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Leah
It was supposed to be a good day. The end of their internship, and a day to celebrate. But Leah almost didn’t want to go into work. The last day of their internship meant the last day she’d see Shane.
When she reached her cubicle, Shane wasn’t there. He hadn’t been late to work since that night at her apartment. But that was because she was usually with him in the mornings. And almost every single night.
Shane might have seemed like the type to play the field, but he hadn’t been with anyone else but her since two months ago.
But every single time she tried to bring up what might happen after this, after their internship was up, she couldn’t bring herself to do it. It was too soon. Or too fast. Or too scary. Shane didn’t seem like a long-term relationship kind of guy.
“Leah?” She glanced over to find Kara standing in her doorway. “Can you come in here for a minute?”
Leah abandoned her desk and walked into Kara’s office. She sat in the chair across from her boss.
Kara folded her hands on top of her desk and got straight to the point. “You’ve been a great intern and we have an opening for an assistant literary agent. You’ll still work for me, but you’ll start to get your own clients. And best of all, you’ll get paid.”
She opened her mouth in surprise. “I had no idea you were looking for someone.”
“Just one position open, and I think you’d be great.”
Only one position? Jenna tried not to show how surprised she was. Shane was just as qualified as her but they weren’t offering the position to him? Or maybe they had and he hadn’t wanted it. Or worse, he knew they weren’t offering it to him and that’s why he hadn’t shown up today.
All those thoughts raced through her mind and she realized Kara was still waiting for her response.
“That’s a wonderful offer,” Leah said. “I’m sure I’ll have a lot of questions later, but for now I’d like to let it sink in and think about it. Can we talk again tomorrow?”
Kara nodded. “Of course. We can discuss whatever you want. I’ll be here.”
Leah walked back to her desk, and froze when she saw the flowers. A small bouquet of roses with a card. She glanced to Shane’s cubicle but he still wasn’t there. Disappointment made her shoulders droop.
She opened the card attached to the flowers and saw Shane’s handwriting.
I got a new job! Don’t worry, Kara knows. I hope your last day at work goes well! –Shane
Her stomach clenched. He’d gotten a new job, but hadn’t told her. He hadn’t shown up for his last day of work. Did that mean his new job was in another city? Another state maybe?
One part of her wanted to throw the flowers in the trash. The other part wanted to run into the copy room, lock herself in, and cry.
How could he do this? They’d been together for two months. Exclusively. They spent almost every night together.
Leah froze at her next realization.
She loved him.
She dove into work, trying to distract herself from the flowers—which she had brought to the break room—and Shane, who hadn’t even thought to take the photo on his desk. Was he really in that big of a hurry to leave?
By the time the day ended, she’d finished the last of her tasks as an intern, and almost wished she’d told Kara she’d take the job before she left. That way she’d have something positive to look forward to tomorrow. Something—anything—besides Shane to think about.
She walked from the office to her apartment, planning on digging a pint of ice cream out of her freezer and eating that for dinner. But when she reached the door and found Shane standing there, her appetite vanished.
“Shane,” she whispered.
He smiled at her, then scanned what she was carrying. “Did you get the flowers?”
She gritted her teeth. “And your note.”
“Ah. So you’re mad.”
“You’re not worth being mad over.”
He lifted his brows, then had the audacity to laugh. “Damn. You really are mad. Too bad, too, because I have something for you.”
She spotted the bag he stood next to and her heart stopped. It was all her things—it had to be. Everything she’d brought to his apartment. Everything she’d left there and he wanted to return.
Her lip quivered. “Okay.”
“Okay, what? You don’t even know what’s in here,” Shane said. He lifted the bag and opened it for her to see. “It’s dinner.”
Confused, she peered inside. “A goodbye dinner?”
“What? No. You thought—oh, shit. Yeah, so…” He ran a hand through his hair. “That was a little mean of me.”
“Mean? What—”
“Making you think I’d just quit without saying goodbye.”
She shoved him. “You did quit without saying goodbye.”
“I did it on purpose. To surprise you.”
“Surprise,” she said, rolling her eyes. “You’re an asshole.”
He grinned. “Feisty.”
“You have no idea.”
Shane stepped up to her and wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight. He kissed her hard. “I wanted to surprise you with dinner and tell you I got a job. I also have something else to tell you.”
Breathless and still confused, she said, “What?”
“I love you, Leah. I have for a while now and it took me too long to say it.”
Her heart swelled in her chest and words wouldn’t come.
“Leah,” Shane said cautiously. “This is where you answer me. Or argue or something.”
“I…I don’t know what to say.” He frowned, making her laugh. “Yes, I do.”
“Say it.”
“I love you, too.”