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His forehead creases and he turns to stare at me. “I thought you put in your two week’s notice. Won’t you be gone by then?” He asks and I groan when I feel Promise stiffen beside me.
Her head slowly turns to me. I don’t look at her. “Yes, sir. But I still planned on keeping in touch.”
“I don’t think that’s appropriate. I mean, you do have a clause in your contract about working with competition.”
“I know. But there are some things here that mean a lot to me.” I refuse to look at Promise right now but I hope she understands what I’m saying.
Alexander’s eyes dart back and forth and he seems to notice the tension of all of a sudden. “Well, I should head upstairs. You two might want to head upstairs as well. I’m about to announce who’s getting the promotion.”
He nods his gray head and stalks out of the office.
I chance a quick look at Promise, wincing when I see how still and pale she looks.
“I need to get upstairs now.” She moves past me, her spine stiff and unyielding. Like a queen. My queen.
I hold out a hand to touch her but she flinches away. “I don’t want to talk about this right now, Drake. You should have told me what you did before we did that.” Her hand waves to the table and she flushes red before stomping out of the room.
“I’m in deep shit here, aren’t I?” I ask myself. Because I can already see the writing on the wall with Promise. She doesn’t suffer fools lightly and I get the feeling that right now she considers me the biggest fool she’s ever met.
My shoulders dropping, I follow her slim figure down the hall and upstairs to the banquet room, hoping that I get the chance to explain myself because I’m not sure if my sweetheart is in the mood to listen.
And if there’s one thing I’ve learned about my red-haired love over the years, it’s that she’s got a temper to match all that glorious hair. Like a match to tinder, it blows up quickly. And pride that won’t let her forgive easily.
CHAPTER7
Promise
Rage and hurt boils in my chest. And I hope that it stays because right behind it is a hurt that feels bone-deep and excruciating. The anger is the only thing keeping me walking right now.
But each step away from Drake feels like I’m walking away from my own future.
Dammit! When the hell did I fall in love with the infuriating man?
But he’s leaving. In less than fourteen days.
So by the time Christmas rolls around I’ll be alone again. And this time I’ll know how good it can be with someone that I feel so much for.
“Promise, please, baby.” His hand locks on my elbow, pulling me to a stop. But I refuse to look at him. “Don’t do this.”
I shake my head, feeling the tears pushing against my eyes. I want nothing more than to go home and bury my head in my pillow and sob out all the hurt.
“I didn’t do it. You did. And you should have told me that you were leaving before we did….” My hand waves around in the air and I can’t say the words. “Well that. Before we did that. I deserved to know the whole truth before I made that decision, Drake. Forewarned is forearmed. And I should have had all the facts before I slept with you.”
“We didn’t sleep. We made love. Amazing love.”
“It was just sex.”
“It was not and you know it. You can lie to yourself all you want but don’t bother lying to me. I know what I felt and what I heard.”
My breath hisses in a shuddering sob as my head pounds. “I need to get to the party, Drake. I don’t know if you’re coming up there or not. But I have things to do.”
“Baby, you don’t need to act like this. I’m not leaving you. And I didn’t want to leave this job. But I can’t stay here if I can’t have you and you seemed so insistent on not getting involved.”
This time my tear-filled eyes lift and lock on his sad, hungry gaze. “And I shouldn’t have. That was a mistake.”
He falls back and I can see the misery on his lean face. “I’m sorry. I-I…”
But he never finishes the sentence because we arrive at the party and Mr. Alexander sees us and smiles to me. “Come here, Promise. I’ve got exciting news.”
