Free A Breath of Magic by Tracy Madison Page B

not so much. “It should get better soon.”
    She gave me another long, searching look. “Just let me know if I can help in any way.”
    “Will do.” And really, that should have ended the conversation. For some unknown reason, I found myself asking, “Do you believe in fate?”
    She slipped her arms into her backpack straps. “Sort of. I guess I don’t believe that our fates are predetermined, but that we have several possible destinies we can claim. That’s where free will comes into play, you know? One choice leads to one future, and a different choice to something new.”
    Similar to Alice’s take on the situation, but…“That’s not really fate then, is it?”
    Paige bit her lower lip in thought. “Let me say it like this: even if three choices out of four will eventually lead to some variation of the same endgame, we have the ability to choose door number four. And who the hell knows what lies on the other side? Free will.” She shrugged. “I prefer to believe that my decisions matter, and that my life isn’t all laid out from the second I’m born. Why such a heavy question?”
    I forced another smile. “Just wondering. Have a good night, okay?”
    “Um…yeah. Sure. You too.” She tossed me another curious glance. “Hey, Chloe? Don’t worry too much about the future. It’s the present that matters, you know? Be happy today. Tomorrow will take care of itself.”
    The door slammed shut behind her. Her words swirled in my brain as my gaze landed on the cell phone. Kyle was a good man, but could I say I’d truly been happy this past year? Content, maybe, but not really happy . The truth of that settled inside, adding weight to the decision I’d already made. I had to move forward. I had to see if I really could reach the sky.
    But I wasn’t free to begin anything with Ben. So…what to do? Have Paige make the delivery to Ben’s office and then find a reason to contact him after my conversation with Kyle? Or should I just bite the bullet and call Kyle and do the breakup thing via the phone, with approximately three hundred miles between us?
    Yuck. Double yuck. No way would I break up with Kyle during a freaking phone call, and no way was I going to skip out on going to Ben’s office. Okay then, my choice fell somewhere in the middle. Wait for the face-to-face to end the most important relationship I’d had the past year, because it mattered— he mattered—and both of us deserved nothing less.
    But I’d also go ahead and make the delivery to Ben as planned. Business only, though. No hanky-panky. No funny stuff. No kiss. And definitely no magic. Not that I’d purposely tested my powers yet, because I hadn’t, but the rule needed to be set for my own sanity.
    My resolve strengthened as I completed the day’s deposit. I could do this. It was just a delivery, after all. I’d behave, follow my rules and hopefully set the stage for another meeting after Kyle and I worked everything out. I mean, really, how hard could it be?

Chapter Six
    “Do-or-die time,” I mused late Friday morning. The package for Ben’s assistant firmly in hand, I strode into the Malone & Associates lobby with a confident gait. Inside, I was a pile of mush, a messy concoction of anticipation and anxiety with a generous side helping of guilt. Luckily, no one but me knew that.
    Do not flirt. Do not say anything stupid.
    The not-flirting thing I could handle; it was the “stupid” angle that worried me.
    I continued on toward the bank of elevators, my thoughts wholly centered on the image I intended to present. Basically, that of a woman whom Ben would want to get to know better. That seemed simple enough, but based on our last meeting, chances of failing were high.
    Alone in the elevator, I pressed the appropriate button and drew in a breath. He was a businessman who focused on the absolute fact of numbers to earn his living, whereas I—at least in his mind—dealt in the weird and unexplained. So yeah, on the outside,