The panel lit up, and Dev’s phone buzzed simultaneously. Charlie’s security system was working. He’d been right; it took not quite two hours. Putting it off was ridiculous—childish.
What she really needed was an in-house lab. The start-up cost was high, but it also required ongoing certification and employee costs. It was something others would ask of him. But she wasn’t like everyone else in his orbit.
Are you upset that I am not asking?
Her words vibrated in his head. She was right. He’d wanted her to ask. Wanted her to trust him with the question.
Dev owed her an apology. It never bugged him when others didn’t ask. He’d have loved it if they hadn’t pressured him. But Charlie not asking…
I never loved the people asking me for favors.
The truth poured through him. He loved Charlie. Wanted her to ask for things; wanted her to tell him everything. To give each other the true authenticity they’d talked about weeks ago.
“Have you seen Charlie?” Alison, Charlie’s intern, kicked up dirt as she basically jogged in place.
“In her office. She’s talking to the lab about Nima’s results, or at least she was twenty minutes ago when I checked. What is going on?” Dev looked over his shoulder. He hadn’t heard any of the trail alarms go off.
“Jared, the vet who used to work with Charlie—he was arrested. Poaching.” She clapped and took off toward the office.
Dev’s gaze focused on the security panel. Charlie had mentioned her partner a few times, but she never went in depth about him. In fact, she’d deflected any questions about why she didn’t have another vet here.
He looked at the security panel, understanding finally dawning. Jared was why she wanted this.
Why not just tell him?
“Dev. Nima’s labs are back. I started the iodine treatment.” Charlie’s voice was off as she walked toward him, pieces of her blond hair escaping her ponytail. “Maybe I could use that lab after all.”
Her eyes moved up and down, her body adjusting, like she was waiting for something.
The lab…that was a shift. But then the asks always shifted. “Now you ask for the lab?”
“Why are you upset?”
“Why didn’t you tell me that your former partner was poaching?” He gestured to the keypad. “Why didn’t you tell me the reason for the keypad when you asked?” He’d fallen for her, hard. The keypad wasn’t expensive, but just like everyone else, she hadn’t told him everything. Sure, this wasn’t a venture capital idea pitch or a coffee meetup, but things always spiraled from little asks to big.
She bit her lip. “Everyone judges me. You did it the first day, and I saw the flicker in your eyes when I asked for the keypad on our hike. I saw the look—like you were waiting for me to do something wrong. Ask for something more.” Her jeweled eyes caught his.
“You should have told me.”
“Can you look me in the eye and tell me you wouldn’t have judged the reason? Wondered how I could let my partner poach under my nose?”
Dev needed to say something, but the words were all gone.
“You flinched when I asked for the keypad, didn’t you?”
“Yes.” Three little letters that drew a line in the sand between them.
“Even now, I can see your mind working, wondering about the lab. It was a joke.”
“People ask for things for reasons that aren’t fair—”
“I know.” Charlie laid a hand on his chest, and he wanted to pause the world, stop whatever she was about to say. “I’m sorry, Dev. I care for you, but I won’t spend my life wondering if asking my partner for something will be looked at wrong. Won’t spend forever looking for your flinch.”
Her lips brushed his cheek, and then she walked away. The quietest goodbye ever.
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