“Nell . . .” He trailed off as she glanced up.
This was a bad idea.
Maybe it would be different this time.
No, it wouldn’t, the wary half of his heart warned in response, but he couldn’t help it. It had been seven years, and they both had changed, hadn’t they? They both knew what they’d lost. Their work and their relationship had always been twisted up in each other, which at first had seemed romantic and passionate, but after the Junk Box Incident, Felix had realized what a liability it was.
But maybe if they tried again, they wouldn’t make the same mistake.
This was a really bad idea.
The nervous waterfall rush in his ears drowned out the thought. Nell was looking at him not quite full on now, as if suddenly able to read his mind. Or perhaps his body was telegraphing what he was thinking, as obvious as if it were a map, and she was an expert at that. She’d had years of reading this one, after all.
He waited, but she didn’t turn away. She didn’t make some excuse to run to the bathroom or rush to open the door for him. Felix felt his armpits growing damp with anxiety, his heart flailing desperately in his chest until he was light-headed.
Don’t do it.
Tomorrow would be proof he was right. That she could choose the future over the past, him over the map, and they could make it work this time. He’d go to her father’s event and see her hand the man’s last project to Irene and finally be free of it, with his own eyes.
Don’t do it.
Tomorrow they could start over.
Don’t—
He grabbed her into the kiss.
XIV
Nell hung up the phone and went back to staring at the clock, willing it to skip the ten minutes it had left and jump to five o’clock already.
She was still technically on bereavement leave until tomorrow, but she’d been dreading the mountain of orders at work she knew would be waiting for her and had decided to duck into Classic a day early to make a start—Sundays were always slow. And she’d also needed a reason to get out of her apartment before she wore a hole in the floor from her impatient pacing. Tonight couldn’t come soon enough.
But she hadn’t expected Humphrey to be there, too.
She thought he was going to send her back home, but instead, he gave a cry of relief and invited her in. The power was out, he’d explained. And the copier was broken, and the plumbing was clogged. And . . .
They’d spent the day on the phone with repair technicians, every new call uncovering another problem. The place was falling apart. Nell couldn’t understand why they didn’t just move to another office, but Humphrey waved her off whenever she tried to bring it up. “I have my reasons,” he’d say, and that was the end of it.
Nell looked at the clock again, and sighed.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this impatient for anything,” Humphrey said then as he came out of his office, startling her.
“It’s a big deal,” she replied. “My father’s past with me notwithstanding, he deserves it.”
Humphrey smiled. “Then you’d be proud, not anxious. You have a date.”
“What?” Nell cried.
“Nice try,” he laughed. “I have four sisters.”
The memory of last night rushed over Nell again, sending her pulse racing. She’d steeled herself when Humphrey had asked her how she’d been holding up, hoping she looked as grumpy as usual, but he’d seen right through her. “Look at you!” he’d hooted. “Who is this mystery Prince Charming?”
Nell had vehemently denied it, but Humphrey couldn’t be convinced. He’d spent the rest of the afternoon humming various love songs, as jubilant as if she were getting married.