Page 49 of Her Filthy Cold Billionaire Boss

"Sounds like you miss him," he said quietly.

"Every day," I said, surprised to realize it wasn't a lie. "But it feels good to remember the good stuff. Most people only want to hear about the loss and how I’m holding up while telling me they can’t imagine or wouldn’t survive the pain."

He nodded again. "Loss isn’t interesting. The truth is," he said. "What matters is what you remember."

We sat like that, just breathing, the two of us and the echo of all our ghosts.

When the silence got too heavy, I tried to lighten it. "He would have given you hell," I said. "He liked to goad authorityfigures and like I said, he’d be all over you to protect me. He’d threaten your life if you ever hurt me."

Gareth smiled. “We’d have been in harmony on that one.”

My heart warmed.

"But you’re different," I said, and instantly wanted to snatch the words back. "Sorry. That sounded-"

"It's fine," he said. "You can say it."

There was another long pause, but this one felt less loaded. More like the calm after a storm.

"Thank you," I said, for the drink, for asking, for not treating me like a wound that would never heal.

He shrugged. "You did the same for me."

With that, he stood, set his glass down, and leaned over me. I thought he was going to reach for my face, but instead he just put his hand on my shoulder, gentle, like he was trying not to spook a stray animal. He bent his head and kissed my forehead.

The gesture was so sweet I almost started laughing, which would have ruined the moment, so instead I patted his hand and said, "You're a secret softie, you know."

"Don't tell anyone," he said, his voice just a little rougher than before.

"I won't," I promised. "But I might use it as blackmail if you ever try to fire me."

He snorted, and it felt like a win.

We cleaned up, straightened our shirts, and pretended to be normal adults. But as I left the study, I caught my reflection in the glass panel of the door.

I was still smiling, even though my eyes were shiny and my hands still shook.

It was the best I'd felt in years.

I didn't even make it back to my room before I started texting Ruby. She was probably elbows-deep in dough or crisis-writing recipes to not forget them, but she always answered me, no matter how dumb the hour or the message.

I just slow-danced with my boss in his study, and he kissed me, and I think my brain is soup.

Her reply was instantaneous.You’re not wrong. Tell me you’re not wearing pants right now. Tell me you did the thing again.

I shook my head.It wasn’t like that, it was… a moment but not a sexy one.

Silence.

But I couldn’t stand that.Rubes, I think I’m in love with him.

Finally. Took you long enough to admit it, babe.

I laughed, soft and stupid, and dropped onto the chair before the french doors, knees to my chin.

I know I’m going to get hurt. There’s no way this ends with me, like, riding off with him into the sunset.

Nice visual. But why don’t you just enjoy the sunrise while it’s there.