Page 54 of My Office Rival (Keep Your Enemy Closer #2)

CYNTHIA

T ell me what you want me to do. I stared at him in shock. He needed me to tell him.

“Would you ever move to a town like Booth?” I asked.

He swallowed and his eyes flicked away. “No,” he said roughly. “I need the anonymity of the city.”

My stomach dipped. He wouldn’t fight his demons for me. I wasn’t enough.

“Cynthia. You know that. I told you.”

I squeezed my eyes shut. Just like you told me you only do one night. I wasn’t even sure what I was asking for. All I knew was his rejection would be more than I could bear.

“You did,” I said, my voice breaking. With jerky movements, I grabbed my phone and my suitcase.

“You’re leaving?”

“I think I should go home,” I said, my throat starting to clog. Oh no, I need to get out of here. “I’ll, uh, see you, Jason.” Would I? I stumbled down the hall where we’d undressed each other that first night, into the elevator where he’d kissed me like he needed me to live.

Jason didn’t call out to me, didn’t ask me to return. Why couldn’t he take just one tiny step toward me ?

I took a cab to my empty apartment and walked in a daze through the dim light into my bedroom. The king-sized bed with the handwoven quilt was a beacon of comfort. I stripped off my clothes and got under the covers.

Mistake. I was alone with my thoughts. I squeezed my eyes shut to keep the tears from coming.

I can’t believe how fast that all went up in flames.

Jason was never going to change, never going to take that leap from being Mr. One Night to being something more.

I could have sworn he’d been sad when I told him I was leaving New York, but no, he’d been fine.

The small talk and the way he had calmly eaten his dinner after my revelation—it made me want to scream.

The way he had toasted me . The way he had asked what he needed to do.

As if I should beg him. I dug my nails into my palms.

I texted Margo, not sure I could talk on the phone right now.

Cynthia

I told him. No reaction. He doesn’t care.

I hit send and let my face crumple, let a few tears leak out around the edges.

She responded immediately.

Margo

WTF… He’s an idiot.

I had to smile at that. Margo was my number one supporter.

Margo

What did he say??

Cynthia

He toasted my departure.

Toasted me when I wanted someone to beg me not to go, to offer to come with me, even though he was terrified. I wanted him to offer to wrestle his demons for me, to be brave for me, to fight for me.

Margo

Toasted you? I will kill him

Cynthia

I need to forget about him. I’m accepting the job offer tomorrow.

Margo

I’m excited for you!

Also, I want to be there when you give notice so I can see Gerald’s face

I smirked at that. It was going to feel really good to get out of there. Now that I had decided to leave, I felt free. And I ignored the part of my brain that reminded me of Jason’s part in encouraging me to take this job.

As I got ready for bed, I saw him texting me. Three little dots. They came and went, until they disappeared completely. Coward.

I had seen the man behind the mask for a few glorious weeks, and now, we would go back to being colleagues, opposing counsel, nothing more.