Page 91 of Exchange of Heart

‘You found the umbrella?’ Corey widened my brown eyes in excitement.

‘No. But your father complimented me. Well, you. But me. Me in your body. The brain which I’m not sure belongs to—’

‘You’re not making any sense,’ Corey interrupted.

I took a dramatic breath in and out to convey my commitment to starting again. ‘Your father said, and I quote, “You’re doing well, Son”.’

‘Okay…’ Corey didn’t sound as excited as I’d expected.

‘Okay? Corey, he’s proud of you.’

‘No, he isn’t. He’s proud of you.’

‘What?’ My mind raced at the realisation.

Corey’s right. His father was proud of me, not him. As much as I wanted to revel in the delight of excelling at his job, I couldn’t stop worrying about how this made Corey feel. He’d spent years being made to feel worthless while working a job he didn’t even enjoy, all because he thinks his brothers’ lives are worth more than his own. The last thing he wanted to hear was that I’d been doing a job his father was proud of instead of him.

‘I’m sorry. I didn’t really think about it.’

The email Craig had sent Corey after the meeting last week became even more appealing. Perhaps I should consider an opportunity from him once I got my body back. He’s obviously impressed with my work as me.

‘It’s great, Nora. Really. Now you’ve got the confirmation you were searching for. You’re destined for more than your regular job.’

‘Yeah, I guess so.’ My excitement crawled underground to fester with earthworms. Not to mention it also meant I’d been right about being as deserving as him like I’d always suspected.

‘Well, I’d better get back. Izzy challenged me to see who could make Freddie cry first.’

‘What?’ My voice came out louder than expected.

‘I hid the new coffee mug he brought in this morning. His mum had one made with “World’s Best Senior Financial Analyst”.’

I snorted.

‘And Izzy’s been moving this creepy looking doll around his office all day. She even brought in a few extras in case he threw it outside in the trash.’

‘That’s terrible.’ I laughed.

‘He’s terrible,’ Corey countered.

I wasn’t going to argue with him. Freddie deserved everything he got. ‘All right, well, I’ll see you this afternoon, then.’

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Corey

‘I made you tea.’ I held out the mug as she walked to the kitchen from the bathroom.

Her eyes glistened as her gaze darted from the mug to me.

‘Hey.’ I placed the mug on the counter and cupped her hands inside mine. ‘It’s all going to be okay.’ Even I couldn’t ignore the forced enthusiasm injected into my words.

‘Okay? Living like this is going to be okay?’ She ran her hands up and down her body.

Living with stolen glances at someone I can’t be with sucked, but the only other option was not seeing her at all. ‘We need to take our mind off it. The last two weeks have been hardcore, it’s time to relax,’ I said.

‘Relax?’ The pitch of Nora’s voice increased, causing her deep man voice to crack.

‘Sleep over. In the living room. We’ll drag a mattress out, build a fort around it, watch TV, you can read your little books about being a man.’