night when she’d finally fallen into an exhausted doze only to dream of him. Not that her mind could be blamed for conjuring up images of Erik. Her bed smelled like sex on fire. There had even been a moment when she’d considered stripping the sheets and heading downstairs to the dingy Laundromat in her building.
She was already running behind when she locked her apartment door and hustled out into the cold morning. She passed the newspaper stand outside her building. The guy from upstairs pretended no one was looking while his dog pooped on the sidewalk, and two college students were squabbling over whether or not they had time to stop at the Dunkin’ Donuts around the corner.
Familiar was supposed to be comforting. It allowed a sense of belonging, of knowing where you were and where you were going. But that morning Talia was consumed with emptiness.
Hope came from knowing there was someone out there waiting for you. Despair was the knowledge that even though you’d brushed against that one perfect person, fate had determined it somehow wasn’t meant to be.
* * *
“Good morning, Mr. Aasen. Your coffee is on the desk with your morning schedule.”
His secretary’s name was Anita. Erik knew that. But he couldn’t have said if she was married or single or if she had any children. He only vaguely remembered reading her résumé when personnel had sent her over. The woman had a quick mind and a talent for keeping his schedule in order and the right papers on his desk. That’s what she was there for.
So why, as he offered her the perfunctory morning nod and entered his office, did he get the feeling that she pitied him?
The heavy door closed behind him, and Erik was sealed into the privacy of what Desiree continually referred to as his inner sanctum. And although it wasn’t the Bat Cave, his office did have a selection of high-tech gadgets designed to make his life easier.
The flat screen hanging on the wall above his credenza was tuned to CNN, but for the first time in forever, he didn’t take a few moments to read the scrolling red bits of real news at the bottom of the screen while he gulped down his coffee. In fact, he completely ignored his morning routine to slump in his executive chair and brood.
She had left without a word.
There weren’t a lot of ways to interpret that kind of leaving. If he were deluded, he’d think she’d had some sort of emergency. But he was a practical man. And logic told him she’d left because it was over.
He stood abruptly, the chair flying backward into the filing cabinet and making the hutch tremble.
“Excuse me, Mr. Aasen?” Anita’s voice crackled out of the intercom.
Erik sighed. Regardless of this funk he’d slipped into, he had work that demanded his attention. “Yes?”
“Mr. Colton is here.”
A sudden drop in blood pressure made the room seem ten degrees cooler. “Did we have an appointment this morning?”
“No, sir.”
Sunlight washed over the wall of windows directly opposite his desk. The glass blazed with color for no more than a moment before the sun shifted position in the sky. It was fleeting, but for the span of two breaths it dazzled his eyes with beauty.
Like Talia.
He ground his teeth together and closed his eyes to the view out the window. “Send Mr. Colton in.”
The man must’ve been pacing right outside the door because it swung open the minute Erik gave the order. The expression on Colton’s face could’ve cut glass. His mouth was set in a thin, firm line, and his eyes were ice-cold.
The instincts that had seen Erik through a hundred business deals were screaming at him to play this one slow and careful. “Have a seat, Rupert. Can I have Anita get you some coffee?”
The older man made no move toward the chair, choosing instead to stand with his feet braced apart. He fiddled with a yellow envelope in his hands. “We won’t stay long.”
“We?”
Erik had barely gotten the word out when Courteney swept through the
She was already running behind when she locked her apartment door and hustled out into the cold morning. She passed the newspaper stand outside her building. The guy from upstairs pretended no one was looking while his dog pooped on the sidewalk, and two college students were squabbling over whether or not they had time to stop at the Dunkin’ Donuts around the corner.
Familiar was supposed to be comforting. It allowed a sense of belonging, of knowing where you were and where you were going. But that morning Talia was consumed with emptiness.
Hope came from knowing there was someone out there waiting for you. Despair was the knowledge that even though you’d brushed against that one perfect person, fate had determined it somehow wasn’t meant to be.
* * *
“Good morning, Mr. Aasen. Your coffee is on the desk with your morning schedule.”
His secretary’s name was Anita. Erik knew that. But he couldn’t have said if she was married or single or if she had any children. He only vaguely remembered reading her résumé when personnel had sent her over. The woman had a quick mind and a talent for keeping his schedule in order and the right papers on his desk. That’s what she was there for.
So why, as he offered her the perfunctory morning nod and entered his office, did he get the feeling that she pitied him?
The heavy door closed behind him, and Erik was sealed into the privacy of what Desiree continually referred to as his inner sanctum. And although it wasn’t the Bat Cave, his office did have a selection of high-tech gadgets designed to make his life easier.
The flat screen hanging on the wall above his credenza was tuned to CNN, but for the first time in forever, he didn’t take a few moments to read the scrolling red bits of real news at the bottom of the screen while he gulped down his coffee. In fact, he completely ignored his morning routine to slump in his executive chair and brood.
She had left without a word.
There weren’t a lot of ways to interpret that kind of leaving. If he were deluded, he’d think she’d had some sort of emergency. But he was a practical man. And logic told him she’d left because it was over.
He stood abruptly, the chair flying backward into the filing cabinet and making the hutch tremble.
“Excuse me, Mr. Aasen?” Anita’s voice crackled out of the intercom.
Erik sighed. Regardless of this funk he’d slipped into, he had work that demanded his attention. “Yes?”
“Mr. Colton is here.”
A sudden drop in blood pressure made the room seem ten degrees cooler. “Did we have an appointment this morning?”
“No, sir.”
Sunlight washed over the wall of windows directly opposite his desk. The glass blazed with color for no more than a moment before the sun shifted position in the sky. It was fleeting, but for the span of two breaths it dazzled his eyes with beauty.
Like Talia.
He ground his teeth together and closed his eyes to the view out the window. “Send Mr. Colton in.”
The man must’ve been pacing right outside the door because it swung open the minute Erik gave the order. The expression on Colton’s face could’ve cut glass. His mouth was set in a thin, firm line, and his eyes were ice-cold.
The instincts that had seen Erik through a hundred business deals were screaming at him to play this one slow and careful. “Have a seat, Rupert. Can I have Anita get you some coffee?”
The older man made no move toward the chair, choosing instead to stand with his feet braced apart. He fiddled with a yellow envelope in his hands. “We won’t stay long.”
“We?”
Erik had barely gotten the word out when Courteney swept through the
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