Page 32 of Bleeding Hearts Duet

Chapter Ten

When lunch time rolled around, I stopped by Nicole’s office to see if she wanted to grab a bite with me. She’d been distant the last few days, and I wanted to make sure I wasn’t overstaying my welcome in her apartment. We’d agreed I could stay for a couple months until I found my own place, but maybe that had changed. Either way, whatever was bothering her, I wanted her to know she could talk to me.

As I was about to duck into her office, I saw she was on the phone. The door was cracked, and she couldn’t see me. I wasn’t sure if I should wait or go on in, but as her words drifted into the hallway, I couldn’t help but listen.

“It wasn’t supposed to be this way,” she hissed. “You never told me how far you were going to go.”

She clamped her mouth shut and rubbed her temples as she listened to the voice on the other end of the line.

“Of course I want that, but it doesn’t feel the way I thought it would. I know he wouldn’t have wanted this…”

Her words drifted off as a strong pair of hands gripped my shoulders from behind, and I let out a squeal of surprise.

“Eavesdropping, are we?”

I spun around and smacked Matt in the chest, embarrassed I’d been caught out. I gestured to the break room, and we started walking.

“I’m worried about Nicole,” I said defensively.

Matt frowned and shook his head. “It’s you I’m worried about.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Just that you’re a lamb amongst wolves here, and I think you need to be careful who you associate with.”

“Is there something you think I should know Matt?”

Stacey chose that moment to walk into the break room, eyeing us both accusingly.

“I need to get back to work,” Matt said gruffly. “I’ll see you around, Brighton.”

***

“You’re going to be away the whole weekend?” Nicole frowned.

“Yep.” I mustered up my best fake smile. “But before I go, I wanted to talk to you.”

“About what?” she pulled a coconut water from the fridge and perched on the bar stool across from me.

“I wanted to ask if there was anything bothering you,” I said. “Or if I’m overstaying my welcome.”

Hurt flashed through her eyes, and she shook her head. “Of course not, Brighton. I love having you here. This apartment is too big for me anyway, so I’d like it if you’d consider staying here. There’s no need for you to find your own place unless you really want to.”

“Of course I’d like to stay,” I said. “But I wanted to make sure I wasn’t doing anything to upset you. You’ve seemed a little off lately.”

“Oh.” She pouted her lips. “It’s nothing to do with you, I swear. Just work stuff.”

“Does it have anything to do with Ryland?”

She jerked her eyes towards mine in surprise. “Why would you ask that?”

“I don’t know.” I shrugged. “I noticed he calls you a lot outside of work.”

Nicole let out a shaky laugh. “Oh, it’s nothing like that. We just have a ton of projects we’re working on at the moment.”

“Okay.” I nodded. “Well, I better get going.”

Nicole gave me a weak smile before I walked out the door. Time to see what I was made of.

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