“It isn’t right,” I said. “It’s not right that she has to go through this shit because she’s a woman.”
He came up to me and slapped me on the shoulder. “No, it isn’t. But she’s a smart woman and she knows what being the only woman up here means. Don’t put her in a situation where she has to choose between you and the job.”
I nodded. “I’m leaving with her tomorrow morning to go to Anchorage. Plan to stay a few days if that’s okay.”
“Yep. Rig is under control for now. No fires at the moment. Talked to Frank earlier. The meeting at corporate is set for noon. Want me with you?” Cal asked.
“No, I can handle it. He’s just going to chew me up and spit me out.”
“You did cost him a couple million dollars by blowing his best well,” Cal snorted.
“Or saved him millions by not allowing the rig to blow up,” I pointed out.
“Yeah. Good luck making that argument. In the end, they can’t fire you and they know it. Let them beat you up and scream about profits and try not to swing back so hard. Got it?”
“Got it.” He started to walk past me when I stopped him. “Cal,” I said, running a hand through my hair. “It’s not what you think. Between me and Olivia. It’s…”
Fuck me. I didn’t know what it was. I only knew I needed to see her.
“It’s complicated? Yeah,” he drawled. “Because I wouldn’t know anything about things being complicated with a woman.”
I winced and thought of Vivienne. Vivienne who we had brought to Hope’s Point. Vivienne who was currently making a mess of Cal’s life even if she didn’t realize it. Even if I thought maybe that was a good thing for Cal, I wasn’t about to share it with him.
“Ten minutes,” Cal reminded me, then turned the corner and walked away.
I walked to Olivia’s door and knocked. I was surprised by how quickly she opened it. Almost as if she’d been waiting for me to come to her.
Showered, wearing new casual clothes, her dark hair all blown out, she took my breath away.
“Hey,” I said.
“Hey.” She opened the door and took a step back so I could come in.
“Don’t close the door,” I said, stopping her as she began to do just that. She nodded as she understood what I was telling her.
I couldn’t touch her. I couldn’t kiss her. Nothing. Either she was mine. Or she was untouched. She couldn’t be something in between. I knew that and she knew that. At least she did now.
“I wanted to check on you.” I wanted to throw her on the bed and have her again. It had been hours since I had been inside her and it felt like days, months.
She stood as far away from me as she could in the small bedroom. Her arms crossed over her chest. Not defensive, more like she wanted to touch me, too, and knew she couldn’t.
“I’m okay.”
There wasn’t anything else to say. She was safe. She didn’t need me for food, fire or shelter. There was absolutely no reason for me to be in this room.
“I, uh…have your T-shirt.”
She smiled. “I’m going to say you can throw that out.”
Right. Not likely something she would ever wear again.
“Meeting is set with corporate tomorrow,” I told her. Something she probably already knew but it gave me another moment with her.
“Yep. I’ll have your back.”
“Don’t worry about my back. I’ll have the numbers on my side. I had no choice.”
She nodded.
