“I have a car,” Drew muttered as he took the keys from my hand and unlocked the door.
“It’s not necessary for you to come out of your way. We’re leaving from the same place, and I can route myself to drop you on my way to the university.”
I ignored the eyes burning into me and turned to Baldwin. “That would be great. Thank you. Or I can take a cab. I don’t want Drew having to come all this way uptown in the morning, especially dragging his son with him.”
“Then it’s settled. Text me in the morning if you need help getting ready or anything.”
“Thank you.”
Baldwin gave Drew a nod and then finally went to his apartment. The entire encounter had probably lasted the sum total of three minutes, but it felt like hours.#p#分页标题#e#
Inside, I flicked on the lights and busied myself taking off my coat. Drew was quiet, and I sensed a comment coming. After a minute, I started to relax and think maybe it was all in my head, that I had misjudged the situation and the awkwardness was only felt by me.
I was wrong.
“That guy’s an asshole.”
“What did he do?”
Drew must have taken my question as defending Baldwin. His entire demeanor changed. “Do you want to fuck him?”
“What? No! Where the hell did that come from?”
He ran a hand through his hair. “I gotta go. I don’t want Beck to wake up and me not be back yet.”
While I could understand that, five minutes ago he hadn’t been planning on rushing back. Drew had just gone from desperate to be with me to desperate to get away from me in under five minutes flat.
“What just happened here?”
“Do you want me to take that brace off of you or do anything before I leave?”
Frustrated, I snapped at him. “No. Just go.”
I pressed my head against the door after shutting it behind him. My mind was spinning, but the same question kept running through it:
Do I want to sleep with Baldwin?
Drew
The next morning, I debated going over to Emerie’s place a half-dozen times before deciding I’d just make it worse if I showed up. I didn’t want her to think my apology was a cover because I didn’t want Putz driving her to work. Of course, I didn’t want the dickhead to drive her. But around two o’clock this morning, after beating up my pillow, I’d finally come to my senses.
My acting like a jerk had nothing to do with Emerie. Between a cheating ex-wife and my daily dose of clients who’d been burned or had burned their spouse, I wasn’t exactly the most trusting person. I still didn’t think I was wrong about Baldwin—the guy was a dickhead, and my gut told me something would eventually go down once he realized Emerie wasn’t waiting on the sidelines for him anymore. But that wasn’t on her either.
It was almost ten by the time she finally showed up at the office. Beck only had a half-day of school, so I was hoping she didn’t have a morning appointment she needed to jump right into. I’d been on high alert listening for her to come in, so she was barely inside when I got to the reception area.
And the dickhead was with her. His arm wrapped around her waist, he was attempting to assist her in walking. I could see from her face that the entire thing made her uncomfortable.
“Morning.”
“Good morning.” Emerie forced a pensive smile. “I told Baldwin he didn’t need to walk me inside. But he insisted.”
I managed to reply with a hint of sincerity. “You need help. Doctor said no weight on that ankle.”
Testing my resolve, I backed off and let him walk her all the way to her office as I returned to mine. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t eavesdrop though. He asked her what time he should pick her up, and Emerie said she had plans after work and would get a ride.
Once Putz was gone, I took a deep breath and walked into her office. She was setting up her laptop in the docking station.
“You have a patient now?”
“Nope.” She didn’t look up.
“So we can talk?”
She looked up at me. “Oh. You’re in the mood to talk now?”
I deserved that. “Maybe I should start off with an apology right away.”
Her face softened, but she folded her arms across her chest, trying to be a tougher sell. “That would be good.”#p#分页标题#e#
“I’m sorry about the way I acted last night.”
“You mean accusing me of wanting to screw another man after we’d already agreed we were going to be sleeping together exclusively?”
“Yes. That.”
Emerie sighed. “I’m not that type of person, Drew. Even if I wanted to sleep with someone else, I wouldn’t while I’d given someone a commitment.”