Page 34 of Yours, Finally

"Shit." He cleared his throat. "Sorry."

"It's okay. I started it. I apologize."

He frowned and looked out the window to the city below. "I would say— That is… I have a question about something you said, but I could ask someone else if you like. It's about romantic relationships in the workplace."

"What is it?" I sounded slightly breathless. I held the air in my lungs for a few extra seconds, in the hope it would help. "I should be able to answer it."

He avoided my eyes. "I'm sure there's more detail in the binder, but I noticed how you said I'm forbidden from having a relationship with anyone outside of my own executive level. I have read the policies in the past…"

Heat spread through my skin. We weren't talking about anything significant, really, much less something untoward. It was a good thing he had these questions; it showed interest in the legal matters of running this large corporation. Regardless of the reasoning behind the conversation, and despite my best judgment, I was in too deep. I didn't manage to extricate the hope from my chest, that he thought of us when considering these issues.

I resisted the urge to make the glass around my office opaque, so no one could see the effect all of this had on me.

He finally brought his eyes to me. "I believe the rule isn't absolute. There have been relationships between people at different levels. I'm not talking about the inappropriate ones that were handled, but the other ones. The ones that were allowed to continue."

I bit my lip. His eyes roamed over my face, now, like the answer I gave him mattered enough to want to record every piece of information I gave him.

"It's true." I swallowed. "The rule isn't absolute. People fall in love. There are also terrible people who abuse their position of power. The policies aim to draw lines between the two. It's different at lower levels in the structure than at this one, though. At lower levels, they always need to disclose to HR, superiors cannot seek relationships but if it happens, there are steps they're supposed to follow. The person in the most vulnerable position has to be the one making the overture and, after, there are things we can do to help support fair treatment for everyone. Moving people around to different departments, having rules of engagement, private interviews, etcetera, it all helps. Where we are in the hierarchy, though…"

His eyes settled on mine. "We can't just move people around, and we have positions of power over all of HR."

I nodded. "The Board is pretty good about setting boundaries between personal dynamics and the interests of the company, and we have some policies in place for personal relationships that apply. But we haven't had to use the ones around romantic relationships yet."

"That's what I thought." His lips thinned. "I read those, too."

My heart quickened. He was supposed to know these things, and yet, for the first time in my career, my brain didn't command the meeting like it should.

"Good," I said. "We should be aware of these basic legal considerations across the board, just like I'm aware of issues with Operations, for example. But it's also the contracts, international regulations, and other stuff I mentioned earlier. It's all in the binder."

"Can I ask something else?" He stared at me like he could read my thoughts, but wanted to give me space to breathe.

I nodded. Instinctually, I swung my hand out and turned the glass opaque. The door remained open, so no one got any ideas.

His nostrils flared. "Does it matter who initiates things at this level?"

"Not really. As long as everything is ethical."

"I see." He gave me a single nod and licked his bottom lip. "I have one more question."

"Maybe you should read the binder," I whispered.

"The answer won't be there."

Was he going to ask? Initiate? He wasn't a VP yet. But the idea had my chest shaking, and my lungs running, and my hands tingling with a need to touch him somehow.

"I won't ask you out, Vi." His voice was only for me. "You can breathe."

I closed my eyes. "Stop reading me."

"I can't stop." The words came out hoarser than before. "Your face is so expressive, and if I could stop looking at you, I don't know that I would have tried."

"Jake."

I opened my eyes to find his blue-gray stare fixed on me. My office filled with something dense, but it glittered, like sunshine through fog.

He put the binder on my desk, leaned forward, and kept his voice deep and quiet. "Will things change between us?"

"What do you mean?"