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“That’s supposed to make it better? You still could have told me! How long ago did she try to hire you?”
He lifted a hand to rub the back of his neck, knowing honesty was best, but dreading it all the same. “A couple of weeks ago.”
Her brown eyes went wide. “Weeks?”
“That day when you came to my office and we went to lunch. I got a phone call—”
“And had to leave,” she finished. “Good God, that was my mother?”
“No, it was one of the senior partners. All potential clients go through him first, and he assigns them as he sees fit.”
“But she requested you,” Georgiana said. “On that day.”
Andrew nodded.
“Of course,” she said, digging the heels of her hands into her eye sockets. “Because you’re the best, and she’d want the best when she decided to leave my dad.”
Her voice was raw, and he stepped toward her, wanting to hold her, but she batted his hand away. “Don’t.”
It was no less than he expected, but the rejection chafed all the same. “Georgiana, I understand why you’re angry. You have to know that I wanted to tell you, but client confidentiality—”
“It was my mom, Andrew! My family!” she yelled. “I get that you’re a robot sometimes, but do you understand that you were helping my parents get divorced? And that one of them didn’t even know?”
“I understand, but—”
“No but,” she said, exploding into a ball of fury. Her hands were hitting his shoulders now, the frantic gesture hurting his heart a lot more than his body. “To think that just as I was starting to believe in love, you were busy destroying it.”
He swallowed, the pain of her accusation blasting him like an arrow to the heart. “That’s not fair. I didn’t ask for this.”
“Maybe not,” she said, dropping her head so that her chin rested tiredly on her chest. “Maybe not. But it doesn’t change what you are.”
“Which is?” he asked through gritted teeth, knowing the answer would hurt.
Her eyes were clear. Accusing. “You’re the Tin Man. Isn’t that the character with no heart? You may have been right that day. I’m the Scarecrow, with no brain. I feel like today probably proves it, because I so did not see this coming. But I’d rather be a little flighty than cold. I’d rather be short on brains than short on heart.”
The hurt was sharp and unfamiliar, and it made him angry. “Georgiana. Stop. Just stop. I know you’re upset, but stop overreacting and think about this logically.”
He knew it was the wrong thing to say even before she went deadly still and stared at him. “Overreacting? My family is falling apart, you kept it a secret, and I’m overreacting? And you want logic? News flash, robot. Not everything can be logical. Some things are messy, and—”
“Only because you make them messy!” he shouted, furious that he couldn’t get control of the situation. “You want a news flash? Here’s one: not everything works out like your stupid movies. In fact, most things don’t. This is real life, Georgiana. Grow up.”
His voice was harsh, but not as harsh as the silence that followed his outburst.
She was crying, messy tears running down her face because she was messy. Messy and emotional and…
Georgiana swiped angrily at her tears, smearing her makeup in the process and not seeming to care in the least.
“So,” she said, her voice flat. “We’re done here?”
Done? Hell no, they weren’t done. Not now, not ever.
He inhaled to rein in his temper and frustration. “Why don’t we talk after you’ve calmed down?”
Again it was the wrong thing to say. She let out a short, mirthless laugh, her head falling back as she blinked up at the ceiling.
When she brought her gaze back to him once more, her beautiful eyes were cold and hard, and she looked nothing like the woman he knew. The woman he adored. “You know what, Andrew? If growing up and calming down mean I’ll end up more like you, I’ll take a pass on that.”
“Georgiana—”
