Page 85 of The Problem with Princes
I wring my hands in my lap. His cards went much faster than I thought they would. I suck in a deep breath. Who knew cards could be so difficult? “Okay. Cards on the table.”
He leans forward, as if he’s afraid he might miss something.
“I love you too, Ty.”
He releases a huge sigh. Could he have actually been afraid I didn’t? “So what —”
“All my cards aren’t on the table yet.” I look down at my lap.
His brows rise. “Okay.” He says it slowly.
“I started my new job this morning at five.”
“What kind of lobbying takes place a five in the morning?”
“Hey, I didn’t interrupt your card laying.”
He puts his hands up and pinches his lips shut.
“My new job isn’t as a lobbyist. No firm on the eastern seaboard will even call me back. I started work as a barista at a local coffee house.”
His countenance falls, but he doesn’t say anything.
“I miss you so bad it hurts, but I’m afraid if I come there with no job that I’ll never shake this feeling of failure. I’ll never truly be happy because I’ll still feel unworthy.”
He stares at me, and his eyes look glassy. Almost as if he might be near tears. But it’s surely just a trick of the light coming through the video. He isn’t saying anything, and I can’t tell if he is disappointed or if he just plain thinks less of me.
“Aren’t you going to say anything?” I whisper.
“You never said your cards were all on the table.”
I release a strangled kind of laugh. “Sorry. My cards are all on the table.”
He nods. “So you love me?”
I release a laugh-cry. There were a lot of cards there to sort through. I guess I can’t be disappointed in which cards he tackles first.
“I can’t tell you how happy that makes me.”
A small weight lifts off my shoulders.
He glances down for a second and then he looks back at me. “I’m sorry. I just got a text. There’s something I need to deal with, so I have to cut our call short.”
I’d be lying if I said I’m not disappointed. “It’s okay. I should be heading to bed too. I’ve got an early morning.” I try for a perky, excited smile. But I don’t pull it off. It’s one of the downsides to video calls. I can see my own face.
I’m glad he didn’t lecture me on how working in a coffee shop was beneath me, or anything. But I’m surprised he didn’t say anything about it.
“I love you, Sweet Cheese.”
I press my finger kiss to the screen. “I love you too, Ty.”
And my screen goes dark.
ChapterTwenty-Six
I straightenmy pencil skirt as I step out of the airport doors. I wish Texie was here with me, but a trial kept her back in DC. It looks like I’ll be doing this one on my own.
It seems my week and a half timeline was longer than the Atraxin government wanted to wait. So I now find myself back in Atraxia and on my way to a job interview less than five days after I responded to their request for more information.
