Silence. It’s heavy in the room, weighing down on my shoulders. My chair creaks as I shift.

I don’t know my line; don’t understand this script. Galen needs to help me out here.

And sure enough, “I hurt your feelings,” my boss says at last. I shake my head, but he doesn’t believe me. I can tell. Neither of us is any good at lying to the other. “Forgive me, Kara. I shouldn’t have snapped like that, nor lied about having a personal meeting. I should have told you I needed to clear my head.”

Well… yeah. I guess.

But did he really need to clear it alone? Away from me? I know I sound nuts, but Galen always talks through his troubles up here. I have the boss’s ear; the king’s confidence. I’m a smug little jester like that.

And I desperately want to ask what was bothering him, whether it was our almost-embrace in the corridor, but he didn’t confide in me yesterday, did he? And he offers no answers now.

Instead Galen stares at me, those pale eyes tracking over my French braid; the sheen of gloss on my lips; my tailored blue blouse, the same color as his waistcoat. Hey, our outfits match.

My body heats under his inspection, my nerves prickling to life. Remembering how he felt pressed against me.

My boss clears his throat and looks away.

“I’ll be spending more time outside the office over the next few weeks.” The words are addressed out the window, at the skyscrapers jutting into the pink morning sky. My stomach sinks. “You won’t see much of me, but I don’t want you to worry, Kara.” Too late. “It’s not a comment on your job performance.”

I… what?

What is happening?

Galen Onasis won’t be in the office for weeks, and he’s leaving his trusted assistant behind, and I’m not supposed to worry? Not supposed to read between the lines?

“We’ll keep in touch,” he says, like emails and phone calls could replace this. Being in the same room as Galen. Seeing the way his clothes shift as he moves, pressing against the toned planes of his body, then falling away; hearing the rasp of stubble when he scrubs his five o’clock shadows on late nights. Watching his eyes fall closed when he takes a sip of the coffee I make him.

Okay, so I shouldn’t have been nosy. Shouldn’t have practically swooned from a single touch. Does he really need to leave?

“I could come with you.” My pen clacks against the desk as I place it carefully on the wood. My fingers are trembling, so I tuck them away in my sleeves. “Everything I do here, I could do remotely.”

“No.” Galen’s eyes crinkle as he smiles.

Oh, my heart. Ow, ow, ow.

“But thank you, Kara.”

Then he walks away, like he didn’t just grind my heart into the tiles. Like he didn’t give me a split-second glimpse at what it would be like if Galen Onasis touched me, then tossed me from that high into the pits of despair.