Page 102 of Feel It in the Air

I won’t be the woman who slept her way to the top. And I won’t let him be the guy who took advantage of a female employee.

“I’ll give notice next week. It’ll save Hayes time, trouble, and the embarrassment of having to do the inquiry. It’ll leave you unscathed as Hayes’s next CEO.”

“Fuck that!” he exclaims. “I do not care about this job more than you, Margeaux.”

Gus takes two large steps, closing the gap I put between us. There’s less than an inch of space, the heat of his body swirling around me like steam billowing from a street grate, drawing me into him. He doesn’t touch me, just stares down, his eyes as dark and deep as I’ve ever seen them.

“Margeaux, I love you. You were, are, and forever will be worth every risk I have to take. Personally, professionally, doesn’t matter. All that matters to me is that you are by my side as I’m taking that risk.”

I gasp, trying to remember how to breathe. But it’s no use. My lungs have stopped working, right along with all the air Gus sucked out of the room with his declaration. His beautiful, heartfelt declaration.

The tickle of a single tear on my cheek catches me off guard, stealing my attention long enough to delay my response.

“If you really want to end this, I’ll respect that. But only if that’s really what you want. But if you can’t tell me that’s what you want, what you really, really want, then I’m in this. Wholeheartedly. Without question. Just like Tom Petty, because I won’t back down.”

My knees wobble, a sob escaping as the rest of my tears break free. Leave it to Gus to get both the Spice Girls and Tom Petty in there. Although I bet he has no idea he did the first one, and would probably kick himself if he realized it. Making his words mean that much more.

Making what I have to do now hurt that much more.

But I can’t let him do this. I can’t let him lay it all on the line for me.

“I’m taking the job with Dexter. You’ll have my formal resignation on Monday.”

There. Done. Simple as that.

Except it’s not. Every fiber of my being is screaming to take it back. To tell him that I love him too. That if there was ever a man who was worth that risk, that he, August Calder Hayes, is it. Because there is no man on earth like him. No one who has ever understood me like him.

Loved me like him.

And there will probably never be again.

“Don’t let her win,” he grinds out, jaw ticking.

I shrug, careful to keep the small distance between us rather than lean into him. “It’s too late for that.”

Sucking in a breath, I gather the last bit of energy I have to step around him. Cool air rushes around me, making me shiver, and not in the same glorious way that Gus did earlier when he kissed me. No, this shiver is the same one I felt in Europe as the cold wind whipped late at night, leaving me feeling like I’d never be warm again.

Which is exactly how I feel right now.

I don’t stop until I’m at the door, swinging it open wide, hoping he’ll get the message. Looking back at me, like a poor, dejected puppy, Gus nods.

“We’re not done talking about this, pretty girl,” he tells me, stopping right in front of me on his way out.

I don’t reply, knowing that regardless of the words I choose, my voice will betray me. Will show him that I don’t have the strength he thought.

Closing the door, I sink down to the ground, my knees giving out. My heart isn’t far behind, pain slicing through me like the lightning in the sky the night Gus and I met. Pain that won’t go away for a long time. If ever. Leaving Hickory Hills won’t change that.

But at least I’ll have my career.

I don’t know how long I sit like this. Long enough that my legs start to go numb and I know I should move. I don’t, but I should. The pins and needles in my lower limbs match how the rest of me feels, a heinous mix of stinging pain that feels as if it will never subside.

My phone rattles, cutting through the pain, stealing my attention and pushing the large red button that is my last nerve. Seriously. Can’t a girl even wallow in peace?

Pushing to my feet, I grab at it, ready to shut it off completely, then grab the Cherry Garcia again and find the saddest movie I know. One that I know will rip my heart out so that I can pretend that I’m crying from that.

Papa Duck

Magic is in the air! Can you feel it?