Page 11 of Willow Vale

I struggled to find my words but when I did, they came out as a whisper. “I don’t know what you want from me.”

There was a beat of silence and then…

“You know damn well what I want,” he said, his voice all gravelly.

What he wants...

It couldn’t be what I thought he wanted. It’s been four years. Right?

“Why are you bringing this up now? I thought we were past this.Us.” The fact that I even had to say it, that he wasmakingme say it, made my face burn.

He scoffed. “The way you so clearly are. Come on, Delilah. Be real with me.”

I looked up at him, feeling like I was toeing a line between running away and having an entire argument with him on my first day of work. All because he couldn’t let things go.

This was all too familiar to me.

Me trying to run away.

Him fighting to understand why.

Us never quite fitting like we did when we were just friends.

I could be frustrated with him for being so willing to confront everything head on. But it was one of the things I liked so much about him, even now. He was blunt, never wasting time when he had something to say. Unlike me.

What was there to say, though?

I let out a heavy sigh. “I-I can’t do this with you, Travis. If this is how things are going to be between us, then maybe Ishould just go look for another job. Save ourselves from this discomfort.”

I wanted to push him away almost as much as I didn’t want to. I knew deep down that it was for the best. But why did he have to be so stubborn?

It was a stupid question. I knew why.

Because he hadn’t wanted to break up in the first place.

“Hey.” He curled his fingers under my chin, forcing me to look at him and I didn’t realize I’d started staring down at my shoes. He whispered, his tone gentle. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have started this conversation. It’s just that seeing you…it’s messing with my head, Delilah. Don’t quit, okay? I want you here.”

I closed my eyes when the scent of coffee and spice invaded my senses. I had to fight the urge to bolt away from the painfully familiar scent that was purely Travis. Reminding me of how much I’d missed him.

My voice came out weaker than I wanted it to as I said, “I’m sorry too.”

He took a step closer. His warmth pouring over me, shielding me, reminding me of all the pieces of himself that he’d given me that summer. Pieces I clung to on my most sleepless nights.

“I’m sorry,” I said again, voice cracking.

Travis shook his head. “Delilah, I?—”

“Hey, Lila! I forgot to show you one more thing. Come over here then I’ll let you go,” Jake hollered from the bar around the corner.

Travis and I instantly broke away from each other. Luckily, Jake wasn’t standing in the hallway, otherwise he would have been full of questions as to why his boss and new employee were standing so close to each other.

This was a mistake. I had to get out of here, put some distance between us.

“Excuse me,” I said when he still didn’t step away from me. His eyes trained solely on me as if he didn’t give a damn that someone could see us.

With a sigh he dropped his hand from the wall, and I slipped past him. Leaving him behind as I called out to Jake that I was on my way. Before rounding the corner though, I looked over my shoulder to see Travis standing in the same spot I’d left him in, staring down at his hand—the same one that had cupped my cheek for one brief second. Glaring at it as if it had offended him.

Then he was walking toward his office, closing the door behind him.

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