Page 78 of His Surrender
Emotion catches unexpectedly in my throat. “I miss you.”
“I know. I miss you too.”
A smile finally spreads across my face. “Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Come to New York.”
“I’ll text you when I leave on Friday.”
We say goodbye a minute later.
As I lower my phone onto the bed, I feel something I haven’t felt since Friday night.
Relief.
Not because anything between Dean and me is any less complicated, but because for the first time in days, I don’t feel like I’m carrying the confusion alone.
The apartment remains quiet around me.
In another hour, Liana will wake up, and Dean will walk into this kitchen.
Whatever version of him greets me this morning … at least now I know I have something to look forward to at the end of the week.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
DEAN
Another five days spent pretending I don’t notice the woman living in my home.
If someone had told me a month ago that I’d be restructuring my entire routine to avoid my nanny, I would’ve questioned their sanity.
Now … it’s become second nature.
I leave for work before Aubrey finishes her coffee. I stay in my home office longer than necessary after getting home when Liana goes to sleep.
When I hear her laughter from the family room, I find reasons to walk in the opposite direction.
It’s pathetic.
Distance was supposed to make this easier. Instead, every day somehow feels heavier than the last.
Louis eases the SUV into the slow crawl of Friday evening traffic, the city glowing outside my window as the sun begins its descent between the skyscrapers.
I loosen my tie, resting my elbow against the door.
Normally, by this point in the week, my mind would still be on work.
The board meeting that dragged twenty minutes longer than it should have. The acquisition Sawyer insists will double our market share.
Three emails waiting for my approval on something before Monday morning.
Instead … all I can think about is a quiet knock on my office door on Tuesday evening.
When I looked up from my laptop, Aubrey was standing in the doorway.
She didn’t step inside. She simply stood there with one hand resting on the doorframe, almost as though she wasn’t sure she was welcome anymore.
