Page 40 of After We Fall

“Yes?”

“Come home.” His voice cracks, but he recovers. “Time has passed. He’s not that mad anymore.”

I breathe slowly and deliberately before I respond. “His feelings about me are none of my business. I’m living my life. Not his.”

“And what about me?” Vulnerability with a touch of pain streaks over his face. “You’re all I have. Will you come home for me?”

I slide my eyes to the side. “Jason.”

“Just think about it, okay?” He smiles, his eye twitching along with it.

“I’ll think about it.” After my gross overstatement, I click to end the call.

“You have an MBA from Pepperdine?” Luke asks from behind me.

As I turn my swivel chair around, he throws a chip in his mouth. His chomping is so loud, he’s going to cause the cattle outside to stampede. And I don’t have time to deal with a stampede today.

“And a BA. Were you eavesdropping on my conversation?”

“Absolutely.” He crumples the chip bag into a ball and shoots it into my wastebasket. When he looks back to me, he takes a slightly wider than normal stance, crosses his arms, and says in a judgmental tone, “So. Jason wants you to move home? With him?”

I blanch. “What? No. Why would you—he’s in Denver—we were talking about California—”

Luke looks so satisfied with himself, I want to throw something at him.

I squeeze my eyes shut, then open them and beam lasers at him. “Why would you even think that?”

He raises his eyebrows and looks at me as if I should know the answer.

“What is wrong with you? You can’t possibly think that he wants me to move in with him.”

“Whatever he wants, Penelope, is more than you are willing to admit.”

What ridiculous version of Luke is this? I get his protectiveness. But this? Not okay.

I cross my arms, digging into my position as much as he’s digging into his. “Let’s move on.”

He studies my face for a beat, visibly relaxes, then smiles. “Okay. What is someone with an MBA from Pepperdine doing in Colorado Springs working a job so far below her abilities she could do it in her sleep?”

“I could say the same about you.”

“I don’t have two degrees from one of the most prestigious private colleges in America.”

Cocking my head, I add a thick layer of sarcasm when I say, “No. You just have an Olympic bronze medal in the fifty-meter rifle.”

Job shopping isn’t the only research I’ve done today.

He rubs the back of his neck, eyes locked with mine.

“One hundred and twenty shots, forty of which are prone, forty kneeling, and forty standing, all in just two hours and forty-five minutes.” I soften my voice. “It’s impressive, Luke.”

“It was a long time ago.”

“Do you keep up your skills?”

“When duty calls, I can still hit a can from across a field.” He lifts his chin toward the computer. “What did Jason mean that Phillip’s arms aren’t that long?”

“The senator has an interesting definition of supportive father.”