Yearning for Love by Alexis Lauren

and gazes at me.
    “Corey, I am so sorry. Brenda – your mom – told me just how badly I screwed up last week in El Paso. I . . . there’s really no excuse, but . . . I was just so worried about my dad that . . .”
    “You were an insensitive ass? Yep. I’ll agree with that,” I say curtly. I won’t let him know how badly he hurt me! I won’t!
    “I . . . deserve that,” he says. “I won’t try to plead worry over my dad. What I did was just plain wrong and, as you said, insensitive. I handled my feelings badly, and you got the worst of it.”
    “Okay, now that you’re done heaping ashes on your robe of sackcloth, you can leave now. I was about to go to bed,” I tell him.
    “No.”
    “What? I don’t want to talk to you. I just want you to leave my room. Leave Ruidoso tomorrow, and go back to El Paso without me. I’m resigning, Mr. Drummond. Whether you like it or not. I can’t work with you anymore!” I say strongly.
    Nate simply crosses his arms, and gives me a level look out with those devastating blue eyes. I can’t look at them, or I’m sunk.
    “Mr. Drummond, I’m no longer your employee. I plan to stay here and work with my mother,” I say in a flat tone of voice.
    “Don’t make a decision until we’ve talked. Once we both completely understand each other, if you still want to leave, I won’t try to stop you. Just, please . . . listen to me,” he pleads.
    My eyes rise involuntarily to his. Was that a note of . . . begging I just heard in his voice? I see fear and desperation in his eyes and the lines of his face. Wow. He must be really anxious to unload. I decide I’ll hear him out . . . then go ahead with my plan to resign.
    “Go ahead, then. Talk, then leave,” I tell him, keeping my arms firmly crossed over my torso.
    Nate heaves out a huge sigh of relief, then sits down on the floor in front of my armchair. He’s going to make me look at his face, regardless, isn’t he?
    “Corey, like I said a few minutes ago, I screwed up in a huge way. No excuses, here. I was wrong, wrong, wrong! You deserved much better – connectedness, compassion, a promise that I would call you, not my damned office staff.  I treated you ‘just’ like an employee, not someone with whom I’ve made a fantastic connection. Your mother lit into me when we talked about this, and she let me know that I was completely wrong in how I handled the situation. I like your mother. Brenda. She’s direct and honest. She really does love you . . . You’re really fortunate, because she’s your biggest champion.
    “You might be wondering why she put conditions on your offer to stay here and work with her. She wants you to know that you made the right decision, for the right reasons – so that you won’t eventually regret landing here, in an isolated, beautiful region of the country.
    “Corey, after I invited you to Germany, and we spent that fantastic week there, you had the right to expect better treatment. I’d like to make that up to you, if I could,” Nate said, with a note of hope in his voice.
    “No. You . . . rejected me with the words, tone and attitude you used in front of the hospital. You . . . put me in my place, let me know that I’m ‘only’ an employee. It was like that week in Germany never even happened. I don’t know if you know or care how that felt, but I’ll be more than happy to tell you, Mr. Drummond.” I see him wince as I use his last name. Good . Let him feel bad! . . Even though no money exchanged hands, you did buy that dress; you did pay for the meals and our hotel suite. In short, Mr. Drummond, I was no better than a common escort. I . . . I didn’t like that one damned bit. You know why? It’s because I have value - to my family, to your company . . . and to me. And, when you ‘put me in my place,’ I decided I was going to honor myself, even if you hadn’t. Therefore, tomorrow, feel free to pack your bag, put it in your car, and wave Ruidoso bye-bye, because you no