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She thought of her relationship with her parents and how rough things had been. After she left here, she was going to pay them a visit. What if they’d been reading each other wrong this whole time? What if there was healing around the corner? What if one conversation where no one held back would finally clear the air? And if her parents felt the same way as they always had, that, too, would be an answer.
Knowing was better.
“I have the perfect job with an amazing company. And I spent a really great month with a really great guy,” Addi said. The silver lining was there, even if it hurt to think about it.
“That’s very mature of you.” Carey’s eyebrows bent with sympathy. “You don’t have to be okay right away, you know.”
“I’m not.” Addi gave her friend a brittle smile. “But I will be. I’m strong. I’m professional. I’m practical.” It was her heart that was impractical and unprofessional.
If Bran was willing to let the whole proposal thing go and invite her back to work, and after she’d dropped a big F-you at his feet, she’d be crazy not to accept his offer.
She’d been out in the real world, and knew she could find another job. But ThomKnox was more than a job. It was a passion.
So she and Bran weren’t going to be married and live happily ever after. That didn’t mean she had to forgo her professional future at ThomKnox.
Monday morning, Bran stepped into the office, half expecting Peggy the temp to be there in spite of him canceling her contract last week.
Maybe that’s why he wasn’t surprised to see someone standing at Addison’s desk. But he hadn’t expected a trim, beautiful blonde wearing a teal green dress. Her hair was down. Sleek and straight and brushing her shoulders. She turned her head and saw him and he froze in his tracks.
It was the first full breath he’d taken since she left. The first time he felt a sliver of hope that she might not hate him.
“Addi.” It wasn’t much of a greeting, but he couldn’t think of a single other thing to say. He’d been trying to bribe and beg her to come back, and here she was. “What are you doing here?”
She’d told him to fuck off. She’d quit. And the day he called her to explain himself, he’d been a bigger ass than he had the day she proposed.
She came out from behind the desk and smoothed her hands over her dress. She looked so soft and touchable, and he wanted to touch her. Touch her and reassure her that he didn’t mean any of what he said last week, except the part about wanting her to come back.
“Unless you’ve changed your mind since last week, I would like to resume my position as your executive assistant,” she said, her mouth firm. “Maybe in the future I can find another position within ThomKnox, but for now, if you’ll agree, I can work with you until you find my replacement.”
He didn’t want a replacement. At this desk or by his side.
“The point is,” she continued, as beautiful and brave as he’d ever seen her, “I can’t leave the best job I’ve ever had. Or the best family I’ve ever worked for. Are you willing to forget everything that happened and move on?”
Absolutely not.He didn’t want to forget it. He wanted to revel in it.
After he’d spoken to Jayson after dinner, Bran had lain in the guest bedroom of his parents’ house, wide awake. Anger, frustration and guilt took turns throwing punches until he gave up on sleep and climbed out of bed. He went back outside to sit in the same spot he was in before, but this time, stars dotted the dark sky and the twisting grapevines were gnarled fingers reaching from the ground.
What was he afraid of?
Addison had handed over her heart, so bold, and he’d been a total pussy. And he’d continued trying to stuff her into the limited space he’d reserved for their relationship when they expanded far past it. The sex was fun but it was also so much more. They’d laid out their hearts and dreams to each other. Addi was right when she accused him of making promises with his body. He had.
He’d sat on that patch of grass until the sun rose over the vineyards the next morning. Only then did he stumble inside and make coffee, greeting his siblings and parents with a hazy “good morning.” The conclusion he’d come to in those hours alone made him sick and hopeful at the same time.
He’d fallen in love with Addison Abrams, and he hadn’t even known it.
He’d decided a long time ago what love looked like but nothing in his immediate world matched the picture in his head. He’d never imagined being proposed to, assuming he’d be the one down on one knee. He’d be the one delivering the big speech and the profession of love.
Addison had ripped the rug from under his feet and he’d fallen on his ass. When she asked him to marry her, he wasn’t ready. And what really threw him off was that if she hadn’t asked, he might never have been ready. If she’d let them continue to be the underdeveloped version of themselves, they could have gone on the way they were for months. Years. What a loss that would have been.
As hard as he’d fought against planning anything in life, he’d done it anyway. Not making a decision was a decision. Not having a goal was, in its own way, a goal. Declaring that him and Addison were one thing meant they couldn’t be more.
“I had a great time with you, Brannon.” Her voice was small, tender. Her eyes weren’t tear-filled, but they reflected the anguish he knew she’d suffered. “I don’t regret it. Not any of it.”
It was killing him to see her like this. He wanted to kiss her. Scoop her into his arms and apologize for every dumb thing he’d done since their shared road trip. Tell her that he didn’t hold her at fault, but he held her in his heart and wanted nothing more than to hold her in his arms.
“I haven’t changed my mind about wanting you,” he said, but the moment she frowned, he hurriedly added, “here at work.”
Damn. This was hard. It’d taken a lot for her to be so vulnerable with him—so honest. Now that he knew how he felt about her, admitting it was downright terrifying. He could blurt out everything and be shot down, which, arguably, he deserved. She’d bared her heart before and he’d stomped on it.
