Page 20 of Roughing
“You look fine,” Briggs commented.
I sniffled and nodded, glad I didn’t have a mirror. Briggs had never seen me like this, and I hated looking weak. I needed to be a strong, kick-ass woman if I expected this career to go anywhere. I’d never be the type of woman Carla was, but I’d be my best version.
“Start at the beginning. Explain what happened.” Briggs’s tone was calm yet worried, and his concern warmed my heart in a way it shouldn’t have. I told him everything from my late night, not being able to park my car nearby, how it wouldn’t start, and the mysterious car.
He listened and grimaced. “I hate that you’re working in this area, especially alone.”
“This is where my office is. I have to be here.”
“I don’t like it.”
I wanted to point out that he didn’t get a vote in what I did or where I worked, but he’d been kind enough to come for me, even after I’d dumped him, and I appreciated that.
“Thank you for coming. I really had no right to ask you and wouldn’t have blamed you if you’d said no.”
He looked away, and a muscle ticked in his jaw before he returned his focus to me. “I could never say no to you.”
His declaration wasn’t a good thing, and I felt us slipping back into the same relationship we’d had previously if I let it happen.
“You should learn to tell me no.”
He shook his head. “I can’t.”
“Briggs, this was a mistake. I shouldn’t involve you in my problems.” This wasn’t the first time he’d come to my rescue because of my stalker ex-boyfriend Gordon.
He shrugged. “If you call me, I’ll come.”
I wasn’t going to comment on his declaration.
“Do you think the guy tonight was Gordon?”
“I don’t know. How would he have found out where I work so quickly?”
“How does he find out anything about you? He seems to have his sources and methods. I don’t like this.”
“If you’d give me a ride home, I’ll usher myself back out of your life. I’ll worry about my car in the morning.”
Briggs didn’t move. He appeared to be on the verge of saying something. Usually, I’d bulldoze right over him when I suspected he was on the verge of disclosing something I wasn’t sure I wanted to know, but this time, I didn’t.
“You don’t have to cut me completely out of your life,” he said.
“Briggs, I can’t… We’re not…” I didn’t know how to finish the sentence. This was my problem, not his.
“I could use a friend,” Briggs said, completely catching me off guard. He sounded so earnest. When I looked into his eyes, the loneliness reflected there broke my heart. This guy had no one close to him, and I didn’t have the strength to hurt him again.
I’d been accused of taking on projects before when it came to men, overestimating my ability to fix them. I couldn’t fix Briggs. Only he could do that. I should walk away and never look back. I’d done that a dozen times, and each time the split hadn’t lasted. Never before had he asked me to be his friend, not like this.
“Friends?” I stalled as I tried to figure out how to handle his request.
“Just friends. No other expectations attached.”
“Do you really think we can do that?” I was skeptical we’d have the willpower to keep our relationship in the friend zone.
“We can try.”
I appreciated his honesty by not making false promises. The two of us were combustible together. Keeping our hands off each other would be a monumental task.
“Briggs, I don’t think we can be friends.”
