Cole kept silent, biting his tongue to keep from saying what he wanted to. Even when he saw the look in her eyes, he still didn't say anything. There was nothing left to say - he couldn't bring himself to keep justifying his decision, but he couldn't say anything else either.
He realized he'd been holding his breath when the door shut behind her, and he let it out in a long sigh. That hadn't gone the way he wanted it to, but when he tried to think of other ways it could have ended, he drew a blank. What was he supposed to say? 'Yes, Ileana, I'll let you sneak around and hide in my closet at opportune moments so we can have a relationship that probably won't work out because your sister will kill me and I'll get fired.' That didn't strike him as a better answer, really.
He dropped heavily onto the couch, muttering in frustration. "Good job, Cole. Really - that went so, so well."
You know where to find me.
"Oh, damn it." Cole glared at the pile of papers, sending them cascading to the floor with one swipe. He wasn't going to be able to concentrate on the stupid things anyway. "Either I'm the asshole who refused a perfectly wonderful girl or I'm the creep interested in a teenager. What a choice." As if his life couldn't have gotten any more complicated than it already was.