She followed him as far as the hallway before she shouted after him, “You asked me to stick around today! Change your mind?”
Fists balled at his sides, Eli froze, jaw clenched, eyes on his shoes.
“If you’re too afraid to deal with your feelings, that’s fine. But if you’re treating me like shit because you don’t want me to see them, that’s unacceptable. Not after what I thought we had.”
Her heart thudded while she awaited his answer. None came. With a frustrated shake of her head, she decided to call him on his bluff. “You don’t have to fire me this time, Beast Crane. I quit. Enjoy being your own assistant.”
His fists unclenched, but the final steps he took weren’t toward her. He disappeared into his office. A moment later, the sound of papers rustling and the computer firing up came from the room, and Isa had a very important realization.
She cared about him and he had used it against her. He was pushing her away when he should be the one chasing her. She deserved better. She deserved to be pursued. To be swept into his arms the way Tag did Rachel. To be cared for the way Reese cared for Merina.
Merina had said Crane men were worth it, but Isa was worth it, too. That lesson, she’d learned when she walked away from Josh. She mattered. And if Eli didn’t see it, then that was his problem.
She collected her coat and purse, chin up and confidence in full force. Eli had retreated, but that was on him. She wasn’t in charge of his emotions. She was in charge of his business.
Or was, anyway.
Eli believed he was completely capable of getting along without her.
And so she decided to let him.
* * *
“Just left?” Chloe asked, her mouth agape.
“Yes.” Isa bustled by, file folder in hand. The staff with new assignments had already checked in and left for their employers’ offices. The second Isa and Chloe were alone at Sable Concierge, Chloe had pressed for an Eli update, and Isa had shared the truth: He was very boyfriend-like when he’d invited her to have dinner with his family, but very one-night-stand-like when he shut her out.
“Are you going back?” Chloe followed Isa to her desk.
“No, I’m not.” Isa plunked the file on her desk and sat in her chair, punching in her password on the keyboard. She was determined to get on with her day.
“Ever?” Chloe sounded worried.
“Sable Concierge will survive without him. You said it yourself. If he wants to behave this way, I can tie up loose ends without speaking to him. We are in the twenty-first century, you know—the height of electronic media.” If Eli wanted to be left alone, she’d leave him alone. Hell, he might not notice.
But even as she had the thought, part of her called herself on the lie. Of course he’d notice. Eli noticed everything.
“What about you?” Chloe, clearly not done pushing, leaned on Isa’s desk, her curly red locks framing her cute, freckled face. “Are you sad?”
Isa looked away from her computer screen into her friend’s concerned hazel eyes. Then she blew out a breath and told Chloe the truth about that, too. Isa wasn’t like Eli; she couldn’t shut people out. She cared about people. She cared about her friends. She cared about him, dammit.
“I’m frustrated.” Isa turned in her chair. “I’m also unwilling to be treated the way he’s treating me. If he wants to behave like an adult, then together we can adult. But if he wants to be a man-child, then he can do that by himself.”
“You’re smart.” Chloe straightened and folded her arms over her chest. “You are smart and strong and one day, I’m going to grow up to be as strong and smart as you.”
“Chloe, you’re my age.”
“True. But if I had a really hot guy who was really good in bed, I’m not sure I could walk away.”
Isa let out a weary chuckle. “Well, lucky for you, it doesn’t require any smarts to climb into bed with a man who is wrong for you.”
“Isn’t that the truth?” Chloe turned and strode to the door but before she left, she gave Isa a smile. “You’re sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine.” Isa wasn’t fine, but she would be. She’d have to be.
“Okay. Let me know if you want to delegate any of your communications with Cranky Crane. I’ll be in my new office.” Chloe swept around the corner and Isa smiled in her wake.
Isa reached for the mug of coffee waiting at her right elbow. It felt good to be back in her office. It felt good to be back in control.
In control of her work and her life.
Chapter 13
Bing!
Really?
Eli had been trying to review and make notes on the report Reese had sent him for the last hour, but his inbox chime had been working overtime. Not just today—he’d been flooded for the last four days.
Isabella was no longer sitting at his dining room table intercepting his messages for him. And the reason she wasn’t here intercepting his messages for him was because he’d been nothing but impossible to deal with since they’d met.
Friday had been a turning point for her. He didn’t blame her for bailing. He didn’t know if he would’ve respected her if she’d continued to take his shit without pushing back. He knew what he wanted from her but couldn’t get over the idea that it was completely unfair to keep her close when he was so…unhealed.
You don’t deserve her.
Didn’t he know it.
His desk phone rang and he lifted it to his ear. “Reese, I’m working on it. I will have it to you as soon as possible.”
“You sound chipper,” came his brother’s droll response.
“Yeah, well, my assistant hasn’t showed up for four days, so I’m buried.” Reese couldn’t see him, but Eli gestured to the pile that had collected on his desk anyway.
“Four days? I wondered why I kept getting e-mails from you instead of Isabella. I also know you’re busy with the charity, too. Do you how I know that?”
Smartass. Eli didn’t speak.
“Because your girlfriend told me.”
“I was there.” Eli huffed like a perturbed lion.
“You have my full support, Eli. You should have told me about the charity sooner.”
Guilt stabbed his diaphragm. This kind of guilt, he wasn’t as familiar with. His brothers and father had been relying on him and he’d proven himself borderline disloyal by keeping secrets. And yet they accepted him.
Eli never should have expected less. Crane men had always been all for one and one for all.
“I appreciate it,” he said, his voice low. “Before Isa left, she’d put feelers out for a manager to take over Refurbs.” She’d found two qualified candidates, but that was the last he’d heard. He assumed she would let him know if there were further developments, but now…maybe not. Maybe she was legitimately pissed at him and would gladly let him flounder.
That’s what he’d been doing without her here: floundering. Not only because he was swamped with work, but also because he’d grown used to sharing lunch with her, and having conversations with her, and listening to her heels click along his floors.
And because you miss the way her laugh echoed down the hall. The smell of her hair when she leaned over you for a kiss hello or goodbye. The way she sighed into your ear when you touched her just right.
Yeah. All of that. And now she wasn’t here. Which was his fault, no big surprise there.
“…would appreciate your presence at tonight’s board meeting,” Reese was saying.
“I suck at dealing with people, Reese,” Eli bellowed. “Isn’t it obvious? Why do you keep insisting I come back to Crane to be around them?” Silence lingered on the line and Eli knew it wasn’t because Reese didn’t know how to respond. No, his brother knew what to say. He was debating how to say it.
Finally, he did.
“Because you belong here, Eli.” His tone was hard and warm at the same time. “I want you there. Dad wants you there. Tag told me when we left your place Friday that the more he pictures Crane Ho
tels without you, the more wrong it feels.”
Dammit.
“I don’t need a guilt trip.” But his comment held no venom. It was more of a chagrined mumble. He was behaving petulantly and his family, as always, had his back.
“No, you don’t. You seem to have mastered piling it on your shoulders without anyone else’s help.” Reese waited a few seconds before adding, “Why hasn’t Isa been back in four days?”
“Because I pushed her away.” Eli sat back in his chair and tossed his pen onto the desk, feeling the weight of that admission. It was the first time he’d said it aloud. “She came to console me and I acted like an ass.”
“Sounds familiar.”
Eli could tell by Reese’s self-deprecating tone he was referring to himself. His brother had had a few moments of “assery” when it’d come to winning back Merina. Good thing she was a strong woman.
Like Isa.
Was Isa strong enough to accept Eli’s apology and forgive him?
“Anyway, I can’t attend tonight’s board meeting and go to Sable Concierge to get my assistant back, now, can I?” Eli mumbled.
“I guess not.” Eli could hear the approval in his brother’s voice.
“The least I can do is apologize for behaving badly.”
“The very least,” Reese said flatly.
When Eli pictured her, he wasn’t sure he wouldn’t fall into those deep brown eyes or get towed in by her full, plush mouth. He needed her, and as much as he’d like to think he needed her only for business, that wasn’t the whole truth. He needed her because she was an amazing person who made him a better one.
“I’d tell you to take flowers,” Reese said, “but that was always the kiss goodbye for me.”
“I swear I don’t know how you talked any woman into going out with you.” His brother used to date using a one-and-done rule of thumb. Eli was never able to disconnect enough to be “done” after one night. It normally took several for the fascination to go away—but it always went away.
Except where Isa was concerned. Eli thought of her often, missed her. Wanted her.
“We all fuck up, but there’s a way back,” Reese said pragmatically. “Look at Tag. Mr. Fast and Loose towed in by a cute, tiny blonde who made him want commitment. He never saw Rachel coming.”
“Right, because the Cranes are allergic to long-term relationships.” Except someone had found the antidote because here they were—Dad, Reese, and Tag all in long-term relationships.
“It makes sense. Because of Mom.”
“You can keep your Freudian theories to yourself. My reasons for not settling down or getting married—twice”—Eli added snidely—“or coupling off like the rest of you seem content to do are more deep-seated.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Anything else?” Eli asked before Reese asked about those more deep-seated reasons.
“Good luck,” Reese said, then added, his tone sharper, “I mean with the report I sent over. Getting your assistant back isn’t about luck—it’ll take a miracle after how many of her PAs you fired. I hope she comes back for my sake. Your typos are horrendous.”
“Merina brought out your comedic side,” Eli said. “I don’t like it.”
Reese let out a small laugh and Eli signed off. He took another look at the piles on his desk. When Isabella was here, there were no stacks. She was virtually paperless, which was a skill he hadn’t honed.
Were she here, she would’ve interrupted him by now to refill his coffee, and hers. Three empty mugs sat forlornly on his desk. He liked wandering out of his office, looking over, and seeing her bent over her laptop at his dining room table.
He liked her here.
Not because the house was big and empty without her…
But because he was.
With her, he’d caught a glimpse of who he used to be before his life was turned upside down. When he’d become a man and was able to handle the loss of his mother in a healthy way instead of holing up in his bedroom and scribbling his morose thoughts into a notebook. He felt fifteen years old again—lost in the darkness…No, not lost. Locked. Like he’d put himself there on purpose. To spare everyone else his coming unhinged.
“Enough,” Eli said to himself, closing his hands over his face before sweeping them through his hair. Hands laced at the back of his head, he stared blindly at the e-mail attachment Reese had sent and thought about why he really wanted Isa back here.
Not because of reports or paperwork or coffee refills. He wanted her back because for the first time in his life, he’d found someone with the key. He’d tried to lock himself away but she’d come for him. Literally come for him—into his bedroom, yes, but there was another part of him she’d unlocked.
His heart.
The part of him that had always been partially sealed.
Was he brave enough to give Isa every part of him? Not yet, but maybe he could be in the future. That possibility intrigued and frightened him. That it existed at all was a miracle.
Right now he’d stay in the present. If she was willing to have him in the here and now, he could find his way out of the emotional prison he’d barred himself into.
If he could convince her to give him one more chance.
* * *
A block from Isa’s building, phone to his ear, Eli slowed and slipped into the left lane as Zach relayed details about the latest Refurbs project for a double-amputee soldier who had four kids. Four fucking kids.
Hearing those stories never got easier. It’s why Eli created an outlet to provide assistance. He couldn’t hear about it and do nothing.
He turned left onto the road where Sable Concierge was located. The report he reviewed for Reese took longer than expected, so Eli had missed his afternoon goal by several hours. Eli settled for driving out here at nearly nine at night instead, hoping that late was better than never.
Either Isa was upstairs in her apartment or downstairs at work, and if she wasn’t, he’d turn around and go home. He wasn’t going to call. He didn’t know how mad she was or how much madder she’d gotten, but he was certain a phone call would equal an ignored call.
“They’ll frame it out tomorrow,” Zach was saying, after describing the addition to the home.
“Good deal. Hey, I have to go. Call me tomorrow if you need me.”
“No, we’re good. Just checking in. Later, man.”
“Thanks, Zach.” Eli ended the call, half amused that at one point he’d been worried about Isa dating the guy. Now that Eli knew her, he knew Zach wasn’t the right fit for her.
“Oh, and you are?” he asked himself, shutting off the car and getting out.
He wasn’t. But he was trying to be worthy of her. He had a long climb ahead of him.
After knocking a few times on the front door of Sable Concierge and determining she wasn’t in the darkened office space, he headed across the lot to her apartment…and confronted a tall staircase.
Looked like his long climb started here.
* * *
Isa was reaching behind her back to unclasp her bra when someone knocked at her door. Frowning, she hastily tucked her silk shirt into her skirt and fluffed her hair. Most likely it was Chloe, but on the off chance another employee had come up here, she wasn’t about to answer the door braless and disheveled.
She parted the curtain over her living room window and froze in place. There on her landing stood Eli Crane. He waved, a brief lift of one hand before propping it on his hip again.
He looked sure and strong standing there, and so unexpected, her heart leapt.
Stupid heart.
She fortified herself before opening the door. She couldn’t let him know how much she’d missed him. Not until he’d earned it.
“Eli. It’s late.”
“I know. I got here an hour ago. Damn stairs.”
She turned her head to take in each and every step leading up to her apartment.
“That was a joke.”
She said nothing, only stood with her
hand on the knob.
“A bad one, evidently.” Eli palmed the back of his neck and took a deep breath. “I came by to apologize for acting like an ass.”
“No need,” she said curtly, determined to show her heart who was boss. If she left her heart in charge, she’d have already invited him in, or at least softened at the look of boyish chagrin on his face. If she listened to her heart, she might be reminded that Eli had suffered loss over and over and over again and his mood shifts were understandable and—when he admitted he was in the wrong—forgivable.
“You deserve better,” he said, and this time he didn’t take his eyes off hers. “Better treatment from a client and better treatment from a lover. I’ve never been great at this stuff, and as you’ve recently proven, I’ve become even worse—”
“Eli,” she couldn’t help interrupting. What he was saying wasn’t solely true. Plus, she wasn’t going to make him have this conversation in her doorway. “Do you want to come in?”
“No. I want to go out. With you.”
“Now?”
“Please?”
“Please?” Her lips widened into a grin. “You were the last person I expected when I opened this door, Eli Crane. I couldn’t imagine you coming here to apologize, let alone beg.”
“Desperate times.” Half his mouth slid into a cautious smile.
“Do you mind if I change out of my work clothes?”
“Take your time.” Eli cast a glance at the staircase. “I’ll start heading down the stairs now. Maybe I’ll be at the bottom by the time you’re ready.”
She tsked her disapproval at his joke, but before she could say more, he stepped forward, cupped her nape, and covered her lips with a soft kiss. Her eyes were still closed when he stroked the side of her neck with his thumb.
When she opened them, she met his concerned deep blues.
“I’ll make it up to you, Sable. I promise.”
She nodded, overcome by the courage it’d taken him to come here. To face the stairs, yes, but also to face her. Not only did he admit to being wrong, but in his own way, he admitted that he didn’t want to be without her.
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