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“If it’s not you, I don’t want it, Chloe.”
I swallowed, closing my eyes. “Theo…”
He released his tight hold on me and grabbed my wrist. As we parted, he unfurled my fingers and pressed my hand flat against his chest. It was right over his heart, and heat rose in my cheeks.
It was racing.
His heart was racing.
“Did it never occur to you?” he asked, his voice low and husky. “That maybe I harboured feelings for you that were more than just mere sexual attraction?”
Oh.
My stomach fluttered.
I shook my head, squeezing my eyes tightly shut. Theo flexed his fingers around my wrist and sighed, raising my hand from his chest. He pressed his lips against my palm, sending little tingles up my arm that made me shiver.
“It’s why I didn’t want to accept your resignation,” he continued, his voice still low. “I knew that if I did, you’d leave, and I wouldn’t be able to tell you. I wasn’t sure how to. I knew then that you hated me and would never believe me if I told you I had feelings for you. Aside from that, what I told you about not wanting to engage in an office relationship was true. I couldn’t imagine ever putting you in the position I was in a few years ago.”
“Wait.” I tilted my head back and looked up at him. “What do you mean, your feelings are why you wouldn’t accept my resignation?”
“It’s petty, I know, but—”
“I don’t mean that. I mean you’ve had feelings for me for that long?”
He nodded. “You might think I’m quite pitiful if you realised just how long I’ve felt this way.”
“I…” What on Earth was I supposed to say now?
He had feelings for me?
And had for at least two months?
“I wasn’t… going to tell you.” He took a step back, dropping my hand, and turned away. He ran his fingers through his hair. “Shit.”
“Theo—”
“My feelings aren’t why the business trip happened. I just want to make sure you know that. I had no idea Gramps was going to spring that on you during that meeting—especially the living together part. I found that out at the same time as you.”
If anyone else said it, it would have seemed like an excuse.
“I believe you,” I said quietly. “Believe it or not, I know what kind of man you are, Theo. You wouldn’t deceive me like that.”
“I’m sorry. I feel like all I do with you is apologise. Especially right now. It’s unfair of me to have forced you into this conversation when you aren’t feeling great.” His shoulders dropped, and he grabbed his jacket from the back of the chair. “I should go. I’ll tell your aunt that you’re resting, and—”
I pushed away from the windowsill and stretched out, grabbing the back of his shirt.
“Chloe?”
“No.” I fisted his shirt in my hands and stepped up behind him, pressing my face into his back. “You can’t just say all that and leave. It’s not fair.”
“But you—”
I closed my eyes again. “Are you really going to drive all the way down here just to say that and then leave me again?”
“It wasn’t exactly what I drove down here to say. I wasn’t ever going to tell you.”
“Even now? After things changed?”
