“Oh, okay.”
“We’ll see you later, Mrs. Bennet.”
“You two have fun.”
Kinley waved at the older lady as the elevator doors closed. “You’ll tell me if me being with you starts to bug you, won’t you, Eli?”
He smoothed down her hair. “Baby, that’s not going to happen. In fact, I’d really like to get a desk for you in the office.”
“In your office?”
“Yes. There’s plenty of space.”
“Really?”
He laughed at the disbelief in her tone. “Really.”
He started sweating when she didn’t say anything. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you? If not, we’ll figure something else out.”
They walked off the elevator, and she still hadn’t said anything. He finally stopped her outside the building. When he saw the tears, his heart dropped.
“I’m sorry, honey. The last thing I want is to make you sad.”
She smiled, sniffed back her tears, and laid a hand on his chest. “You didn’t. In fact, the opposite is true. I’ve never had my own space here. I go from office to office and sit in the lounge if there’s nothing for me to do.”
He pulled her into his arms. “I’m sorry. I know that it had to be discouraging.” A woman like her needed stability, and she hadn’t had it for a long time. He was determined to give her everything she needed.
She nodded, rested against him, and put her small hands on his waist.
He pressed a kiss to the top of her head and held her until the lunch crowd started to bump into them.
“Let’s get going.”
She nodded and took the hand he held out to her.