Page 44 of Irresistible

Chapter 21

Scarlet awoke the next morning, eager to encounter Richard and get things figured out once and for all. If Richard was a man of his word, he would still be interested in her, and the two could pick up where they left off. If not, she knew that she had to move on and see what the rest of her life had in store for her. This was the day, and she would know where she stood, one way or another, at the end of it. She set her alarm to go off earlier than usual, meaning that she would get to work about an hour early. There was no sense in confronting Richard with everyone around. If things went wrong, then she would lose friends in addition to losing her job.

Before eating breakfast, she reached for her phone to send a text message to Richard.

"Get to the bank early. Meet me there in an hour. We need to talk about this."

Within thirty seconds, Richard responded. He had quite the reputation for responding to messages quickly. It was one of the most frequent compliments he received from his employees.

"Will do. Thanks for being willing to engage in another conversation about this. It means more than you know."

He sounded like a professional even when dealing with an intensely personal matter.

"Of course. See you soon," she responded.

That was it. They would meet shortly and hash the whole thing out. She made a quick breakfast, a bowl of oatmeal, and ate it slowly. The last thing she wanted was to feel full and bloated while she spoke with Richard. As always, she wanted to be perfectly mentally present and make an informed decision.

Shortly before she was set to leave, she realized that she hadn't pressed a blouse for the day. Ordinarily, she would just shrug it off and resolve to do it the next day. But she quickly grabbed one out of the closet and plugged in her iron. There was no was she was going to look anything other than her best. She could go back to looking like a scrub later.

The trip to the branch flew by. Richard was waiting in a rental car in one of the parking spaces near the front door. It was no surprise that he had secured alternate transportation so quickly. He was a man of many connections, after all. Scarlet wouldn't have been surprised if Cody had made the call for him from his trip abroad and had the car delivered to his hotel.

The two nodded and walked calmly into the branch. Scarlet clutched the envelope with her resignation letter. It would serve as her safety blanket throughout the entire conversation.

"Thanks for reaching out, Scarlet. I'm really glad that we have another chance to discuss things," Richard said with his classic smile.

Scarlet was distracted by his handsome features as usual but she had to push through it. She wanted to seem serious.

"Absolutely."

"So, I assume you have something you want to say. Go ahead. I won't interrupt you.”

"Richard, obviously this has been a really trying time for me. I've never felt the way about anyone else the way I feel about you. The conversations we had are some of the deepest and most intimate I've ever had in my life. You really are a special person."

"I feel the exact same way about you."

"But this looks so bad on paper. Not only are you my boss, but there's also the complicating factor of Carly. I know she said she's not interested in you, but I can't help but feel that the media would have a field day with this whole thing."

"I understand," Richard said, anticipating bad news.

"Do you want to be with me?"

"Scarlet, of course I want to be with you, but only if I can tell that you are in this one hundred percent. I wouldn't be able to handle it if I thought that you had any hesitation. You're far too special of a person to be involved with someone you're not sure about."

Scarlet thought this was a fair perspective and that it said a lot about Richard's character.

"Well, I have to admit, I still have some of the same concerns that I did at the beginning of this. I'm not saying you still have feelings for Carly. I believe you when you say you don't. But there's still an asymmetry between us. There are still a bunch of reasons why we shouldn't do this, and those are still floating around my mind. You're my boss! You've seen the stories on the news. People are always getting in trouble because they got into a relationship at work."

"But you don't hear about the thousands of times that people make it work by taking the appropriate measures to keep things on the up-and-up. Those don't make the news."

"I thought you said you weren't going to interrupt me," Scarlet said with a small grin.

"You're right, you're right. I'm sorry. Go ahead," Richard replied, crossing his arms. He was getting visibly uncomfortable, a rarity for him.

"On top of it all, it's just difficult to trust powerful men. In all honesty, you seem like you've had difficulty in committing to any one woman in the past. You've dated models and actresses for the thrill, but I think I would be the first person that you’d really try committing to. What if you're not ready for that? What if commitment isn't for you? What if you just want to live the life that you've always lived? Where does that leave me? It leaves me in a bad position because no one's going to blame the CEO for having lavish tastes and having difficulty staying with one woman."

Richard nodded and looked to Scarlet to continue.

"That said, I do like you, and I think we could work really well together. So, I’m going to leave this to you. If you want to be with me, then I'm all in. But you have to be all in, too. I'm not saying we have to get married or anything. However, you do have to promise me that you're going to give us a solid try and not give up if you get upset with me one day or if another actress sends you nudes. I would make you the same promise, but no famous actors are sending me nudes. It should go without saying that this would be the first relationship of this kind for both of us. We need to go deeper than 'just dating'. There needs to be more than that."