“And…well, I hate to do this, but I’m going to have to tender my resignation.”
I leaned forward, resting my hands on the desk. “Did something happen? Have you accepted a job elsewhere?”
“No. I mean, sort of. I’ve always enjoyed working with the Wolfe Group, but Sumner made me see where my true passion lies. And she helped me figure out a way to level up my business. With a few life changes, I can make my passion project my full-time job.”
“Wow. That’s…” I swallowed, overcome with pride for Sumner and what she’d accomplished. This was bigger than any deal; she’d changed someone’s life. “That’s great, Isla.”
“And it’ll give me more time with my new grandbaby.”
I nodded, knowing how close she was to her children. I almost envied her—having such a strong sense of purpose, especially when it came to her family. “I’m happy for you.”
“I don’t mean to overstep,” she said. “But have you considered hiring Sumner as a coach yourself?”
I nodded, thinking about how much I’d missed working with Sumner lately. The past few weeks—at least until New York—I’d been happier, lighter. And that was due to her suggestions. I wanted our friendship back. Our long conversations about productivity and time audits and anything and everything else.
I still didn’t trust myself to be alone with her, so I’d avoided her since returning from New York last week. That didn’t mean I wasn’t thinking about her.
Fuck… I slid my hands down my thighs, wishing they were on her body instead. It felt as if I could think of nothing but her. If she’d asked me to do a time audit of my thoughts, there’d only be one entry for every single block: Sumner.
Sleeping with her had been a mistake for obvious reasons—I was her boss, her dad’s best friend, the list went on and on. But the true reason was something I could never tell her. Now that I’d had her, I couldn’t get her out of my head. I thought maybe I’d scratch the itch and be done, but it was like a rash. The more you scratched, the worse the itch, until it was all you could think about.
“Anyway…” Isla smiled, standing. “Thank you, Wolfe.”
“Thank you, Isla.” I stood, shaking her hand.
After she left, I glanced at my calendar. I could skip several of the afternoon meetings, which meant…
“Cody,” I called.
He came to stand in the doorway. “What’s up?”
“What’s Sumner working on?”
“Medical facilities with Jack.”
“Can you ask her to come to my office?”
“Sure,” he said. “If she asks, what should I tell her it’s about?”
“Just ask her to come, please.”
He nodded, then disappeared. I responded to a few emails and was closing my laptop when Sumner appeared in my doorway. I froze, my blood roaring to life for the first time in a week. This was torture. Being so close to her but feeling so far away. Everything stilled as our eyes locked, and I scanned her, searching for any changes, any clues that she missed me as much as I missed her. That she was as miserable as I was.
But all I saw was a confident, professional young woman who looked more beautiful than ever. Why did she have to be so tempting? So off-limits?
“Hey,” she said, hanging back at the doorway. “You wanted to see me.”
“Isla’s resigning.”
“What? That’s great!” She smiled but quickly hid it. “I mean, well, sorry for you.” She cringed. “I guess that plan backfired.”
I stood, keeping the desk between us as if it were a shield. “Honestly, when she told me, all I could think was how jealous I was.”
She furrowed her brow. “Jealous?”
“Yeah.” I rounded the desk and sat on the edge. “She was so fired up, so passionate about what she was doing. I want that.”
“Okay…” She stepped farther into the office, and I took it as a sign to continue.
