Maverick pulled out his keycard from the retractable lanyard clipped to his belt, waving it at one of the doors at the far end of the hall. The lock disengaged audibly. Maverick let go of his keycard, letting it snap back against his belt before pushing the door open.
“After you.”
She couldn’t help but smile a little.
His office was actually a lot different than she expected. It was more on the cozy side, with only a few pieces of furniture scattered around. On the far side was a set of windows that faced out to the cityscape, giving the place nice natural lighting.
When Maverick closed the door behind them, he set his lab coat and goggles on his desk.
“You want anything in particular?” His hand hovered over the corded phone.
Pilar shook her head, heading over to the windows. “I’m not picky.”
She crossed her arms over her chest, listening to him pick up the phone and dial whatever local restaurant for delivery while she looked out onto the streets below. It was busy today with cars and people traveling back and forth in quick succession.
She’d always liked the hustle and bustle of living in the city, but she’d always found it to be rather lonely after a while. Since she and her sister had been on their own since she’d been a teenager, life had always kind of felt that way … no matter how much she’d tried to fill the space.
“Pilar?”
Startled out of her thoughts, she turned to see Maverick hovering over her. She hadn’t even heard him set the phone down, let alone cross his office over to her.
I’m getting too comfortable around him.
“You all right? You looked lost in thought.”
She waved her hand at him, turning back to the windows to try and cover up how awkward she felt. She hated getting into a melancholy mindset in front of people. It always ended in her embarrassing herself.
There was a tension-filled quietness that descended over them, much like the one in the car when she’d opened up about her sister and had expected him to do the same.
She rubbed her hand along the side of her neck, clearing her throat.
“Order anything good?”
He blinked at her. “Oh. Yeah, I hope you like it. It’s a local eatery down the street. Good food.”
She nodded at the vagueness in his words. Clearly, both of them were bad at trying to ignore the elephant in the room.
“Hey, Pilar?”
She raised a brow at him. “Yes?”
He shifted awkwardly on his feet, tugging at the bottom of his shirt before looking at her again. “I wanted to say thank you. For last night.”
She stared at him for a long moment, surprised by his words. “You don’t need to thank me.”
“I want to,” he said firmly. “You really don’t know how much your words meant. I really needed to hear them. I know that you’re just my bodyguard but thank you for being there for me when I needed someone.”
His smile made her gut tighten. She could feel her lioness clawing at her resolve for her mate standing right in front of her and saying such sweet things. How did other shifters deal with this? It felt like an impossible feeling to ignore.
“You’re welcome … Maverick.”
His smile widened. “You sure you’re okay?”
She sighed. “Uh-oh … I know those eyes.”
She nudged him with her shoulder gently, shaking her head. “I’m really not one to get into morose detail about things.”
Pilar felt a strong hand find its way onto her arm, following with a gentle squeeze. “I would never judge you, Pilar. I mean that.”