Page 54 of Dream Date With the Millionaire
“They will if Dani testifies.”
“Is that all the wunderkind Bryce Delaney can come up with? A frivolous lawsuit to spend his trust fund on.” James cackled. “You think a jury would believe a disgruntled former employee who’s sleeping with my top competitor?”
Bryce’s blood ran cold. “Former employee?”
“Why, yes.” James smirked. “If there was any wrongdoing, Danica’s involved. What else can I do, but fire her?”
Fired.
Dani’s shoulders sagged and her bottom lip quivered.
Bryce hadn’t listened to her. He hadn’t trusted her to handle James on her own. Even after she’d explained why she needed to.
Carrying the box containing items from her desk and cubicle, Dani trudged up the stairs of her apartment building.
I thought more of you, Danica. I never expected you would send your lover in to fight your battle.
James’s words splintered her heart.
She’d lost everything in one fell swoop.
Because her boss was a jackass.
Because her boyfriend was a control freak.
Because she was a starry-eyed idiot.
How could she let this happen?
Dani had spent her entire life trying to make something of herself. To be someone. To do everything on her own so she’d never be in the same position as her mother had years ago.
Yet she’d trusted Bryce, believed in him and that had cost Dani her job. And…
Her heart.
Tears pricked her eyes. She blinked them away.
Turning the corner, Dani spotted Bryce.
Concern clouded his eyes. “Dani—”
Just for a moment, she longed to sink against him, to have him hold her and make everything better, but that would make James’s accusations true. She wasn’t going to rely on Bryce. She couldn’t.
Dani swallowed around the gigabyte-sized lump clogging her throat. “Go away.”
“We have to talk.”
Raw pain stabbed her heart. Dani fought against the sting of tears. She was suddenly six years old, standing on the driveway as her dad loaded his suitcases in the trunk. I love you, Danica. I love all of you. I’ll come back. Promise.
But he hadn’t and didn’t.
Her dad had said one thing and done another.
Just like Bryce.
Her chest tightened as if being squeezed by an extra-large vice grip. “Why should I believe anything you have to say to me now?”
Bryce’s gaze sought hers. “You’re upset.”
“Damn right I am.”
He pressed his lips together in a thin line. “I don’t want to argue about this. Fighting won’t solve anything.”
His coolness and rationality irritated her. Her heart pounded. Her heart ached. Every nerve ending shrieked. And he stood there acting like Mr. Cool. “Neither do I.”
“Good. Let’s—”
“You don’t get it.” Or me. The unspoken words scorched her throat. “I don’t want to talk to you.”
“Don’t do this, Dani.”
Dani fumbled with her keys, opened the door and hurried inside. She dropped the box. It thudded against the floor. Sort of like her heart had done when James told her Bryce had stopped by and she was fired. “You cost me my job.”
“James cost you your job.” Bryce followed her inside the apartment and closed the door behind him. “That guy is a sleaze.”
“That guy is—was—my boss.”
“You deserve a better one.”
“Maybe. Or maybe I deserve a better boyfriend.”
His expression froze for a moment. “I have a lead on a job opening. A great opportunity for you. I talked to a friend this afternoon—”
“You mean you went behind my back. Again.”
He frowned. “If you mean James, I did you a favor.”
“A favor?” She squared her shoulders. “You did the exact opposite of what I asked you to do.”
“Yeah.” Bryce exhaled. “I’m sorry. I was trying to protect—”
“Your company?”
“My company, my employees. And you.”
She took a deep breath, trying to keep herself together, when all she wanted to do was shout and cry. “I don’t need you to protect me.”
“Yeah, you do.”
“I don’t want you to protect me,” she clarified.
“What you want and what you need are two different things.”
She rubbed her tight neck. “I told you I needed to take care of this myself.”
“I told you, I was trying to protect you.”
His calm manner sent her temper soaring. “You don’t want to protect. You want to control. Me, Caitlin, every single one of your clients on Blinddatebrides.com with that stupid matching program of yours.”
His mouth twisted. “That program said we were highly compatible.”
