Page 16 of The Heart of a Capricorn (BLP Signs of Love #19)

When I woke up in Chauncey’s bed alone, I wasn’t surprised.

The previous night, he got called away by his boss, and when he came back, his mood was off.

I asked him what was wrong, and he told me he was okay, but I knew that was a lie.

Whatever it was had really bothered him because we didn’t even talk as much as we normally did.

Even the sex was different. He seemed distant and too quiet.

I was used to him talking to me during sex, but he didn’t utter a word.

The only thing I got was an occasional moan.

For a minute, I thought he didn’t enjoy it, but I knew that wasn’t the case.

Things had been going well, so his actions baffled me.

I couldn’t dwell on it for long because I had things to do.

I didn’t know if he planned on returning soon or not, but I wouldn’t be there when he did.

I got out of bed and headed to the bathroom.

I didn’t have everything I needed, so I only used the bathroom, washed my face, and brushed my teeth.

That was enough until I got back to my room.

I started to leave Chauncey a note, but since he didn’t have the courtesy to leave me one, I decided against it. That could have been a little petty, but it was whatever.

Since I didn’t know if I would come to his room again, I grabbed everything that had accumulated in here over the last week.

It was mainly a couple of my crossword puzzle books, my extra charger, and some pajamas.

I wasn’t trying to stay with him like that, so I kept my important things in my room.

It was only a couple of floors away, so it was nothing for me to get what I needed.

Once I had everything, I left Chauncey’s room and headed to mine. I thought maybe I would have run into him in the hallway, but that hadn’t happened. I didn’t have a missed call or text from him either. That added to my confusion.

It was still breakfast time, so when I reached my room, I showered and got ready for the day.

I settled on a pencil skirt paired with a capped-sleeved blouse and four-inch heels.

My outfit wasn’t necessary for the day, but I felt like I needed to look good on the outside to cover up what I felt on the inside.

Chauncey’s behavior made me feel as though I should fall back from him, but I wasn’t so sure that I could.

My feelings for him had drastically changed during the time we spent together, but I wasn’t the type to stay where I wasn’t wanted.

His lack of communication made me feel like he wasn’t trying to continue things with me.

At the same time, his actions, for the most part, said something different.

“What’s a girl to do?” I asked myself as I completed my look with a little makeup.

After I was satisfied with my look, I grabbed what I needed for the day and headed out.

When I stepped off the elevator, I ran into one of my coworkers.

“I see we had the same idea,” Shelly said when she neared me.

“Yes. I figured I had a little time to kill, and their breakfast is good. You look cute, by the way.” I complimented her on the black pantsuit she wore.

She did a little spin. “Thanks, girl. You look cute yourself.” She stopped and looked at me with squinted eyes. “Something looks different about you.” She tapped her chin with her index finger.

“Girl, ain’t nothing different but the day.”

Shelly shook her head. “No, it’s not that. You are glowing.”

I waved her off and walked toward the dining area. I might have a little makeup on, and I hardly wore any since we’d been in Vegas, but glowing, that wasn’t possible. My thoughts went to Chauncey, but after last night, I didn’t think I still carried the glow she talked about.

Shelly quickly caught up to me and grabbed a plate.

“You can try to ignore me if you want to, but I know what I see. I’m not going to press you for info, because you know that ain’t my style. I will say, it looks good on you, and whatever or whoever it is, keep it up.”

“Thank you.” I smiled and moved forward in the short line.

Breakfast was served buffet style, and there were a few people ahead of us.

I had to get two plates because I didn’t like syrup touching anything but my pancakes.

Once we got our food, we found an empty table. We got lucky because it was crowded in here, but a family had just vacated a spot.

On the way to the table, I stopped in my tracks when I saw Chauncey sitting at a table with Ciara. Seeing him wasn’t the thing that surprised me; it was what I heard him tell her.

He mentioned that he had to fly out in the morning because of a suspected threat on a flight from here heading to Atlanta, or something like that. I couldn’t hear everything over the thump in my heart.

Maybe that’s why he acted the way he did the night prior.

I knew what his job entailed, but hearing him have to do something so dangerous in real time had me scared.

“Lyric, are you good?” Shelly asked from the side of me, but I couldn’t respond.

I guess her saying my name alerted Chauncey and Ciara to my presence.

Ciara had a big smile on her face when she spotted me, but it quickly fell. Chauncey’s look was unreadable. Maybe he didn’t expect to see me here.

The worst-case scenario filtered through my head, and I didn’t care who was around. I put my plate on the table and moved closer to them.

“How could you?” I asked as my nostrils flared.

“Lyric. What’s going on?” Ciara inquired as she stood from her seat.

Chauncey gawked at me like he was stuck on stupid. Shelly stood next to me and rubbed my arm.

“Ask your brother.” I looked at Ciara, then back at Chauncey.

Ciara turned and addressed Chauncey. “What’s going on?”

Chauncey’s eyes were on me, but he responded to Ciara.

By now, multiple people in the dining area had focused their attention on us.

I hated that I let his actions get me out of character in public, but I was heated.

He had plenty of time to tell me what was going on.

Instead, he chose not to say anything and made me think I had done something wrong.

At least that was how I felt when he returned to his hotel room.

“C, I can’t get into it right now. Lyric, can we talk?”

I reared my head back. “Oh, now you want to talk. You could have talked to me last night. Or hell, even this morning.”

Chauncey stood and approached me.

“Lyric.” He reached for my arm, but I snatched away. “Can we go somewhere and talk? Everyone is watching us, and I know you don’t want to make a scene.”

“Fuck this!” I spat and stormed off.

I could feel the stares and hear the whispers, but I paid them no mind.

“Lyric!”

I heard Chauncey call me multiple times, but I ignored him. My eyes burned as I damn near stomped the whole way to the elevator and to my room.

It wasn’t until I entered my room and kicked my shoes off that I released my tears.

I sat on the couch in the living room area and put my head in my hands.

The issue wasn’t him not telling me the night before. My brain knew that he would have told me when he felt it was right. I could tell that him having to leave bothered him, so maybe he didn’t know how to tell me.

The bigger problem was the danger in this assignment, and it scared me. The only thing I could think of was losing him the way I lost Brice. My reaction showed me my feelings were deeper for Chauncey than I cared to admit.