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As it had been the day she’d met Nathan, the office light was on.
A feeling of déjà vu swept over her, and she paused to check the nameplate on the wall before opening the door and walking in.
Nathan stood there, near her desk, looking like…
He shocked her.
His suit was immaculate, but he hadn’t shaved. His hair was unkempt, a lock falling over his forehead, green eyes dark, tortured, looking so ragged that she hardly recognized him as her boss and former Dominant.
She hesitated before adjusting her bag on her shoulder and heading toward her desk. “Good morning, Mr. Donovan.”
He pulled up a chair, sat across from her then slid across a gigantic cup that had the word employee written on it.
“Your mocha,” he said.
She frowned. But recognizing the logo and Marvin’s handwriting, she accepted it before putting her purse in a desk drawer and taking a seat. “I’m confused.”
“I stopped in. I asked Marvin to tell you they were out of mocha.”
“He did.” She took a big drink, and the hot, creamy chocolate and coffee taste went a long way toward her forgiving both of them. “I don’t understand.”
He slid a bag toward her.
“He wasn’t out of scones, either?”
“I had a drink with Connor yesterday,” he said instead of responding.
She froze, her hand midway to her mouth. “Oh?” She pretended to be uninterested.
“You’ve been shortlisted for the position at BHI.”
Her hand trembling, she put down the cup. She hadn’t heard. But he shouldn’t have been informed before she was.
“I asked Connor to remove you from the list.”
She stood. “Wait a minute! You can’t do that. You shouldn’t even know I applied, let alone be able to—”
“Stop. Please.”
If he’d used a sharp tone or held up a hand, she would have gathered her belongings and left or snapped back, but there was a tone in his voice that she’d never heard before.
“Please, Kelsey. I don’t deserve to have you hear me out. But I’m asking. Five minutes of your time. That’s all. If you want to be angry, rage, fine. You’ll get all the time you want and need to ask me questions and have your say. Please give me the chance to talk. Five minutes. Please.”
She sat back down.
“I screwed up. I’ve had plenty of time to think over the last couple of days. I’m a bit ashamed of how long it took me to figure it out. And unless I’d had that drink with Connor, I still might not have. Let me start over, pretend it’s Sunday morning at your condo.”
She took a sip, listening.
Obviously filled with nervous energy, he stood.
“I should have asked what you wanted to do with the rest of the day. I should have asked what you wanted out of a relationship, what mattered to you. And I should have listened.” He raked both hands in his hair then he propped his palms on his hips, holding back his suit coat. “I’m an idiot. I want you.”
Unable to pretend disinterest, she put down her cup again.
“And I want to know from you how that can happen. If you want to move in, I’d love it. If you want to stay at your house a few nights a week, fine. If you want to firebomb my place and build a castle with a turret, fine.”
Don’t do this to me. This Nathan was impossible to resist.
“I talked about what I wanted from you, but not what I was willing to offer you in return. I want you to chase your dreams and choose whatever life you want. I will not stand in the way of anything you hope to achieve.”
“BHI?”
“Even that.”
Kelsey reached for a pen and tapped it on her blotter, thinking through what his words meant. She needed to leave him as badly as she wanted to stay.
“And I started thinking about the fact Lara has you on her shortlist. And it occurred to me you should run Donovan Logistics.”
She dropped the pen. “What?”
“There’s no one better. Even me. You have the trust of the employees, of me. You’ve got the qualifications and the experience. I think you’re suited for it, and I think you’d look good in the executive office. I talked to Newman. He agrees it’s an excellent idea.”
“And Connor?”
“Agrees with me. Freeing up more of my time for the Dallas deal would be a good thing.”
“Are you moving there?”
“No. Even if the deal closes, we’ll insert one of our own CEOs. But I would be vacating this office.” He jerked his finger toward the open door.
“I’m not quite sure what to say.”
“My five minutes are almost up.”
“You have more?”
“Yeah. The hard part.”
