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I walked toward the elevator and she was already inside. I was going to wait for the next one but she reached forward, holding the door for me.
I smiled at her. “Thank you,” I said.
She smiled back. She was really quite pretty, and seemed nice. I, of all people, knew that Roarke could be a jerk, so I wasn’t surprised that she’d stormed out of there.
I couldn’t help myself from asking.
“Are you a client of Mr. Brentwood’s?” I asked quietly, looking at the elevator door like I wasn’t concerned about her answer.
She scoffed. “Not exactly a client, although I might as well be, at this point. I’m his ex-wife.”
She turned to shake my hand, and I shook it, shell-shocked. “Grace Brentwood.”
Grace Brentwood was absolutelygorgeousupfront, making me very insecure, and I wondered what she had been doing here.
“Nice to meet you,” I muttered, and she smiled.
“I hope you’ll see me around the office more,” she chirped, dropping my hand gracefully as the door dinged.
“Oh?” I asked, desperate for her to tell me why.
“Yes,” she said, stepping off the elevator and turning toward me, flashing her very white teeth when she smiled. “We’re getting back together, you see.”
She walked off toward the doors, and I swallowed hard and punched the third-floor button, going back up to my office. I’d suddenly lost my appetite.
My chest hurt and my stomach hurt and I felt slightly sick. I’d had this feeling before, and I hated that I knew what it was: heartbreak.
Fuck. Tears burned at the backs of my eyes but I refused to let them fall, just going back into my office and planning to shut and lock the door. Roarke was still in his closed office, so it wasn’t like I needed to worry about him coming in there. He didn’t want me, after all. It made a lot more sense why he’d been so impersonal at lunch, why he’d shut me out of the prenup.
He was getting back together with his ex-wife. There wouldn’t be any more teasing and flirting, no more amazing sex in his office, apartment, or a hotel room. He would be married all over again, and I would just be some girl that he wasted time with in between their breakup. Roarke had told me that only one of his ex-wives hadn’t cheated, and Grace seemed so nice I bet it was her.
It was meant to be, soulmate-type stuff, and I shouldn’t care. Roarke and I were casual, but something felt broken inside me, now. Damnit. I had feelings for him, real ones, and I hadn’t let myself explore them or figure them out. I was afraid of them for this very reason. I choked out a sob as I tried to shut my office door, but a foot stopped me from closing it.
“Magda?”
It was Mark Windham. I could recognize his voice after how many times he and I worked together, most recently on the Santos case.
I took in a deep breath to calm myself and pasted on a smile. “Mark,” I said. “Did I miss something on the Santos case?”
“No, not at all,” he said. “I just came to see if you’d eaten.”
He smiled at me. Mark was a nice guy. He was maybe the nicest guy in this office, definitely nicer than Roarke, and I’d been blowing him off left and right. And what for? Because I didn’t want to date someone at work? I was sleeping with theboss,for god’s sake. What had I been thinking? I knew that Roarke Brentwood was the type to break my heart, but Mark Windham wasn’t.
“I haven’t, but I can’t right now,” I said finally. “But how would you like to go to dinner?”
Mark’s blue eyes lit up. “Absolutely,” he said. “Pick you up at eight?”
“Sounds good,” I smiled. ”I’ll text you my address.”
When Mark went back to his office, he was whistling and happy. I should be happy too.
Instead, when I shut my door and the blinds, tears began to roll down my face.
I let myself cry for a long moment, sniffling and sitting behind my desk. There was a knock on the door and I sucked in a breath, wiping at my eyes and checking my makeup in a compact mirror.
I walked to the door slowly and opened it, and my dad was standing in my doorway. But he wasn’t my dad right now. He couldn’t be. Not here. And for a second that made me sadder.
“Mags?” he asked. “Are you okay?”
