“Why do you care if they know?” he asked back.
She crossed her arms. “Because it’s not just people asking me if it’s true, it’s them telling me it’s not going to last. And that I shouldn’t get used to it. That a month is your record. You name it, I’ve heard it. Do you know how hard it is to hear that?”
He opened his mouth and closed it. “I didn’t realize it was that bad. I overheard two women in my office the other day and confronted them.”
“Why didn’t you tell me that?”
“Because I knew it’d tick you off. I handled it.”
“And what did you say? Did you say we were dating? Is that why so many people are asking lately?”
He thought back and realized he hadn’t said he was. “I told them it didn’t matter my answer because everyone was going to say and believe what they want anyway.”
“Exactly. But no one is really talking about you as much as they are me. It’s the pitying looks and the comments like they are just waiting for you to dump me.”
“Would it bother you if I did?” he asked. “If you thought maybe it was wearing on me having to hide so much? Maybe I don’t like being in the dark like this and am sick of it.”
Her eyes started to fill, which shocked him. “I’ve got to leave.”
He stood up and reached for her arm. “No. No running. It seems to me that is your solution for everything.”
“That hurts.”
“It was meant to,” he said. “Maybe you can feel what I’ve been feeling lately.”
“You haven’t said a word to me. I even asked you if everything was okay.”
“What do you want me to tell you, Adriana? You know how I feel about telling people at work. We are fighting over it now.”
She sat back down. “I don’t want to fight with you.”
“I don’t want to either. I don’t like fighting at all. I don’t like feeling like this.”
“Like what?” she asked.
“That I’ve got no control over anything. I’m working my ass off with you and it doesn’t seem to be helping at all. Matter of fact it’s almost like I’m making it worse.”
“You don’t work hard at anything other than your job,” she said. “If I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard it thirty times. I’m getting sick of hearing it.”
“You’re getting sick of it. Take a look at things, Adriana. Think about it. I’d say it’s proving everyone wrong.”
She just stared at him for what seemed like minutes but was only a few seconds. A tear rolled down her cheek. “I’m sick of being wrong about so many things.”
He got up and moved next to her and pulled her into his arms. “You’re doing this to yourself. I’m trying to tell you I’m a great catch, but you won’t listen.”
She laughed. “Now you’re trying to cheer me up when I’m in the wrong...again. I’m still feeling the past burn, but that is my issue not yours. I’ve got to deal with it.”
“There is no right or wrong here. We are feeling our way and not communicating as well as we should be. We can at least fix that.”
“We can,” she said. “What are we going to do about work? Just ignore it?”
“I’d rather not. I’d rather if someone asks if we are dating we just say ‘yes’ and leave it at that. We don’t have to walk in holding hands. We don’t have to kiss or anything like that for people to see, even if I would love nothing more.”
“Don’t,” she said. “Even married couples in the hospital don’t do that. If they do it looks unprofessional.”
“I agree. I was so confused over this, and us, I went to ask Drake for advice since he and Kara work together. Do you know how hard it was to ask my older brother for advice?”
“Did he rub it in your face?”
“Clorox couldn’t get it off.”
“I guess that means you care about me? About us?”
He rolled his eyes. “Yeah, something like that.”
She pinched his arm and then crawled into his lap. “I’m making such a mess of things.”
“I think we are doing it together. Now let’s go have makeup sex. That is the best part about fighting from what I heard.”
She stood up with him, then he grabbed her and pulled her toward his room. “You heard?”
“I’ve never been with someone long enough to have a fight and makeup.”
“Really?” she said. “Guess that makes me special.”
He picked her and put her over his shoulder. “You know you are, but if you need me to say it I will. That’s part of communicating. Adriana, you’re one special fiery lady that is winning me over.”
“And eating a hole in your stomach,” she said laughing.
The hope he’d had she’d admit the same was squashed like a nail under Thor’s hammer. He wasn’t going to let her know though. They’d made it through the first fight he’d had with a woman and in his eyes that was winning enough.
34
Dial It Back
A week had gone by and it seemed everyone was done asking about her and Wyatt.
Part of her was disappointed as she was ready to say, “Yes, I am dating Wyatt Fierce.”
The other part of her was sort of happy that maybe it would blow over.
She was in the cafeteria waiting on her grilled chicken sandwich to be made. She really should start bringing a lunch and not wasting money in the cafeteria all the time, but she’d gotten into the habit of hoping Wyatt would be available and they could have lunch together.
Which of course was her falling back into a hole with a man after she’d told herself she needed to dial it back.
Why should she have to though?
Sure, her reasons were legit in the beginning, but it’d been almost three months now since they first met. Even if that meeting was a complete misunderstanding in her eyes, she realized that once again, he was right. He’d been working
