Page 46 of Rough Return

Not five minutes after Hamilton left, Jez walked in and plopped into the chair across her desk. “Ham is worried.”

Join the club. “He mentioned.”

“You been eating? Sleeping?”

“I eat and sleep.” Just not very well on either account.

“You’re not eating and you’re not sleeping and neither is he.” She leaned forward and put her elbows on the desk. “You miss him?”

“No.” Maybe a little. But more, she remained angry. Hurt.

Jez shook her head. Maybe she could see the tiny part of Fiona that lied. “Fi, you should talk to him.” Talk to him. Talk to him. Talk to him. What was she supposed to say to him? Talk about her feelings? Not while she had to work so hard to keep them from bubbling to the surface. But thank you very much for the advice.

“We’re fine. Just think of us as an old married couple.” And thanks to Sedotal’s cameras, everyone probably already knew what was or wasn’t between her and Grier. An old married couple with no secrets.

“One on the verge of divorce maybe.”

Divorce. Had he mentioned divorce? Fiona couldn’t think about it.

“Enough, okay.” Aside from not wanting to hear anymore, she just didn’t feel like hashing it out with anyone. Grier included.

Jez stood. “You’re gonna mess around and lose him.” At the door she stopped. “And you won’t have anyone to blame but yourself.”

Not the news flash Jez seemed to think. Also not newsworthy enough for Fiona to care to take action. She had a desk full of obligations. Grier could handle his, and she would handle hers.

She earned a five-minute reprieve before the man himself walked into her office and occupied her very popular today chair. Her head ached and Hamilton and Jez had already worn her patience thin. Not likely that in her mood, Grier could make it any better. But she tossed her pen onto the desk and sat back, fingers laced in her lap.

The old tingle vibrated through her, not as intense as before, but still there. She would have been annoyed, but it came with memories she couldn’t find it in herself to be bitter about.

“Hey.”

“Hi.” He didn’t look good. He needed a few weeks of sleep, a shave, maybe something warm to eat. They stayed silent staring at one another until finally, she looked away. “Grier, I have a lot to do.”

He nodded but remained seated. “You feeling okay?”

No. And she couldn’t quite figure out what exactly she could do to feel better, but sitting here, in this room, staring at him damned sure didn’t offer any relief. “I’m fine.”

To his credit, he didn’t scoff. Only smiled. “Me, too.” Fiona couldn’t tell which was thicker—the tension or the awkwardness between them. “Bunch of worriers out there.” He jerked his thumb toward the door.

She nodded. “Yeah.”

“Maybe we should talk. We haven’t really…” He cleared his throat. “Had much time since…”

She didn’t want or need to talk. “It happened. It’s done. And I’m not worried about Sedotal or anyone getting to me. Hamilton has been staying in one of the rooms here so I’m safe.”

“Meaning you weren’t safe with me?” A flicker of hurt flashed in his eyes.

She didn’t answer, partly because she didn’t know what to say and partly because there wasn’t any point in starting a big fight. She just didn’t have one left in her.

“Look, Grier. I’m pregnant. If I look like crap”—which she did, although he’d never say—“it’s because I have a human growing inside me. It’s a little disorienting for my body. It doesn’t have anything to do with you or Tyler Sedotal or anything else.”

His mouth twitched. “Well, I look like shit because another man is protecting my wife when it should be me.” He sighed. “And it’s killing me.”

If he kept saying things like that, she would fall apart. She had to stay angry to keep the rest of her emotions quiet. At least until she could get her head straight, stop dreaming about Sedotal touching her, the kiss she’d been forced to give him, the gunshot she heard even when awake and that damned tattoo of his that looked more like a brand than ink.

“Grier, can we do this later? I have so much work. I have to figure out how to keep customers and… write checks…” She picked up a stack of unopened envelopes. “Days and days worth of mail to go through.”

“Tonight then?”