“And I’m supposed to take your word on that?” Her stomach churned as she imagined the fallout if anyone discovered she had a disability. She had to get out of here before she became physically ill. Claire got into her car and slammed the door.
“Where are you going?” he yelled over the sound the ignition starting. “We are not finished here.”
“We are, Jason,” Claire argued as she rolled down the window. “Whatever we had is over. The fake fling and the real one. Our work relationship and our friendship.” She winced when she said that out loud. The friendship may have been one-sided. He saw her as his sister’s best friend. “It’s all gone.”
“I refuse to accept that.”
She reversed her car from the parking spot and stopped when he called her name. “Jason, you’re so good at giving advice. Let me offer you some instead. This is a breakup. It could get messy and emotional. Do what you do best and walk away.”
* * *
EVERYTHING WE SHARED was fake. Claire’s words still haunted him two weeks later. She had said some other things that had stung but that statement bothered him the most. If what they’d had was fake, he wouldn’t feel this depressed and alone. He would sleep at night and function through the day. If what they had wasn’t real, then why did he feel as if he’d lost something special?
Jason slowly got out of his car and bent his head to ward off the cold and misty rain. The gold-and-crimson leaves were now a sodden mess on the ground and the dreary sky matched his mood. He strode to the small coffee shop where he knew Claire was waiting for her friend Deanna.
He wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to confront her in public. Claire didn’t like surprises and she withdrew into herself when she was cornered. She was going to hate what he was about to do but he had tried to reach her for weeks. She’d avoided his calls, didn’t answer her door and only responded to his business emails when she knew he was busy at work.
She was hiding. Jason’s stomach turned at the thought. Hiding because of him. Claire had just begun to step off the sidelines and now she was running back into the shadows. He couldn’t let that happen.
Jason opened the door and gazed around the small coffee shop. The scent of roasted coffee beans wafted over him. He noticed a line of customers forming at the register and all of the tables were taken. His heart gave a hard kick when he saw Claire sitting near the window.
She hadn’t changed. Claire didn’t look as weary as he felt. There were some shadows under her eyes but she was acting as if it was business as usual.
He wasn’t sure what he had expected but she was hunched over her computer, just like he had seen her do a million times. Her blond hair was twisted into a messy knot and she wore no makeup. The gray hoodie, black yoga pants and sneakers were part of her everyday uniform when she wasn’t meeting clients.
Jason took a deep breath and strode to Claire. He grabbed the back of a chair and pulled it out from the table as she looked up. Claire’s eyes widened as if she’d been struck and her mouth sagged open.
“Deanna isn’t coming,” Jason said as he sat down. His heart was pumping as if he had been running flat out. “I asked her to set up this meeting.”
Claire cast a glance around the coffee shop and realized she was trapped. There was no way she could walk out the door without getting by him. She pressed her lips together and slammed her computer closed. “I don’t want to talk to you.”
He gave a nod. “Fine. I’ll do the talking. I said those things to Max because I wanted to keep him away from you. I knew that if he had any interest in you, it would end quickly and badly. Not because of you, but because of Max. He wouldn’t appreciate you.”