Chapter Thirty Five

Chloe's cab pulled up to her apartment, and she pulled out several bills to pay the driver. While she was far from toasted, she didn’tt wanted to chance driving home, so she’d left her car at the office and took a cab from the party.

It was late, but not ungodly so, and she was still riding high from the celebration. The cab pulled away and across the street she saw Matthew Willis leaning against his car, watching her. He started forward, and she stood there like a statue, watching him approach.

“Out celebrating?” Matthew asked with a slight smile.

She nodded. “After-work thing. Took a cab back so I didn’t have to drive.”

“You should have called me. I would have come to take you home.”

“I don’t think that would have been necessary. It was perfectly okay to take a cab. And I got home safely, didn't i?”

He regarded her with no expression. Then he shrugged and asked, “Going to invite me in?”

Chloe wanted to say no. She was in no mood to talk to Matthew about anything, but she didn't want to be rude, seeing as he had clearly been waiting for her. Although he hadn't told her that he was coming over and she didn't like him just showing up, she decided to let it go.

He fell into step beside her as they walked to her door. He waited while she unlocked the door and then followed her inside. As soon as she locked up behind them, he had her in his arms.

No. Not this. She couldn’t do this right now. Her head wasn't in the right place.

“Do you have any idea how much I have missed you?" Matthew asked as he wrapped his arms tighter around her and began to plant kisses on her cheeks and forehead.

Chloe squirmed in his arms and finally pulled away from him.

"Hello, Matthew“ she said, "You don't have to do that"

"Of course I do," Matthew replied, as he reached for her again. "You have no just how much I have been thinking about you. I have missed you so damn much"

This time, Chloe anticipated his move and moved away before he could reach her. "How have you been?" she asked him, trying to change the topic.

He frowned. "Well, how do you expect me to feel, Chloe?" he asked.

Chloe stared at him, genuine surprise written on her face. "Excuse me? I don't follow" she said.

"How do you expect me to feel when you barely picked up any of my calls when you were away. Even when you finally picked up the phone, we barely said two words to each other before you had to run off to do one thing or another. Seems a lot like you were avoiding me"

"I was busy, Matthew " Chloe gasped.

"Oh come on" said Matthew, raising his voice. "Please don't tell me that. At least try to come up with a better excuse. We are not kids. You and I both know if you want to talk to someone, you have to make time for it. You could have if you wanted to."

"I'm sorry, Matthew," Chloe said with a sigh. "I know that you're upset and I shouldn't make excuses, so I am sorry"

"It's okay. At least you're back now. Heard you got Packard Enterprises. Congratulations. You must be very happy... I remember it was all you could talk about. But..... Now that you are done, can we go out on a date tomorrow?"

"Oh Matthew, I can't, I'm sorry" Chloe said. She didn't want to keep doing this. Didn't want to string him along when she didn't feel the same way about him. Her head wasn't in the right place.

Matthew paced the room for a while before he turned back to her. "You know I don't see why you keep doing this. Tell me... Give me one reason why you are doing this? Why won't you give me a chance? Am I not... Good enough? We have been seeing each other, and we had a great time. You said so yourself... Or were you just lying about the way you felt?"

Chloe squeezed her eyes shut, but she didn't reply.

"Were you?" Matthew asked again, his voice louder this time.

"No I wasn't" she replied as she faced him again. "Look, Matthew, I really don't think that we should be together in that way... In the way that you want"

"Why not?" Matthew asked as he moved closer. "We are good together. If you give us a chance things could probably work out between us and you'd see it too. You're not seeing anyone else, are you? Is there someone else?"

Chloe shook her head sadly. "No," she replied. "I'm not seeing anyone"

"So why can't we be together?" He reached for her hand and gently stroked it. "Give me a chance, Chloe. We could be good together, you know"

Chloe stared at him. He was right, there wasn't a reason she could think of for rejecting him. Timothy would probably be leaving tomorrow, she thought. And she couldn't spend the rest of her life pining over a man who didn't want her. Matthew was a good man, and if she could just find a way to put Timothy out of her mind, they could actually make things work.. Maybe. But it was worth a shot.

"Alright, Mathew" she said, "I will go out with you. But not tomorrow. After all this, I think I want a day to myself to get some rest."

Matthew smiled at her, a look of triumph on his face. "Okay. You just let me know when you are ready" he said, "I will leave now so you can go to bed. We will talk later"

He dropped a light kiss on her cheek, before he turned and left the house.

—-------------

When Evan Reese got home and stepped into his house, the first thing he noticed was the smell of food coming from the kitchen. He couldn't believe it.... Or maybe he had finally gone crazy with excitement, he thought. The entire ride home, he had been thrilled, and couldn't wait to see the look on Christina's face when he told her that his agency finally got Packard Enterprises. It was such good news, and it seemed like he and Christina hadn't gotten any for a while. This was a big deal for him... For both of them... And he wanted to share it with her.