leggings.
Chapter 34
Ethan
Caroline looked up from the work she was doing behind her desk when the elevator doors opened with a soft chime. I stepped out into the lobby and gave my jacket a tug to straighten it before pausing beside the blue velvet furniture to collect my composure.
It was a big morning.
The Christmas Market event and the gala had been high-pressure moments for me this past month. There had been a lot at stake on both occasions and I’d gone into them with only the hint of nerves gnawing at my thoughts.
But now as I stood here preparing to go straight through the office to Kathryn’s office to offer her an apology I’d rehearsed over and over again in my head, the nerves were more than a hint. They were all-consuming.
My stomach rolled and my fingertips tingled. My tongue was sandpaper against the roof of my mouth and the nape of my neck had begun to sweat on the elevator ride up. It felt like the stakes were so much higher for this conversation than either of the campaign events this month.
A woman had never made me feel this on edge.
Caroline cleared her throat to get my attention and smiled pleasantly when she had it. “Good morning, Mr. Collinder. I mean Ethan,” she added hastily. “How was your weekend?”
I approached her desk and leaned one elbow on it before raking my fingers through my hair. “Not that great, if I’m being honest. I spent most of it worrying. How about yours?”
Caroline blinked up at me. “My boyfriend and I went skiing.”
“That’s nice. What mountain?”
“Grouse,” she said slowly. “Is everything okay? Can I help you with anything?”
I gave my head a shake before pausing. “No, no, I’m all right. I just have to have a conversation this morning that I’m kind of worried is going to go the exact opposite way of what I want.”
“With Jon?”
“Kathryn.”
“Oh.” She pursed her lips together before glancing over her shoulder to peer into the depths of the office toward the open door of Kathryn’s private one. “She’s been here since seven thirty. Don’t tell her I told you this but she seems a little off her game this morning. Distracted. That’s terribly unlike her, isn’t it?”
“Off her game how?”
“I don’t know.” Caroline shrugged weakly as she turned back to me. Her swivel chair creaked softly as she pulled herself under the desk and rested her elbows on either side of her keyboard. “Just off. Subdued. I mean, she’s not the most social butterfly in the office, but this morning, she just walked straight in without even looking up at me. Did something happen with the campaign?”
“No, the campaign is fine. Kathryn and I just had a disagreement.”
“Oh.” Caroline laughed and relaxed a little. “Well, when aren’t you two having a disagreement? You guys are like orange juice and toothpaste.”
For the first time that morning, I smiled. “Yeah, I suppose we are.” I rapped my knuckles on her desk. “Wish me luck. I’m going to get this over with.”
“Good luck.”
I moved from reception through the office. I wove through a couple of desks before reaching Kathryn’s door, which I found slightly open. I knocked, nudged it open a couple of more inches, and poked my head in.
“Kathryn?”
Her office was empty. Her bag sat on the floor beside her desk and there was paperwork flipped open in front of her keyboard. The lights were on, and the blinds were open, and it smelled like her perfume. It smelled like summer.
But she wasn’t there.
Damn it.
I considered hanging around and waiting for her to come back. I assumed she had either gone to the restroom, break room, or Jon’s office, and none of those places would keep her for longer than ten or fifteen minutes. I could sit around and wait until she returned and we could have the dreaded conversation.
Or I could spare myself looking like a fool in front of my colleagues by hanging around aimlessly for Kathryn, and