Chapter 17
Money, money, moneeeyyyy!” Chloe was singing and waving a fan of envelopes in front of her face. “We have checks, mamasita!”
“This is why I pay you the big bucks.” Isa finished stirring the cream into her cup of coffee and took a sip. “I’m not adept in convincing past-dues to pony up.”
Chloe frowned.
“What?”
“You okay?” Chloe dropped the envelopes on her desk, then turned back to Isa, hazel eyes assessing.
“Sure, why?” Isa shrugged. She was okay. She felt okay.
Kind of okay.
Her assistant wrinkled her nose. “It’s the boy, isn’t it? Cranky Crane did something horrible over the weekend and it being Monday, I don’t know what it is yet. Boys suck.”
“He didn’t do anything.” Isa let out a weak laugh. Wasn’t that the truth? She’d fallen in love with him; he’d remained unchanged.
“Isa.” Chloe’s eyes bled sincerity, Talk to me, written in their depths. But then she offered her own theory. “You’re in love with him, aren’t you?”
“Pfft!” Isa started to lie her way out of that but her smile chipped at the corners. With a sigh, she set aside her coffee mug aside and sagged against the wall by the door. Sable Concierge was empty, the phones turned off for lunch. Might as well spill her guts.
“I’m in love with him,” Isa admitted. Saying it out loud made it realer than before. Scarier too.
“Of course you are.”
“You’re not surprised?”
Chloe shrugged.
“I haven’t dated anyone in three years and then the absolutely wrong guy comes along and I fold like an origami goose.”
“Since you started working for him, even when he was pissing you off, you have floated around here like you were wearing hover-board high heels. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen you this happy and I’ve worked with you closely for most of those three years. You were determined to take Eli on as a client and walk away. The thing is, you never walked away.”
“I couldn’t.” She could have, but she sure as hell hadn’t wanted to.
“You look…” Chloe tilted her head and studied Isa. “Well, not sad, but definitely not hover-board happy.”
“There’s a reason for that.” A good one. “Only one of us was bitten by the love bug.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah, oh. I didn’t tell him how I felt. If I did, he’d…I don’t know what he’d do.” Isa straightened her posture. “I’m trying to be casual and let things unfold.”
“You don’t want to pressure him.” Chloe’s tone was agreeable.
“He’s had enough pressure.” From Crystal pushing him to build a future with her he wasn’t prepared for, to losing the two friends who saved his life, to his family good-naturedly trying to help him at every turn.
“I’m a strong woman,” Isa said. “I can have an affair with a man and not build castles in the sky.”
“Yes, you can.” Again, Chloe’s comment was generic.
“But?”
“It’s not my place.”
“Chloe. I hope you know we’re friends.”