“Does this mean we can stop pretending we’re not together,” I whispered to Elliot.
“Not like anyone bought it anyway. Apparently. But yes.”
Good. I brushed my lips over his, to see how it felt in public.
The whistle from somewhere in the room made my cheeks heat, but the kiss itself was as incredible as it was simple.
The three of us left the crew—my crew? That would take getting used to—to work, and stepped back into the hallway.
“Tell me when you need me in the office and I’ll be here, boss.” Elliot saying that didn’t make it any more real.
Judith held up a hand. “You can’t ask more than ten to twenty hours a week of him. I have to hold you to that.”
I snorted. “Sorry, but do you really think that’s going to happen?”
“If it’s more, just don’t tell me.” She sighed, resigned to the truth.
I looked at Elliot. “I trust you to set your own hours.”
“Great. Congrats everyone. Problems are all solved. If the two of you are doing something else, take it outside, the rest of us have work to do.” Judith shooed us away.
I walked Elliot down to his car. When we reached it, he gripped my shirt with both fists, leaned his back against the side of the SUV, and pulled me with him. I had to press my hands on the vehicle on either side of my head to keep my balance.
“I can’t believe we’re losing you.” It wasn’t true, but in a lot of ways it felt like it.
He shook his head. “I don’t think I could’ve gotten better, and I’m happy with what I did get.” He leaned in and pressed his mouth to mine. Kissing Elliot wasn’t new, but I couldn’t imagine it ever getting old. The heat that sped through me. The security.
“I’m happy it worked out,” he said when we broke apart. “And you earned this.”
I was about to dive in for another kiss when my phone chimed. As the new boss, I should probably make sure that wasn’t something critical. When I read the message, I frowned with curiosity. “It’s from Fallyn.Tell Elliot to check his messages. Tell him I mean it.”
“It’s on silent because of meetings.” Elliot grabbed his phone. He scrolled. “The only thing I have from her sayscall me.”
“You probably should, if she means it.”
“As soon as I’m home,” Elliot talked as he typed. He looked up at me when he was finished. “In case it hurts.”
Please, God, Don’t let it hurt.“I’m tired of it hurting.”
“Me too. Come by tonight?”
I grinned. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
I hated that he had to leave, but it helped that I knew he’d be back. It was probably selfish of me to hope that Elliot and Fallyn made things right too, but I was going to anyway.
34/
fallyn
This was a mistake. I shouldn’t be doing this. I needed to let Elliot go and be happy with what I had.
But Link’s voice was in my head.I know who he is behind the walls.And I’d seen glimpses of that too. On top of that, what I saw even when Elliot’s defenses were up wasn’t cruelty, but…
A man who was scared to open himself up.
Not that I’d tell him that. Or maybe I would. I didn’t know. What was I doing?
When my phone rang, I jumped. His name on the screen didn’t calm my racing pulse, but I answered anyway. “This is Fallyn.”