I nodded. “I won’t, Jonah.”
“Now give me the real reason,” he pushed.
I sighed.
“Is it your mom?” he asked.
I nodded, glancing toward the bedroom where I’d left my phone. “She’s pitching Dylan against me, trying to get money from one of us.”
Jonah cursed under his breath and looked away. In a few seconds, he seemed to have made up his mind.
“I think it’s time I meet your Mom, Lexi.”
“She lives in Middletown, Connecticut, Jonah. That’s miles away.”
“So? I could have my driver pick her up and drive her over.”
I hesitated, knowing exactly what would happen next. “She’d see an opportunity,” I whispered, half-afraid of how quiet my voice had gone.
“Let her come. I want to see what kind of woman would treat you like that,” he answered, his voice deep and powerful.
“You’re going to do what? Tell her off?” I asked, skeptical and taken aback.
“Maybe.”
I traced the side of his jaw, skimming along the edge of his sideburns. I wasn’t experienced with men, and I was stunned by how close Jonah and I had gotten. This wasn’t normal.
“What’s the matter? Scared, Lexi?”
“I’ve never had anyone care about me this much, Jonah.”
His eyes held mine. “I don’t know why, sweetheart. You’re perfect.”
I took a step back. We were getting too close and I didn’t want my mind to go places it shouldn’t. I didn’t want to start having dreams of the two of us forever. “Well, I don’t want to underperform at work, or worse, lose my job because of what we have going on. And that’s not even the hard part.”
“What’s the hard part?” he pressed.
“Stuff money can’t buy,” I challenged. “The board when they have to decide between who to keep: the CEO or the intern.”
He stared at me for a long while, breathing quite close to me before he pushed away. He turned to go, as though he was done with this conversation, before he gave me one look over his shoulder.
“By the way, youarespecial,” he said before he walked out of the bathroom.
I huffed. I’d brought up real problems and he hadn’t argued against it. He knew how futile it was.
Not even Jonah could fend off problems.
“Lexi,” he called from the other room, and I shook myself off.
What was I hoping for? That he’d tell me those problems didn’t exist? It would be a lie, and I knew Jonah. He wouldn’t lie.
I walked toward his voice and found him in his home office, just wrapping up a work video call. Floor-to-ceiling windows framed the city skyline behind him, the morning light spilling across the sleek desk with dual monitors. Everything in this penthouse was filled understated luxury, reflecting the man who lived here.
He signaled that the call was almost over, and I leaned against the doorframe, watching him explain a new project timeline to Maya Chen, a junior marketing analyst who, from their conversation, had been with Altika barely four months.
“You’re really good at this, you know,” I said when the call ended and he logged off.
“At what?” He stood and crossed the room to me.
