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I nod, silent. The term “airline tickets” echoes in my head. My ex-boyfriend tried to buy me off, and I used those vouchers and don’t regret it one bit.
“Does this have to do with the diamond bracelet?” I ask tentatively.
He nods and looks me right in the eye.
“Do you think I’m a monster?” he asks softly.
I bite my lip, and I can feel the blush creeping down my neck and over my bosom. I grab the sheet closer to my chest, my hands gripping with white knuckles.
“No,” I say softly. “I don’t think that you’re anything of the sort. I know you now, Pierce Lane, and you’re a good man.”
Because hearing his life story puts the entire diamond bracelet fiasco into a different light. Maybe the bracelet meant something completely different to him. Maybe given the context of his life, it represented something precious and good. A remembrance that once upon a time, there was something there. It wasn’t a buyoff or some kind of careless toss-away gift. Instead, it was a meaningful present to celebrate what once had been.
Oh god. Sometimes I hate being an advice columnist because my job forces me to sum up situations on far too little information. I feel terrible right now, and shame makes my cheeks go red.
But Pierce doesn’t seem to mind. He kisses me gently as I lay against that massive male form, feeling his heart beat against my body while trying to get myself together. But before I can say anything, the alpha male speaks once more.
“I have something to tell you,” he says. Softly, he lifts my chin up with his hand. I’m looking right into those dazzling blue eyes that always make me feel so wanted.
“What is it?” I murmur, almost a little scared. I can’t deal with any more drama. He laughs and gives my shoulders a reassuring squeeze.
“Well, the woman who wrote the letter to you, Maria. You know she’s moved on, right?”
I look at him hard.
“No, I didn’t know that. But how do you know that?”
He shoots me a wry smile. “Because she and my assistant are in a relationship now.”
I gasp in disbelief.
“What? Your assistant who dumped her for you? The one who did your dirty work?” Oh my god, it’s almost impossible to believe but Pierce just lets out an amused snort.
“Yes. Him. It’s pretty hard to believe, huh? But I guess they had a connection that very first time, and Mark kept with it. They bonded over shared break-up stories, and who knows?” he says wryly. “Anything can happen.”
I’m so shocked that there are no words at first.
“Wow. So that’s a happy ending for her, then,” I finally manage. It’s a pretty crazy development. Maria had seemed so crushed in her letter to Corner Chat, and yet she ended up dating Pierce’s assistant? Truth is truly stranger than fiction.
“Well, I guess anything can happen,” I add dubiously. “But reading that letter, I really thought her heart was broken. Like she was going to be a spinster and join a convent because things were that bad.”
Pierce shoots me another wry grin.
“I think she was more interested in the idea of dating me than actually knowing me,” says Pierce. “That does happen sometimes, you know.”
I nod, thinking of the Eligible Bachelor lists he frequents. The billionaire must have a lot of women after him for his fame and fortune, rather than his personality. I can see how that would happen.
Pierce merely sighs again. “Maria and I were far from being a couple, Casey. We only met three or four times ever, so there was never a relationship really. It was just an overly dramatic letter with lots of hyperbole.”
Wow. I process this. I think about all the hurtful things I wrote about Pierce without fully understanding the situation.
“Based on what she said….I mean, I just assumed…” are my awkward words.
“I know. You wanted to stand up for what was right, and the way she wrote that letter made it sound like I really did something awful. I know it wasn’t great. But it also was never malicious. I didn’t want to hurt her and in fact, I was trying to do to right by her.”
I am well and truly ashamed.
“I know that now. I’m sorry. I’m sorry for the things I said in my column.”
But he merely tips my chin up, blue eyes gentle.
“I understand, Casey. I forgive you for them.” The billionaire looks into my eyes and presses his forehead gently to mine. A sizzle runs down my spine. “It’s part of your job to care about people, so you were doing the right thing in your book.”
“It’s hard sometimes,” I say with a sniffle. “You can’t define a person by the few hundred words they send me. I forget that sometimes, and I guess in your case, it kind of all went awry.”
