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She didn’t look half as miserable as he felt. The tan she’d gotten from their traveling only added to her natural beauty. Her golden hair fell in soft waves around her shoulders and her knee-length baby blue sundress only made her look that much more wholesome and innocent.
“I’m sorry,” she said, looking past Cade to Mona. “I just came by to get some of my things from my desk. I won’t get in the way.”
Cade had a feeling she was talking about a lot more than the present meeting.
“You’re not in the way,” he told her, but he was talking to her retreating back.
“Damn,” he muttered, running a hand through his hair and turning to Mona.
She came to her feet. “I’m leaving. Talk to her. I’m sorry if I caused this.”
“You didn’t,” he assured her. “I did all this damage on my own.”
“Just sign those papers,” she reminded him. “I’ll come for the dress later. I don’t think that’s a good idea right now.”
Smart and beautiful. “You’ll make some man very happy.”
She smiled and left, leaving Cade to his own misery and mess.
As he went to his doorway, his heart clenched at the sight of Abby taking a box of pictures from her bottom drawer. He’d never seen that box or the contents, but he could only assume it held treasured pictures of her mother.
“Can you come in here for a minute?” he asked.
She turned, clutching the box to her chest. “I think we’ve said everything. Let’s not rehash the mistakes we made.”
“I know I don’t deserve your time, but I’m asking for one minute anyway.”
Abby sighed. “One minute.”
Elated from such a small victory, Cade stepped aside, allowing her to pass through.
“You said you loved me,” he said without much thought to how he would actually use his one precious minute.
“I did.”
He quirked a brow. “Did?”
“Fine. I do. I can’t turn my feelings for people on and off, Cade. I’m human. Is that what you called me in here for? To hear that I love you so I could add to your ego trip? Mona’s visit wasn’t enough?”
Cade eased toward her, even though he knew it wasn’t a smart move. “I deserve that. But I have to tell you—”
That damn chime to the door sounded again.
“Better go get that,” she told him. “You’re short an assistant.”
He groaned and made his way to get rid of whoever was in the lobby.
A young, college-aged woman stood holding a purse and a folder. “Hi. I’m Kelly Armstrong from the temp agency.”
She couldn’t have been five minutes later?
“Have a seat.” He gestured to the empty desk. “I’ll be out in five minutes.”
Just as he turned to go back into his office, Abby brushed past him and out the door.
“Is this a bad time?” the temp asked.
Cade glanced over his shoulder. “Actually, yes it is. I will make sure you get paid for today, but is there any way you could just come back in the morning?”
“Absolutely.”
Once she was gone, Cade went back into his office and froze.
The legal documents to form the multi-billion-dollar merger were spread across his desk. He had not done that. He’d left them in a neat stack.
Obviously, Abby had shuffled through them. And left her own mark.
Coiled on top of one of the papers were his grandmother’s pearls.
Abby didn’t sulk. Really. She liked to think shopping and buying outrageous items she couldn’t afford was simply a cleansing of her life. Hard on the credit card, but a nice, temporary pick-me-up.
She hadn’t used her credit card for months and she was certainly making up for it.
Shoes, purses, raw silk dresses with the skinny belts, a variety of summer casual clothes—those made her happy. But when she went into an upscale furniture store and picked out a brand-new bedroom suite, that elated her…for now.
A mahogany sleigh bed—to be delivered in two days—would look nice with the jewel-toned bedding set she’d seen in a catalog. She also picked out a matching armoire and dresser. She didn’t care that all this enormous furniture would take up the majority of her studio apartment.
On her drive back to her apartment, Abby felt a bit better about the new things in her life. But she knew nothing, absolutely nothing, could fill the void. Just like she knew she had no one to blame but herself.
Was she sorry she’d gone after what she’d wanted? No. At least she’d had a few days of loving Cade. Just because he didn’t want to accept her gift, didn’t mean she’d change anything.
She wasn’t going to beg, she wasn’t going to grovel. But she also wasn’t going to sit around and mope, feeling sorry for herself.
