Page 89 of Ice
“Hi. Is Ice okay?” He nodded.
“Yeah, don’t worry, he’s fine. Uh, can we talk?”
I felt nervous as hell letting him inside my house, because he was still a hugely intimidating presence, and a scary reminder of my own father.
“I… should I be worried that you’re here?”
He shook his head, and nodded at the sofa, raising his eyebrows, so I gestured accordingly. When he sat down, I hovered for a minute.
“Should I get you a drink or something?”
He rubbed at his beard. “A glass of water would be amazing, please.” Huh. Not what I’d expected.
I fetched one and set it in front of him, and then I curled up in my armchair again, feeling vulnerable and wary, and he seemed no better. He adjusted position on the sofa a few times, staying silent. He grabbed the water, held it, put it back, finally letting out a low curse.
“Jesus, I don’t know how to do this.”
I’d watched his twitching and fidgeting with a growing sense of understanding.
“You need someone to talk to.”
He groaned running his hand over his hair.
“Ally said you listened to her, and I feel like a prize asshole for coming here and expecting the same, especially when I got you fired.”
“And banned me from your club.”
He let out another groan. “Yeah, and that. Fuck. Do you want me to go?”
I lowered my legs, sitting properly in my chair, because suddenly the balance of power had shifted. I was no longer the frightened prey of a dominant man, but the one in charge. The one who could possibly help him.
“You have a lot of weight on your shoulders, Reacher. It makes sense that you’d need to talk it out.”
He picked up the water again, taking the tiniest sip.
“Yeah, perks of being the Pres.”
“So I’m willing to listen, if it’ll help.”
He snorted. “What you should be doing, Lissa, is telling me to go fuck myself.”
“Would that make you feel better? I was tempted, I’ll admit, but I’m also kind of nervous having you here.”
“In case I tell you to stay away from Ice?”
“Mostly, yeah. Isn’t that enough?”
He sipped the water again, sitting back further.
“I really am sorry for fucking up your career for you. I’m obviously more than willing to retract what I said, but I don’t think it’ll help now.”
I shook my head. “The damage is done, Reacher, and it wasn’t completely down to you. I still made the mistake of driving when I shouldn’t have.”
“You’ll really sit and listen to my shit, after what I did? It’s stuff I can’t talk to anyone about. I mean, if you’re not on the clock-”
“Confidentiality is in effect any time if someone needs to talk to me. I may not have an office anymore, but I’m still actually capable of listening and helping.”
He grinned suddenly, and some of my fear dissipated. Was this the man they all saw? He looked like a weight had been lifted already, but I knew it wasn’t going to be that easy.
