a few seconds later, Casey greeted me at the exit.” He shook his head, smiling. “I should have known she would jump to that conclusion. Now that I think about it, you should have seen her face. Anyway, Sienna is dating someone.”
I laughed. “Well, now, Casey thinks that someone is you.”
I finished off the rest of my fantabulous meal, stuffing my last bite in my mouth. The flakiness of the crust was divine.
The corner of his mouth tipped upward. “Did you not like it?”
I laughed because he was being sarcastic. “It was delicious-mondo. Is there anything you can’t do?”
His smile fell. “Ask me in a few months.”
He was nervous about the rebranding.
“We’ve got this in the bag. No doubt.” I stood and placed his plate on top of mine before making my way to the sink.
He followed right behind me “Charlie, just leave it.”
“Nope. You cooked. I’m cleaning. This is how domestic relationships work.”
I placed the plates on the counter and turned on the sink, but he flipped it off and turned me to face him.
“Is that what we’re in now? A domestic relationship?”
I should have caught my words earlier, but it’d slipped out so naturally. I swallowed. “I mean … I mean, temporary domestic relationship.” I smiled, but it didn’t seem genuine because there was a direct disconnect between what was happening in my head and heart.
He was leaving, and that left an intense ache in my chest.
I pushed his hands off of me and turned the sink back on, sudsing up the sponge and cleaning the dishes. “I mean, that’s all this can be, right?”
There was silence between us—an awkward silence. It was so silent that I wondered if he could hear my heartbeat thrashing in my chest.
Why couldn’t I just accept what this was and not want more? There had been an agreement before we started this arrangement, and I was breaking all my rules now by feeling.
His arms wrapped around my waist, and he rested his chin on my shoulder. “Did you get my present today in the break room?”
I turned to face him, and there was this sly, secretive smirk on his face.
“Present?”
“The chips and cookies on the table. We’re going to start offering them to our employees too.”
I scrunched my face, confused.
“I told our café managers that I’m getting rid of our vending machines.”
I blinked, still beyond confused. “Thank you?”
“I remembered what you said before …” His voice trailed off. “About not liking chocolate because it reminds you of when your dad was sick. Getting chocolate from the vending machines.”
My heart seized as he brought back the memories.
“And I know I can’t help the chocolate part because that’s what this company is made of … but I don’t want anything else bringing up unhappy memories … even when I’m not around anymore.”
My voice was as soft as a whisper. “So, you got rid of the vending machines?”
He nodded, and tears welled up behind my eyes. Full-blown emotions hit me in the chest.
And in that moment, that tiny moment, staring into his liquid chocolate-brown eyes, I knew in my heart that I could fall for this man, if I wasn’t there already.
“When we’re together, we’re happy, okay? Because we don’t have an endless amount of time left.”
I nodded and let out a long sigh, and when I did, he turned off the sink, flipped me around, dried off my hands, and threaded both of his hands through my hair, bringing me closer.
“If we keep dwelling on the fact that I’m leaving, we’ll both feel miserable and waste time, feeling miserable. When I’m here, I’m dead set on making the most of our time together, making you happy.”
Our eyes locked, and in the first time in forever … I felt an utter desolation of the future because I was going to miss him terribly. Though we hadn’t known each other long, I knew I’d never—before Connor—felt like this toward another human being. This intense connection. I’d had love before but not passion like this.
I peered up at him, and the only consolation I got was the hope that he was feeling the same. “You said we.”
His eyebrows wrinkled.
“You said, ‘We’ll both feel miserable.’ ”
He smiled then, but it was a sad smile. “It’s not just you, Charlie. I wish I could slow down time. I wish things were different, but my life”—he exhaled—“it’s in New York. My apartment. My job. My friends.”
A little voice in my head said, But I’m here.
“And, yes, we. I’m going to