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But that was then.
The six weeks we’d spent living together had flipped everything I thought I knew about Chloe St. James on its head. I’d spent thousands of hours with her, both before and after she became my secretary, but I couldn’t believe it’d taken the trip to Buckley Heath for me to see who she really was.
Although part of that had been my fault. I really hadn’t been the best boss, and every time I looked back on how harsh and demanding I was, I was washed with a wave of guilt.
It was no exaggeration to say that Chloe had changed me.
Or rather I’d changedbecauseof her. She made me want to be a better person in every way, and in order to do that, I needed to let go of the things holding me back.
One of those things was my past relationship.
I would never be completely comfortable with an office relationship. The power dynamic in our situation was something that would always be ripe for discussion and gossip, no matter how many times I tried to convince myself otherwise.
Especially so given that I would one day own the company. Rumours would always surround our relationship, and the initial ones would be far more disparaging to me than her; that I’d abused my authority, I was forcing her to be with me, that sort of thing.
After all, nobody other than us knew how our relationship dynamic had evolved during our trip. That was one of the reasons that Chloe had already explicitly told me that we had to keep our relationship a secret. There’d been no complaints from me—I didn’t want to hide it, but I knew it was for the best.
Besides.
She was still resigning.
At least that was my assumption. She hadn’t said anything contrary to that, and she already had a meeting with Gramps scheduled for today. I was too afraid to bring it up in case she’d answer that she was still doing it.
I didn’t want her to leave, even more so than before. It completely contradicted my feelings about a relationship in our positions, but I couldn’t bear the thought of not seeing her as much as I did every single day.
We’d only been back in London for two days, and I was already losing my mind not being with her.
If I’d loved her before, I was helplessly obsessed with her now.
And that was the very reason for my messy feelings. If she resigned and worked somewhere else, my biggest anxiety would be rendered null. It was no secret that Chloe was close to my grandfather and father, and eventually coming clean about a relationship to them would be easy.
On the other hand, if she resigned, I wouldn’t see her nearly as much, and that was a problem in itself. If she was right and Gramps was willing to help her find another job, it meant that her position would be comparable—if not better—to her current one, meaning she’d be just as busy as she was now.
I didn’t want that, either.
I was too used to living with her. Too used to her being the first thing I saw on a morning and the last thing I saw at night. Even sleeping alone now was torturous.
I feared I could be with her every second of every day and never once get sick of her.
That particular feeling probably wasn’t one that was mutual.
I turned at the sound of the door opening. “You’re late.”
Dad waved his hand dismissively. “Take it up with your grandfather. He insisted we swing by your office on the way up to see Chloe.”
“It’s almost as if you missed her more than you missed me, Gramps,” I said dryly.
“I did,” he replied bluntly, taking a seat on the sofa. “Notably so. She’s much nicer than you are.”
“It’s good to see you, too,” I replied with a sigh. “Can we get on with this meeting?”
“Anyone would think you’re the one in charge,” Gramps said. “You need taking down a peg or two, you swine. I thought Chloe might have done that, but I see my intervention was all for nought.”
I sat on the sofa opposite him without saying a word.
“Oh-ho.” Gramps leant forwards. “Am I finally getting a granddaughter?”
“You have a granddaughter,” Dad reminded him.
