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Felicity didn’t answer.
It was the stupidest thing but suddenly she felt a hot, stinging sensation behind her eyes. God, she was not going to cry. She couldn’t cry. Why did she want to cry over this?
So, he hadn’t remembered right off the bat. The guy had a lot on his mind. But suddenly it was crystal clear to her that she really didn’t want to leave. She wanted to stay.
Obviously, Austin wasn’t so devastated by the thought of her leaving. It was ridiculous, but it hurt her feelings.
Needing to get ahold of herself, she bit her bottom lip hard to keep the tears at bay. It worked.
“No problem,” she heard herself saying. Maybe after he’d initially thought up the possibility of creating a position for her, he’d realized it wasn’t feasible. Or maybe he had mentioned it to Miles and his father had shut down the idea. Maybe Austin was trying not to hurt her feelings.
“It’s five o’clock,” she said. “I need to leave. I have plans tonight. I’ll call Derek and ask him to bring your dinner to the office. What time do you want him to deliver it?”
“Anytime is fine.”
Derek was Austin’s personal chef. Usually, Derek left Austin’s dinner in the oven of Austin’s condo, which was around the corner from the Fortune Investments offices, and Felicity would pick it up and bring it to the office. Tonight, Derek would have to deliver it.
If she was leaving at the end of the month, Austin would need to learn to fend for himself until he got his new assistant up to speed.
It hit her that having someone else deliver Austin’s dinner wasn’t exactly making him fend for himself, but it was part of the weening process for her. She enjoyed taking care of him. It was a point of pride. Moving on would be a loss for her, too.
She felt his eyes on her. “Are you okay?”
“Sure. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Something’s wrong.” He shook his head. “I’m sorry I haven’t had a chance to talk to Miles. I will as soon as I can. I promise. Okay?”
“It’s fine, Austin. Really.”
She stood to leave, feeling a little better that he’d noticed that she was upset and had said he would speak to his dad. If Miles had already shot down the idea, Austin wouldn’t have said that. She knew him well enough to know that.
“Don’t leave me, Felicity. Okay?”
Her mouth went dry at his words.
Dear God, if you only knew.
But he didn’t. This was strictly business. It would always be about business when it came to them. That was the problem. Her taking care of Austin was so personal, sometimes her heart crossed the line. She needed to make sure her mind and better judgment stayed in complete control. Because her heart could only lead her astray.
Still, it didn’t help that the look on his face was so earnest it made tears sting the back of her eyes again. God, she was a mess. Her emotions were up and down like a roller coaster. One minute she was ready to walk out the door, and the next minute his don’t leave me had her wanting to withdraw her resignation and dedicate her life to him... Well, to being his personal assistant. And that was no kind of life. Especially when she felt like this for him.
“Before you leave for the day, would you do me a huge favor? Will you call a courier to deliver this?”
She nodded and reached out, taking the large white envelope he held.
It was addressed to Mackenzie Cole. Felicity recognized the lower Garden District zip code. The name Mackenzie was crossed through on the package. Austin had rewritten Macks above it in that script that was so achingly familiar to Felicity. For some stupid reason, seeing Macks’s name written by Austin’s hand felt so personal. It was a punch to Felicity’s gut.
No. She would not call a courier to deliver this package.
Felicity would deliver it herself.
Chapter Three
Macks Cole was Felicity’s worst nightmare.
Felicity knew it had been a mistake to deliver the package herself the moment the tall, willowy Margot Robbie lookalike answered the door. She was exactly the kind of beautiful, worldly woman who would call herself Macks.
Scratch that.
Her old-monied parents had probably called her Macks since birth. She’d probably been named Mackenzie after the great-great grandmother with the money. Her brothers would be Digby and Shep. They probably spent hours on the golf course and drank too much with their Mardi Gras krewe. Of course, there would be a baby sister. Her name would be Margaux, but they’d call her Go, because she was cute and sweet, and they’d already determined Macks was the strong, efficacious girl child.
