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I swung the door open and stormed out, not about to take another second of his shit. Alisha pointed to my office as I got closer, indicating that Kimberley was inside. Flinging the door open, I laughed internally at the woman sitting in the chair at my desk. Dressed to the nines, she definitely played the part well. I walked around my desk and sat down, looking up at my wife.
I stared at her with wide eyes, shocked at what I was seeing. I blinked, thinking maybe I was imagining things, but she was very much real and sitting right in front of me. “Crap. What are you doing here?” I asked Rose.
She was fucking beautiful, her hair styled in a fancy updo that was definitely a different look for her. I’d never seen her dressed like one of the ladies who lunch. I stood and walked around the desk, gripping her by the arm. “How did you find me?”
“Me? How did you findme?”
“What are you talking about? You’re in my office!”
“Your…” She swallowed hard, then swayed on her feet. I lowered her into the chair, even though it was best she get out of here before Kimberley walked in. But my need to take care of her overwhelmed the urgency of keeping her away from my wife.
I grabbed my phone as I stared at Rose, dialing Alisha. “I need you to keep my wife out of here until I can…help my guest exit the building.”
“Sir, that is your wife in there.”
“No, this is—”
“Sir, I asked to see her identification. That is most definitely one hundred percent your wife.”
I slowly lowered the phone from my ear. Rose’s eyes locked on mine in panic, confusion, and longing. She was obviously just as confused as I was. I shoved away from her, pacing my office as I tried to wrap my mind around this. The woman of my dreams was here, right the fuck in front of me. But this was all wrong. She wasn’t one ofthosewomen. She was fun and…and none of the things I thought my wife would be. But she was here, and part of me was so fucking happy about that.
“James,” she whispered. “What’s going on?”
“You’re not Rose,” I said scathingly. I wasn’t sure why I was so mad. She wasn’t who she said she was, but then again, neither was I. Had I been honest with her from the start, the pieces would have clicked into place for both of us.
“I didn’t go by Kimberley on the island. It’s my middle name. I was trying to hide who I was.”
“From me?” I asked, spinning to face her.
“From everyone! I had just become Mrs. Alexander Langston. I didn’t want anyone to find me. James isn’t your name either.”
“I haven’t gone by Alexander in a long time. Not even my father calls me that anymore.”
I ran my hand through my hair, trying to figure out where to go from here. I glanced at the clock and realized we only had fifteen minutes before the board meeting.
“Look, we have to meet the board in fifteen minutes. It has to appear as though we didn’t just realize we were fucking for the past six months and didn’t even realize who the fuck the other person was.”
At my tone, her nostrils flared and she stood, poised and ready for anything I threw at her. “That shouldn’t be a problem. I’ll just pretend you were someone else the whole time.”
Ouch. Yeah, I’d fucked up big time. “I’m sorry. I just…you’re not who I thought you were, and now I have to meet with the board. I didn’t expect—”
“I’m perfectly aware of what you expected. Don’t worry. I’ll do my job in there. I may have been a different person on the beach, but I know what contract I signed.”
I could only nod to her. I didn’t know what else to say or do. But as she turned to stride out the door, I found myself stopping her. “Rose.” Her shoulders stiffened at the name, but she turned to face me. “Will you come over to my apartment for dinner tonight? We can discuss this further.”
She gave a stiff nod and continued out the door. I followed, shooting Alisha a glare, but she just quirked an eyebrow, letting me know this was one hundred percent on me.
