Page 46 of Say it Ain’t So

He shook his head and looked away.

“It’s okay. I’ll take care of it.”

“Know you will.” He pressed his lips together and tried to smile. “And I appreciate it.”

My lungs expanded on a breath which promptly deflated when Rylan swung his head toward me.

“You moving somewhere, boss?”

I froze in my place, unable to move while I was locked in his gaze.

“Looks that way.”

“Since when?”

There was nothing in the world that could make me want to be on the receiving end of Lee’s glare.

“Since you fuckin’ took off on me. Maybe if you hadn’t been away so long, you wouldn’t be out of the loop. I fuckin’ hope you got that out of your system. I need you around here.”

Rylan’s tongue darted out of his mouth to wet his lips. “What else did I miss?”

Our boss gestured toward me. “Joss. Finally hired Van Thaylor. Moving offices. Changing the company name. And Kelly⁠—”

He broke off, looking away as he covered his mouth with his hand. He shook his head and his big body seemed to shrink in front of my eyes.

Everything inside of me told me to go to Lee and give him a hug. My heart hurt for him, for the pain I could see so clearly on his face.

Without looking up, Lee said, “I can’t talk about this right now.” He turned away, leaving me feeling guilty as an uncomfortable sensation fluttered in my stomach.

“We’ll get out of your hair.” I stood, then gestured to Rylan to get the hell out of Lee’s office. He rose from his seat, and I wanted to push him out of my way so I could escape. “Let me know if there’s anything I can do for you.”

Out in the lobby, Rylan stopped me before I could return to my desk, his hands out but not close enough to touch me.

“What happened to Kelly?”

My jaw trembled as I lifted my gaze to meet his. “She disappeared. Walked out of her therapy appointment last week and hasn’t been seen since.”

Rylan pressed a hand to his chest as his face crumpled and he squeezed his eyes closed. “Any leads?”

I shook my head, but realized he couldn’t see me. “No. Lee’s been working around the clock trying to find her, but she’s just… gone.”

He wiped a hand over his jaw, then turned away, heading back to the chair he’d been sitting in earlier. When he propped his feet up on the table, all the anger I should have felt at his actions was nowhere to be found.

Not when the look on his face mirrored Lee’s.

I went back to my desk and worked through the list Lee had rattled off, the whole time feeling like I needed to say something. But I didn’t know what. I didn’t know how to bridge the gap between us. How to take away the pain I’d caused by disappearing from his life the way Kelly had disappeared last week.

Two and a half years, and only a stroke of luck brought me and Rylan back together.

Though I was pretty sure it was too late for us.

I only hoped that wasn’t true for Lee.

With my head buried in my computer and the floor plans for the new office space, I barely noticed that the day had slipped away. Rylan sat in silence, not once talking to me or looking my way. It wasn’t until Van came out of the back room that I realized how late it was.

“You ready to go?”

I cringed when I saw Rylan’s blue eyes peeking at me. “Yeah. Just let me shut this down.” I switched off my computer and grabbed my purse, then cringed again when Van stole my coat from the back of my chair and helped me put it on.