Of course, my damn office door would fly open at that exact moment. I’d wanted to curse and yell at whoever had barged in until Mr. Livingston filled the doorway.
His assessing gaze flicked between me and Kate before finally resting on me. Even from where I stood, I saw the gears turning inside his head as the puzzle pieces fell into place.
“I should go,” Kate whispered, soft enough only for me to hear. She didn’t wait for me to say anything, simply stepped away from me and headed for the door.
“Good morning, Mr. Livingston,” she said as she passed the man.
He tipped his head. “Always good to see you, Miss Rivera.”
She was gone a minute later, closing the door behind her.
“Well.” Mr. Livingston tucked his hands in his pockets and approached me. “I certainly hope that wasn’t what I thought it was.”
The fuck? There wasn’t a policy that prohibited employees from dating each other.
Widening my stance, I crossed my arms over my chest. “And if it was?”
Mr. Livingston gave me a long, hard stare. “Then I hope Miss. Rivera is the one who accompanies you to dinner tomorrow night.”
Chapter ten
Kate
This was a disaster.
I was supposed to be Tristan’s pretend girlfriend in front of all the board members and their significant others, and I didn’t have a damn thing to wear.
“Ugh.”
Tossing the last dress on the bed, I collapsed onto the pile of clothes with a heavy sigh. Probably the hundredth one since Tristan had marched out of his office and informed me of ourdinner date.
I’d still been reeling from his low, gravelly demand of no one being allowed to have me when he dropped a new bomb into my lap.
I didn’t want to have dinner with these people. It wasn’t anything personal, I simply wasn’t comfortable with the overly rich and powerful. If they weren’t trying to upstage each other in houses, cars, and even wives, they made sure the entire world knew exactly howgenerousthey were.
Allfor show. All for the worship and not because they were wonderful human beings.
I’d seen it too many times.
Maybe it was unfair to assume the wealthy people of the world were all assholes. But I’d stand by my opinion until I was proven wrong.
“You made a mess.”
Millie stood at the edge of the bed, clutching Mochi to her chest. I still couldn’t fathom how fast she’d grown attached to Tristan’s gift. Would she latch on to the man just as fast?
Oh crap.
It’d break her little heart into a million pieces when we eventually parted ways. What good would it do if I did this to keep her, only to hurt her in the end?
My stomach churned violently, pushing bile up my throat. Breathing through my nose, I pressed my hand into my middle and silently asked the universe if I was doing the right thing.
I got my answer.
When the mattress dipped and Millie’s beautiful face filled my vision not even a second later, I knew this was the only way. If her heart hurt, I’d be right there to hold her until it was better.
Like Clara would’ve wanted.
“Hey, Bug.”
