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“Maybe. But I’m not sure. Henri may be coming to New York next weekend.”
His brows creased. “Henri? I thought he… Did he tell you he was coming next weekend?”
“He said he wanted to come when I talked to him on Wednesday. But with Anna-Laure’s chemo, who knows.”
“Wednesday? Have you talked to him since then?”
“No, but I’ll talk to him tomorrow. Why are you asking?”
He pulled out his cell phone and scrolled through his messages. “Just a business matter. It’s nothing. I’ll email him tomorrow.”
She struggled to get her heavy coat off. “It’s warm in here. Ow—my hair’s caught on something.”
He dropped his cell on the seat and sprang across the car to help her. “Wait, it’s caught on this button. There, I’ve got it.”
As he pulled the coat from her shoulders, he remained on the seat beside her. The knots in her stomach grew larger.
“How’s Gram doing?”
“I finally insisted she see a doctor and get checked out. They didn’t find anything wrong with her. And by Thursday, she said she was ‘hunky-dory.’”
“That’s great.”
“Anne…” His serious tone made her throat constrict. “I think we should talk about last Tuesday.”
“You mean the office rumor about us sleeping together? I’ve come to terms with that. I mean I can certainly see why everyone would think that.”
“No, I meant… Wait—what do you mean, you see why they would think that?”
“You’re you, and I’m me. I got a promotion. Why else would you promote me, right? Only you and I know that would never happen.”
“Because you wouldn’t sleep with a man unless you were married to him, right?”
Anne was relieved. Maybe he actually got it now. “Right. So if you decide you don’t want to promote me after all, I’ll understand.”
“What do you mean? Why would I decide—” The muscles in Steven's jaw began to flex and she could see him breathing hard. When he finally spoke again, his voice was full of hurt. “Are you implying I actually promoted you so you would sleep with me? Is that what you think of me? After all this time together, you actually think that little of me?”
“No… I—”
“I can’t believe it, Anne. Why would you think that?”
“I… I’m sorry. I didn’t know what else to think. After you… you know… And I was embarrassed because I was so… you know…”
“So you put two and two together and came up with thirteen?”
“Well—”
“There are other logical conclusions you could have made.”
“Logic has never been my strong point.”
“No kidding! And I sent you on my jet to Fort Worth because…?”
“I don’t know. I feel really bad about that. I wish you’d gotten me a regular ticket. I’ll find some way to pay you back.”
“I don’t want you to pay me back.”
Anne chewed on her lower lip. “But I owe you so much. I’m a proud person—I don’t like to be indebted. You don’t know how that feels.”
