“They did.” Eventually.
“So, what did they say after you convinced them?”
She wondered how candid she should be. But then decided she might as well put everything out there. After all, if he was going to be an active part of Simon’s life—of hers—he would likely meet them at some point, and her parents weren’t the most tactful people.
“They’re concerned, I guess. Simon couldn’t stop talking about you, so they hope you’ll be a good influence on him. They worry about your effect on me, too. While my career path isn’t exactly the one they’d have chosen for me, they don’t want you to complicate things for me. Again, as they see it.”
“Well, that’s an honest answer,” he said after a moment.
“You asked,” she reminded him.
He nodded, and she watched him swallow before he said, “I suppose I should meet them, though I’m not sure that will set their minds at ease, considering how difficult they sound to impress. Especially when they find out I’m soon to be unemployed.”
“Unemployed?” She dropped her half-eaten slice of pizza on her plate and scooted around to face him on the couch. “What do you mean? I can’t believe Trevor would have fired you. Did you quit?”
He looked rather surprised by her surprise. “No. At least, not yet. But I can hardly keep my job as his assistant from three thousand miles away in Seattle.”
“You’re planning to move to Seattle?” she asked blankly.
Losing interest in his own meal, Adam pushed away his plate and wiped his hands on a paper napkin. The easy smile he’d worn for most of the evening vanished. “What the hell do you think we’ve been talking about since I got here?”
Pressing both hands to her temples, she realized that she hadn’t let herself think at all since he’d arrived. Maybe if she had, she wouldn’t be so stunned—and so inexplicably anguished—by Adam’s announcement.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
ADAM’S PHONE RANG while Joanna struggled to process his intentions. He took it out of his pocket and tossed it on the table beside the pizza box without even glancing at the screen. He continued to look at her, waiting for her to respond.
Glancing at the phone when it rang for a second time, she bit her lip. She would bet the call had something to do with his work. Even in the few days she’d spent there, well aware that he’d neglected his responsibilities to spend more time with her and Simon, she’d seen how valuable he was to the resort. How much his coworkers respected and depended on him.
“It’s obvious you love your job,” she said, twisting her fingers in her lap. “And that they feel lucky to have you there.”
“I can find another job,” he said, though Joanna believed she detected a hint of regret in his voice. “It might be swinging a hammer on a construction site or flipping gourmet bu
rgers for all those highly paid techies I hear are out there, but I’m not picky when it comes to honest work. I’ll pay my own way. Would it bother you if I come home with dirt under my nails?”
Home. She gulped in response to the word, then scowled when she realized exactly what he was asking. “Don’t be insulting, Adam. You should know full well that I don’t care about things like that.”
He held up an appeasing hand. “I figured you’d see it that way. The point is, yeah, I like my job at Wind Shadow just fine. But I want to be a part of your life. A part of Simon’s life. And if that means moving across the whole damned country, then that’s what I’ll do. The only thing holding me back at the moment is you.”
He looked hard at her face as his phone rang yet again. “Maybe I’ve been reading you all wrong today. Or maybe you didn’t understand what I meant. So it’s time to spread all our cards on the table, Joanna. What do you want?”
His phone finally fell silent. For seconds that stretched into minutes, the only sound in the room was a clock ticking on the wall as she thought about his question.
Adam didn’t rush her into an answer. He merely sat there, his expression shuttered as he waited, seemingly prepared for her to either welcome him into her future or send him on his way. She had a feeling he was braced for the latter. After all, that was what he was used to, she thought with a pang.
“I want you to have a relationship with Simon,” she said slowly, sincerely. “I’ll do everything in my power to help you with that. To help make up for the years you missed with him.”
“I appreciate that,” he said, though he didn’t look particularly grateful as he continued to eye her. “But what about us, Joanna? What do you want?”
He’d spaced out the words deliberately, all but daring her to prevaricate or procrastinate any longer.
She bit her lip, then released it in resignation. She was well aware of how hard it must have been for Adam to come here. To take an emotional risk when he’d spent most of his life avoiding them. The least she could give him in return was total honesty.
Unable to sit any longer, she stood and took a few steps away from the couch, then turned to bare her emotions to him.
“I don’t want a relationship built for the wrong reasons,” she said quietly. “You love your son. Of course you do, even though you’ve only just found him. It’s completely natural for you to want to spend more time with him, to get to know him and have him get to know you. I appreciate that you haven’t tried to interfere with my plans, even though those are taking him so far away. That you’d be willing to walk away from your job to stay close to him. But I don’t want you mixing up your love for Simon with your feelings for me.”
Adam was on his feet now. “What the hell are you talking about?”