“Okay.” With her shoes already on, Emma grabbed her purse from the floor next to the bed and met him at the door.
The cab took them as close to the parking garage as the cops would allow. From there, he and Emma walked to their vehicles with an officer escort, and they moved the barricades to allow them to exit.
As Trace followed Emma to the hospital, he welcomed the brief respite from an awkward situation. She was acting perfectly fine, which should’ve made him feel relief.
But for some reason...he wasn’t.
It’s for the best, anyway. You’ll be leaving town soon, and will probably never see her again.
And that’s what he continued telling himself for the rest of the drive.
Parking next to her, he waited for Emma before heading toward the hospital’s main entrance.
“I can’t wait to wear my own clothes again,” Emma muttered as they walked inside. Then, as if she’d just realized she’d said something wrong, her wide eyes swung up to meet his. “Sorry.”
“For?”
“I’m complaining about my clothes as we’re on our way to see our friends who were badly injured in an explosion.”
“You’re human, Ems. It’s okay to still have feelings about everyday things.”
Her lips curved slightly. “Thanks for saying that. I know you’re right, it’s just...I don’t know. This whole thing is just so messed up. One minute Jake was offering me a job running the new office in Richmond—”
“Wait, what?” Smacking the round button on the wall between two sets of elevators, he rested his hands on his hips and faced her fully “You’re going to be working for Charlie Team?”
His heart kicked the inside of his ribs, and he couldn’t tell if it was because he wanted her to say yes...or no.
“Maybe.” She shrugged. “I mean, he offered me one of the two new office managing positions. Said I could have my pick of either Virginia or Illinois.”
“And you said...”
“I asked him if I could think about it.”
The elevator on their left dinged, and the shiny metal doors slid open. As they stepped into the empty cart, he pressed the button with the black three on it and shoved his hands into his pockets.
A strange feeling of disappointment filled his churning gut, but he didn’t know why.
Because you wanted her to say yes.
No. That couldn’t be it. If Emma accepted the position in Richmond, she’d basically be working for him. No way could he have a romantic relationship with his employee.
She won’t be your employee, dumbass. Emma works for Jake. She’d be workingwithyou, not for you.
Even if the tiny voice in his head was right—and technically, it was—they’d still be co-workers.
If Emma chose to take the job in Virginia, Trace’s hard and fast rule about mixing business with pleasure would nix any idea of them becoming more than colleagues.
It’s your rule. Not Jake’s. You could always change it.
Again, his subconscious was right. He’d never even considered going against his self-imposed rule, but now...
Trace slid a sideways glance at the woman standing beside him, and damn if he wasn’t considering doing all sorts of things. Things that made his dick start twitching again.
Not the time or place, dickhead.
Christ, what the fuck was the matter with him? This back-and-forth bullshit wasn’t like him. Not. At. All. And it needed to stop, right the hell now.
Remembering where they were and why they were here, Trace cleared his throat and forced a casual tone. “Well, congrats on the new job. I’m sure you’ll choose the place that’s right for you.”