That someone was the man she’d lost her heart to.
And the one holding his hand out to her as he stepped closer.
She went into his arms for a hug. There was no resistance and no reason for it.
Just a hug, then a tiny kiss as he bent down to put one on her lips.
But it was that moment her door opened and her father was standing there.
She supposed it could have been worse.
“Nora,” her father snapped, storming in and slamming the door hard enough to rattle the frame. The sharpclickof the lock made her stomach tighten. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
She lifted her chin. “Kissing my boyfriend.”
She wasn’t a teenager sneaking out past curfew. Not that he’d ever been around for her to do that.
She wasn’t going to shrink under his voice again.
She wasn’t going to allow him to make her feel like shit.
“Yourboyfriend?” Her father’s tone rose, disbelief turning to fury. “You came here for a job, and you’re throwing it all away by screwing your boss? Ethan, I’m not surprised, but you”— he jabbed a finger at her—“I raised you better than this. You’re an embarrassment to me. To yourself to do this.”
“Whoa,” Ethan cut in, his voice dangerously low. “You don’t talk to Nora like that.”
“I’ll talk to my daughter however I damn well please. Stay out of it.” Her father glared between them, disgust twisting his features. She’d never seen him like this before. Never this angry.Not even when he’d fought with her mother when she’d been a child. “I should have known this would happen. You always get caught up in something messy. I’m guessing this isn’t the first time your actions could or have gotten you fired from a job. How many were there?”
Her pulse pounded in her ears. How could he ever think this? For years she’d been an embarrassment to him for not fitting in, not looking the part he thought she should, now that he approved of the changes she’d made, he was laying this on her?!
“None. And for the record, Ethan and Ilove each other.You don’t get to stand here and tear that apart because you don’t approve.”
“I don’t need to approve,” her father snapped. “What I see is someone throwing away every ounce of self-respect. Maybe this ‘new lifestyle’ of yours gave you permission to behave like this.”
“Norris.” Ethan’s tone turned lethal. “You’re about to cross a line you won’t come back from.”
Her father snorted. “Oh, please.”
“This ismybuilding,” Ethan said, stepping closer, his voice steady and unyielding. “Mycompany. The only person above me is my father. It’s sure as hell not you. Not even a lick of power over your daughter here. If I wanted to fire your ass right now for talking to Nora that way, I could. And trust me, my father would back me.”
“He’d never support this circus,” her father spat, waving a dismissive hand. “You’re delusional.”
Ethan’s eyes hardened. “Actually, he’s known about us for months. Both of my parents have.And they support it.” He pointed toward the door. “Now get the hell out of this office, and don’t youeverspeak to Nora like that again.”
Her father unlocked the door, flung it open, and stormed out without another word.
She exhaled shakily, the air thick with leftover anger. She turned and closed the door again. “Ethan,” she said, her voice unsteady. “You shouldn’t have said that to him.”
“What?” He blinked at her, disbelief etched across his face. “You’re joking, right? You think I’m just going to stand here and let him talk to you like that? Talk aboutuslike that? No, Nora. Never. Don’t eventhinkthat. Be grateful I wasn’t raising my voice like him.”
But the sharp edge in his tone made her flinch.
This was a side of him she’d never seen before. A controlled fury, protective to a fault, every inch the powerful man people whispered about in the halls.
And suddenly, it scared her. Scared her like it had when her father had held so much power over her as a child.
The power to make her shrink back. To feel tiny and insecure. Not worthy of him or his love.
She hated she had that flashback of the control she lacked.
