Page 35 of The Meeting
Chase sat at his desk with papers spread out before him. He stared at them, but wasn’t quite seeing them. Despite how hard he tried to focus, he just couldn’t. His mind kept wandering back to Kailynn and the look of pain that flitted across her face the day before, when she walked out of his apartment.
“I’m stupid,” he muttered. He wanted her so badly that he threw caution to the wind, only to be reminded of why he shouldn’t be doing it. Losing his license wasn’t something he was willing to gamble—not when he could still be with her when the case ended. But after seeing the look on her face, he wondered if she would want to be with him when everything was said and done.
“Chase?”
Chase looked up, surprised to see Eileen standing in front of him. He hadn’t even heard her come in. He straightened up in his chair.
“Yes?”
“What would you like me to do with them?” She was holding files, but he had no idea what she was referring to. He stared at her blankly, trying to figure out what she was talking about.
She smiled. “You look a million miles away.”
He sighed and leaned back in his chair, twirling his pen. “I’m sorry, Eileen. I’ve got a lot on my mind. What files are you asking about?”
“Declan’s files.”
“They settled, so it won’t be going to court. I’ve already filled out all the paperwork and sent it back. You can just file those away for now.”
She nodded. “Do you want me to make up a bill?”
“I’ll have it with my time at the end of the month.”
“Okay.” She turned to walk away, but stopped at the door. Turning back around, she gave him a small smile.
“Chase, whatever it is you’re thinking about, it’ll all work out.”
“I hope so.” He gave her a smile before she walked out of the room.
He continued to stare at the papers and then sighed. Who was he kidding? He could not focus on work until he straightened things out with Kailynn. He grabbed his suit jacket and tugged it on over his button up. Then he gathered all of his open files that needed to be worked on and tucked them into his briefcase.
He stepped out of his office and walked the short distance to Eileen’s desk.
“Eileen, I’m going to—”
But she cut him off. “Go. And good luck.” Then she gave him a wink.
Chase drove backto his place, his stomach in a knot. He needed to make things right with Kailynn. She tried to leave the night before and he pulled her back, and then stopped everything. He warred with himself and had hurt her in the process.
It felt like driving back to the apartment took ten times longer than normal. When he finally pulled into the parking lot, he scanned the cars looking for Kailynn’s. Not immediately spotting it, the knot in his stomach pulled tighter. But finally, he found her car. He sighed with relief and walked to his apartment to drop off his briefcase. He didn’t bother to change into more comfortable clothes before walking over to her place.
He knocked on the door and waited. Kailynn pulled it open and gave him a confused look.
“Are you looking for Abi?”
His eyebrows furrowed. “No, why would I—” He shook his head. “I’m here to see you. Can we talk?”
She opened the door wider to let him inside. He almost suggested she come to his place, but was worried they would have a repeat of the previous night. At least with being at Kailynn’s place, the chance of Abi being there was higher, so the risk of anything happening was much lower.
“Is Abi home?” he asked. He hoped she wasn’t, but at the same time, he hoped she was.
“No. It’s just me.”
He groaned and clenched his hands at his sides. They were alone, and she was intoxicatingly beautiful in her maroon fitted joggers and black tank top.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
He looked at her and nodded. She folded her arms across her chest and kept a decent distance from him, a frown planted on her face.
