Page 16 of The Deal Breaker
“Thanks, but please give me a little credit. I can take care of myself.”
“That’s what Raina said.”
Iris stiffened. “You spoke to Raina about this?”
“She asked about the selfie Henry posted today.”
“Henry posts lots of selfies. His DNA requires him to be the center of attention, and he enjoys keeping people guessing. Whether in person or on social media.”
True. Everything Iris said made sense. But Dash still wanted to ask. “So this is just Henry…”
“Being Henry,” she said without missing a beat. “Who knows what motivates him?”
“Other than his goddaughter.”
“His friends and those in need, too,” she added with a grin.
Guess Iris knew Henry pretty well. The realization stung because Dash wanted to keep her for himself. “So what did you do today?”
As Iris’s face paled, her smile vanished. She bit her lower lip, something she did whenever she was nervous or…procrastinating.
Uh-oh.This didn’t look good. “Hey, like you told me, you can tell me anything. We’re best friends.”
She shot him a look of disbelief. “Wewerebest friends.”
Her use of past tense drove home how much he’d taken Iris for granted. He slouched, the weight of what he’d done making it impossible to think or sit straight.
What had he done?
Or in her case, not done.
Since Iris moved in with him six years ago, he’d built strong friendships with Adam, Blaise, Brett, Henry, Kieran, Mason, and Wes. They became brothers. As they’d built a family of choice, he’d allowed his most important friendship to flounder. The fact it was happening had never entered his mind.
Not once.
And she should have been the priority because…
He was hers.
Iris had always taken care of him. Even when they were teenagers.
Now, she worked without complaining. Not once had she claimed to feel bad. If she’d been sick, she’d never told him, and he… He hadn’t noticed. She’d never asked him for anything, not even days off.
What was wrong with him?
Dash forced the employees at his company to use their vacation time. Everyone needed a break, time off to recharge, but he never thought of doing that with Iris.
Six years.
Six years with only her regular days off except for her staycation while he was away over the holidays.
That was…
Unforgivable.
He’d believed Christmas had been the first time he’d let her down. That had only been one in a series of mistakes. Not small ones, enormous fill-him-with-regret mistakes. He hadn’t acted like a best friend. He hadn’t even been a good boss.
Ashamed, he scrubbed his face with his hand.
