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“I will,” I promise as the paramedics wheel him out the front door and into the ambulance.
Stephanie and Megan are wide-eyed, and knowing that we’re not going to get anything done today, I tell them, “Thanks for the quick thinking on your feet. Why don’t you transfer the calls to one station and head home?”
“Oh, no, we can’t leave you—” Megan starts, but Stephanie cuts her off.
“You heard the woman, let’s go!” Stephanie shoves Megan to the desk, grabbing both their purses and doing a few quick clicks on the phone system. “We’re out, Boss!”
Daniel sends Ricky and Billy upstairs, and Mr. Yuri and Ms. Maloney left for their respective departments an hour ago to start working on the Mark and Brandon issue. Finally, it’s just me and Daniel, who stayed and led through all of it. He’s holding up well despite all the madness, but I know this was hard on him. The stress is showing in the frown lines around his pressed lips and the coldness in his eyes.
“So, what now?” I ask him, falling into my office chair in exhaustion. “I know you must have a dozen other bits of fallout to deal with on this.”
He comes closer, around to my side of the desk, but doesn’t touch me. Quietly, he says, “There are probably still people here working, especially after a day like this.”
I smile, adding a tiny laugh of understanding. “You don’t want to risk their seeing us?”
He nods but puts his hand out to touch mine. “For your sake, not mine. The impact on your standing could be . . . difficult.”
“The gossip would be wildfire.” I gently caress his fingers as he does the same to mine, the simple touch electric.
“Everything you’ve worked for would come into question. Some would probably question your sanity for being with an old man.”
I’m about to call him on that again, maybe remind him of how not-old he was last night, but he winks at me. He’s teasing. After everything that happened today, he’s still himself . . . with me.
“Honestly, I don’t care at the moment, but I get your point. So . . . your place tonight? I’ll cook dinner so you can relax. You need it.” I look out my office door to the now empty floor and still open conference room door. “What a fucking day.”
Daniel sighs, trusting me enough to let down his guard and show that he’s tired too. “I’m sorry, but I need to work late and handle all this. I want it over with as soon as possible.”
I stand up, fixing my skirt. “I understand.”
Before he can react, and because I honestly couldn’t give two shits about office gossip or who might see us, I lean forward and kiss him tenderly, if a bit chastely, on the lips. This is not a precursor to hot, wild sex. This is comfort, softness, a reminder that he can lean into me and I’ll be here for him. Always.
He returns the kiss, cupping my face and sweeping a thumb over my cheekbone. We lean into each other, pressing our foreheads together, and he whispers, “Thank you.”
I smile and cup his face back. “You’re welcome. My love.”
He draws strength from my words and clears his throat. “My love.”
That makes today’s whole shit show worth it.
Chapter 23
Daniel
The sun goes down, the sky darkens, and moonlight slowly illuminates my office, but other than my desk lamp, I leave the lights off. I don’t want it. I sent everyone home hours ago, but for me, work’s not done. So here I sit, alone in my office.
Same as I’ve done for years. But now, it feels different.
Emptier. For the first time since I can remember, I know there’s someplace else I want to be, someone else I want to be with.
But the more I focus on Tiffany and how much I’d rather be with her, the longer it’s going to be until I can get there. So instead, I pour myself a scotch and stare out the window to the valley below as I sip it, trying to refocus.
It’s amazing how much things have changed, I think. When I started here at Fox, the shallow canyon and valley below were pitch black at night for miles, with the glow of the city barely peeking over the hills beyond. On weekends when I’d come in, you could sometimes hear kids on dirt bikes buzzing through the canyon, chasing each other and scaring the hell out of the occasional rattlesnake.
Now? Well, the close-up canyon is still black. The property is owned by Fox itself, after all. But just beyond that, I can see a light from a gas station, and a little further, the lights of the subdivision that was built right about the time I took over the CEO suite. And in daylight, you can see the gap between the subdivision and the gas station getting filled in with more construction. The city’s slowly expanding to swallow Fox up.
