She pointed an accusing finger at him. “You just told me you’ve lost jobs already—”
“I didn’t actually say that. You merelysurmised.”
“—and I already know how generous you are to friends and charities and everyone else on the face of this planet, except maybe Ian and Ron—”
“Like you’re one to talk, Lauren Chandra Clegg, aka Ms. I’ll-Drop-My-Entire-Fucking-Vacation-the-Moment-My-Dickish-Cousin-Asks.”
“—so there’s no way you can afford two PAs long-term, and even if you could, I won’t accept make-work when I could be doing actual work instead.”
At some point during the discussion, she’d risen to her feet again. Right now, she was staring him down with her hands planted on her hips, her chin raised high.
She was so fuckingstubborn,and he wanted to plant a kiss on that soft, truculent chin as much as he wanted to call herthe absolute worst. But his entire plan was slipping through his fingers, goddammit. There was no time for kissing or even insults. He needed to find a winning argument, and he needed to find it now.
“But keeping me in good order is a two-person job,” he pointed out, desperate.
She held up her forefinger and middle finger. “Yes. You and your PA. Two people.”
“But—” Shit. “If you don’t come work for me, you won’t have as much of a break. You said you needed time to get over your burnout.”
At that, she actually smiled. It was small and sad and grateful and terrible.
“I’ve been able to save money these past few months, so I’ll still have time. Not as much as I originally thought, but some. Enough.” She audibly swallowed. “Thank you for thinking of that, though. Thank you for thinking ofme. I appreciate it more than you know.”
A very kind and polite goodbye was on its way, he could tell. If he didn’t conjure another reason for her to stay by his side within the next five minutes, she was gone from his life for good.
He would come up with that reason. Hewould.
But first, he had to ask. “That email … are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” Her eyes were earnest on his. “It’s nothing I haven’t heard before. Ron used to say stuff like that all the time when we were kids.”
He closed his eyes and took a long, deep breath.
Upon seeing his expression, she quickly added, “Which doesn’t excuse his rudeness, of course, but it’s fine. I just wish you hadn’t seen that message, because I know it upset you more than it upset me. Obviously.”
And that killed him. Absolutely gutted him.
He didn’t want her upset, but he did want her angry. Or maybe not even angry, but at leastcognizantof the wrong done to her. He wanted her absolutely unwilling to accept that kind of cruelty as a normal or acceptable part of her life.
But it wasn’t up to him.
“And I know you don’t want one, but I do owe you another apology.” When he opened his mouth to protest, she raised a hand. “Let me finish, Alex. Please.”
Goddammit. When she saidplease,he couldn’t do anything but what she wanted.
Glaring at her all the while, he braced himself to listen.
“If you say I shouldn’t be sorry for getting you in trouble, I’ll try not to be, and I won’t apologize for it again.” Her mouth turned down at the corners, which he hated.Hated. “But I can and will apologize for not being by your side as you dealt with the fallout. You asked me to come to your suite, and I should have done it. I should have supported you.”
Her absence had hurt. He couldn’t deny that, even as he’d understood her reasons for leaving. Or, at least, he’d thought he understood. But if she hadn’t been angry at him—
“I just …” She twisted her neck and stared into her lamplit bedroom for a few moments before turning back to him, her eyes glassy, and he hated thateven more. “I knew it was the end of our time together, and I was”—when she blinked, the tears slipped down her cheeks—“I was really sad, Alex. I didn’t want to distract you with my own feelings, though, because you had more important things to deal with.”
Again. Gutted. Becauseagain,she’d placed herself below everything else, everyone else, in his life, and she didn’t even seem to notice. Didn’t acknowledge howwrongthat was.
She tried to smile, and it was wavery and heart-wrenching. “I’ll miss you.”
Then she was stumbling forward, and her arms wrapped around his waist, and she was leaning into him, just as soft and warm and precious as he’d imagined.
