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It was a massive fucking surprise when he came bursting in here to the staff room. It was the last thing I ever expected. And I was angry he did so – that hethoughthe could do so.
But I really should have expected that kind of confident, cocky determination from a Penmayne - he wanted to speak to me, and therefore he wasgoingto speak to me no matter what obstacles stood in his way. That kind of conceit is in his blood, just like his famous Penmayne looks. Butme? I would have beenmorethan comfortable spending the rest of our working lives silently ducking and diving around each other in this hospital’s hallways rather than having a real conversation, but that’s not how Doctor August Penmayne works, it seems.
On cue, my best friend emerges from the restroom where, doubtlessly, she was eavesdropping against the door with relish.
“Holy shit,” she exclaims as she sits down beside me. “What wasthat?”
I turn to her with urgency.
“Please don’t speak a word of what just happened between me and August with anyone else, okay?” I beg her with a quivering voice. “Please.”
“August? Doctor Penmayne? But you know him? I could tell there was something between you two when he came in here, but I couldn’t have guessed it ran that deep. You actually know a freaking Penmayne?”
I nod solemnly. Diana’s eyes widen.
This must be so irresistibly juicy for her.
“I used to clean for them,” I explain to my best friend. “Well, my mom used to clean for them when I was a kid. It was a hell of a long time ago. We used to live at their big old family mansion out in the middle of nowhere. Until his mother fired my mother.”
Diana bites her lip, processing all of this behind her pretty eyes.
“And what abouthim?” she asks. “August? Was it really true what he was saying? Were you two together? While you were living at his family’s mansion?”
“Yes,” I reply. I might as well tell the truth. “We have a...historytogether. And then, one day, his mother discovered us and that was the end of everything. But, as I said, it was a long time ago when we were stupid, foolish teenagers with a naïve understanding of our place in the world. In fact, we hadn’t seen each other for years until the other day when you pointed him out to me. I had thought I’d never see him again, but here we are. And now he wants to talk. There, that’s all there is to know.”
“Wow,” Diana replies, taking in a breath. “That is a lot to catch up on.”
“I really want to move past it,” I whisper.
“Not him apparently,” Diana remarks. “He seems to very much not want to move past it. It seems like he wants to take you out for dinner, Emma.”
“Yeah, that ain’t happening. Over my dead body.”
“But please explain more,” Diana pleads. She’s always loved a morsel of gossip. “What actually happened between you two? Did you have a falling out? You’re saying his mother discovered you two?”
I take a long pause before I speak. I really do want to move past all this, but Diana deserves to know when he just stormed in this staff room and forced her in the crosshairs of whatever this is we have going on between us.
“He broke my heart because I was the daughter of a maid,” I say. “We shouldn’t have been together. It went againsteverything. His mother would’ve killed him if she found out her billionaire heir was dating a maid’s daughter. We had to sneak around to avoid being caught for a long time.”
Diana’s eyes really light up.
“Oh, asecretaffair? I love that.”
“I was such an idiot for allowing my dumb teenage ass to fall for him,” I say, putting my head into my hands in despair. “And now it’s all a mess.”
“But he did just offer to take you out for dinner,” Diana says, nudging me. “That’s got to count for something. A free fancy meal doesn’t sound too bad.”
“It counts for nothing,” I whimper between my fingers.
“Come on, Emma. How long has it been since you actually wentoutfor dinner?”
I remove my head from my hands. She’s looking at me with eagerness in her eyes. I don’t like it, and I especially don’t like how contagious it is.
“I’m not going out for dinner with August Penmayne,” I reply. “Okay, Diana? Not even if it’s fancy.”
“But how long has it been since you actually sat down in a restaurant, Emma? And not just takeout, but a real restaurant with nice tables and chairs and candles and waiters and menus?”
I sigh.
