AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Don’t be.” The words came out harsher than he’d intended, but he didn’t want pity. Didn’t deserve it. Not after the fool he’d been. “I can forgive myself those first few months. But I shouldn’t have been so taken in. I should have ended it.”
He stopped short of telling her the last thing Nicole had done in an attempt to keep him on the hook. The pain and anger at how ruthlessly she’d acted, how hard she’d tried to manipulate him in one last desperate act, still pulsed inside him, raw and ugly.
“Adrian, I don’t know anyone who hasn’t made mistakes when it comes to a relationship,” she tried. “Even me.”
Her defense and her compassion touched him. But it didn’t matter. Compassion couldn’t erase the years of damage that had been done.
He’d accepted that falling into that relationship with Nicole had just been a Band-Aid for the bigger issue—the hole left by years of firstly abandonment, and then the confusion and heartache his mother had wrought. He didn’t just avoid relationships to protect himself. No, he protected others from falling for a man who by all appearances was the epitome of success, but who outside of his career was nothing more than a damaged, hollow shell.
The hand on his shoulder made him start. He looked up to see Everleigh looking down at him with such mercy in her eyes it churned his stomach. He didn’t deserve any of it.
“Adrian—”
“Don’t.” He stood, making her drop her hand from his shoulder, and moved away. Distance. He needed distance from the temptation she offered with her kind heart and passionate soul.
“Nicole manipulated me. I will never put someone else through that hell. I’ve shared this with you to explain why I won’t be a part of the hiring process.” He turned and caught her gaze with his, needing her to understand. “And why we can never have more than one night.”
Seconds ticked by. He saw her jaw work as if she wanted to say something, a myriad of emotions flashing across her beautiful face. And then she took a step back. Relief clashed with regret. He wanted her. But he’d already taken too much from her, with nothing to offer in return. Everleigh was a forever kind of girl. And forever was something he could never give any woman.
“I understand.” She smoothed the wrinkles from her skirt. “Thank you for sharing, Adrian. Just remember—everyone makes mistakes, including you. You shouldn’t have to keep paying for it.”
She started to walk away. His heart clenched. He wanted her to stay. How many times had a woman walked away from him? His mother, so many times over the years. Nicole, when she’d stalked down the driveway in a flight of fury.
But there were no tears from Everleigh. No, there was grace and compassion—an offering so tempting he barely restrained himself from reaching out and grasping her gift as if it was a life-preserver that would pull him out of the emotionless prison he’d created for himself.
She paused, one hand on the doorframe, and turned to look back at him. “I imagine it’s pointless stating this now, but I did not give up my virginity to secure that job.”
Maldición.“Everleigh, I never thought that. Not once.”
A wistful smile appeared. “Thank you.”
With that she turned and slipped out of the room.
He wanted to follow her, sweep her into his arms, take her home and carry her up the stairs to his room, where he would lay her naked across his bed and take her to new heights of passion until she was crying out his name. He wanted to feel not just her body beneath his but the emotions she inspired...warmth and protectiveness and affection.
But he sat, hands curled into fists, until the sound of her footsteps had faded.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
EVERLEIGHPAUSEDINthe hallway outside Adrian’s office a few days later, her heart hammering like a jackhammer. The last time she’d stood here she’d been vacillating between anger at his silence in the days since they’d made love and shame that it bothered her so much. Emotions that had been tempered by their interaction and which had vanished altogether when Adrian had shared why he was turning the decision about Fox’s director over to a hiring panel.
As much as she wanted him to name her director, he was right. If someone found out that they’d slept together, and that he’d been behind her promotion, her career in the wine industry would be ruined. The fact that he’d even considered her reputation in all this had left her with a dangerously warm feeling in her belly.
Then there’d been his confession about Nicole. Just thinking about it made her chest hurt. The more he’d shared, the more the puzzle pieces had fallen into place. She physically ached for the young man who had just wanted to be loved for who he was, for the years he’d been punishing himself by never allowing another woman into his life.
The more she came to know him, the greater was the challenge in keeping her feelings at bay. Still, she’d made the effort to do just that.
The last few days had passed in a hazy blur. As much as she’d initially detested the idea of working with another team, she’d actually enjoyed collaborating with Cabrera Wine’s marketing department. Led by Jade, a no-nonsense director with a dry sense of humor, the team had showered her with compliments while also providing suggestions and feedback that had given her a boost she hadn’t felt in years.
New ideas were flowing as if a dam had been opened, and the work she was putting in was some of the best she’d ever produced. And with her busy schedule she’d thought she’d succeeded in keeping her thoughts off Adrian.
Except whenever he dropped in to discuss the upcoming party with the marketing team and their eyes met, restrained passion snapping in the air with such electricity she couldn’t believe no one else felt the heat. Or at night when she awoke, damp and gasping, from another dream that seemed so real she could still feel Adrian’s lips lingering on her skin even as her hands clutched the cool empty sheets beside her.
It wasn’t just the memories of their ardent night that kept him in her mind. It was seeing him greet the receptionist by name and ask about her recently married son. It was watching him hold an umbrella over an elderly man outside the office one rainy afternoon while his designer suit got soaked.
Most of all, it was the pain he’d trusted her with that afternoon. How had she ever thought him cold and unfeeling? Beneath the billionaire’s mask he was an incredible man who, while powerful and sometimes downright arrogant, was also intelligent, kind, and just as passionate about his career as she was about hers.
Now she stood outside his door, heart fluttering and knees weak. Adrian had sent her another frustratingly brief email, asking to see her in his office as soon as possible. Her mind raced with possibilities. Did he want to talk about her work? The sale? Or was he, too, still consumed with illicit memories of their night together?
