Page 82 of Kiss Me Now
Noah was supposed to be coming by for lunch as usual, but I texted him that I had to take a raincheck. Instead, I sat by myself at my desk and re-read Ian’s message a dozen times.
It sounded like he meant fixing things betweenus, but there wasn’t really an us. I hadn’t let that get off the ground.
I regretted that. I shouldn’t have pushed him away.
We made no sense together in a lot of ways. I wasn’t leaving Creekville. He wasn’t leaving DC. If we dated long-distance and it worked out, at some point one of us was going to have to close the two-hour gap, and that meant one of us giving up a career for the other.
I wouldn’t do that for him. But I also wouldn’t ask him to do that for me.
So what was the point of regretting that we hadn’t worked out?
There was no point.
But when I pulled into my empty driveway in front of my quiet house, the regret almost consumed me.
I had broken a relationship that could never work.
But it didn’t keep me from wanting Ian anyway.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Ian
Ihit the road Fridaymorning. It was after rush hour which meant the rare chance to speed on the beltway on the way out of town.
I could feel the weight of the city and its problems slip from my shoulders as it retreated in the rearview mirror. It had been a hard two weeks, hopping on and off planes and trains to interview suspects. Heather, the former intern, had been the key, like I’d hoped. And yesterday I had taken a statement from a sixth victim. They were each ready to speak their truth about Rink, whatever the consequences.
The only reason I needed to bring it up to Brooke was to apologize for trying to pressure her into stepping forward too. We wouldn’t need her to, and I was sorry I’d tried. After listening to each of these women, I couldn’t blame her for trying to close the door on that period of her life forever. Rink was indeed a monster, a manipulative and devious snake who had abused his authority for twenty years.
No more. The story would be all over the news by next week, and Rink would be forced to resign. Even more importantly, his reputation would precede him. There was little shot of getting a criminal conviction against him, but at least women entering his orbit in the future would know what kind of man they were dealing with.
I turned my attention to the road ahead. It led to Brooke. And until yesterday, I wouldn’t have taken it.
I’d tried so hard to respect her boundaries. I’d planned to give her all the distance she wanted, maybe not even see Gran again until Thanksgiving. It was more than that though. I’d learned a few things about Brooke in the few weeks I’d known her, but a thing I knew for certain was that she dove headlong into things she believed in. The way she’d thrown herself into learning to garden. How she immersed herself in prepping to teach high school kids. It’d made it harder to accept her decision to stay quiet about Rink. She hadn’t struck me as the type who could be silenced by anything or anyone if her cause was just.
Then I’d learned over the last two weeks just what a scumbag Rink was. I couldn’t imagine being at his mercy, becoming his victim and feeling like I had no voice to demand restitution or change. But I’d kept butting up against this feeling that if anyone could do it, it would be Brooke.
