Page 80 of Hale Damage
My armor cracks at her vulnerability, and I take a step toward her, catching a whiff of that sweet floral scent. I’d finally pinpointed it about a year after our night together. Magnolia flowers.
“It wasn’t nothing, Mindy.Youweren’t nothing.”
Our eyes hold again, and I’m back with her in that hotel room, her lush body soft beneath mine. Sharing air and so much more.
“I thought I didn’t matter,” she finally says. “I had to get out of there because I’d felt something, and it would have hurt too badly to see the truth in your eyes when I confronted you.”
God, I want to take her in my arms and kiss away every single doubt, but I can’t do that. Seeing her has brought up too much pain and regret. I’d put my life on hold for her. I’d never sought a relationship with any woman I was with because no one else held a candle to her. I’d basically given up any chance of having my own family because I didn’t want to settle for less than that deep, soul-bending feeling I had with her.
I’m so damn angry, and yet I’m letting myself soften after only a few minutes with her. Being so close to this woman is making me stupid, so I take a step back.
Yes, I understand how she came to that ridiculoushe’s got a fiancéeconclusion, but how could she have not felt what I felt that night? How could she have looked into my eyes and not seen the raw truth? The fact that she just said she didn’t think she mattered to me tells me everything I need to know.
That night meant two totally different things to us. And that hurts more than anything.
I pivot the topic away from the emotional shit and put a Band-Aid over the crack in my armor. “So what were you hoping to gain by coming to work here? Did you find out who I was and decide you might want a piece of me after all since I’m a billionaire and not the heir to a mom-and-pop hardware store?”
Mindy’s mouth pops open on a gasp. “Excuse me? I already told you I didn’t know who you were until I saw your picture on the first day of work.”
“Yeah, well, you said a lot of things.”
“So did you,Joe,” she says, once again hitting my fake name hard. She has a point, and that annoys me.
I narrow my eyes. “And you still decided to stay, knowing this was my family’s company?”
“I was informed you were out of the country and didn’t come hereoften. I planned to, uh…” She fiddles nervously with one of the buttons on her red suit, which I now realize is the same color as the dress she worethat night.
“You planned to what?” I demand, arching an eyebrow.
“I planned to conveniently get sick when you were scheduled to be here.” She gnaws on the corner of her lip.
My lips purse. “So you were going to lie to your employer and fake an illness to avoid me.”
“That about sums it up,” she replies, her face once again set with defiance.
I wish I didn’t like that fire in her so much. It’s pretty damn inconvenient.
“Well, now you don’t have to worry about being fake. Again. I’m here, and you can leave.”
She blinks up at me. “You want me to go home for the day?”
Is she fucking for real? “I want you to leave and never come back.” Those words taste as bitter as a rotted lemon on my tongue.
Mindy’s lips part in shock, and she shakes her head, sending her red hair cascading around her shoulders. After a moment, she says, “No.”
“What do you mean no?”
“I mean, I’m not leaving. This is my job, so we’re just going to have to be adults and put the past behind us.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose. “That’s not going to work for me.”
“Because you’d rather act like a petulant child?” She steps toward me and pokes the pen in my chest. “Look here, Remington Hale, I need this job, and I’m staying.”
“Not if I fire you,” I shoot back.
Green fire blazes from the depths of her hazel irises. “Just try it and see what happens.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I demand.
