“That the same dude you came intoGrant’swith?”
I sighed at the protectiveness in his tone. “Yes.”
“You met with him in your office?”
“Yes.”
His jaw tightened. “I don’t like him.”
I smirked. “You’ve never even met him.”
“Don’t need to. I could see his ass was too damn touchy-feely that night you came intoGrant’s.”
“Richard is a flirt, but he’s harmless. When I made it clear that his and my relationship would never extend past anything on a professional level he tried to suggest his son as a dating option for me.”
I bit the inside of my cheek to refrain from laughing at the hard look on Xavier’s face.
“His son is like, twenty-five or something, and when his father isn’t busy trying to rid himself of his wife, he’s busy bailing his son out of whatever mess he’s recently gotten into. Calm down.”
“Don’t play with me like that.”
I giggled. “Anyway, I think you intimidated Richard a little bit that night atGrant’s.He’s toned down.”
“Whatever,” Xavier grumbled.
“Oh, and my dad stopped by my office today. We actually talked a little and had lunch together.”
“That’s what’s up. How’d it go?”
I shrugged and then adjusted myself in bed, sitting up against my tufted headboard. I watched as Xavier’s eyes roved over my bare shoulders and the top of my breasts. I wore a rose-colored silk negligee. When he ran his tongue across his bottom lip, I had to squeeze my thighs together.
“It was rather unexpected but some things that needed to be said were.”
“Such as?”
“I apologized for accusing him of being behind that article. And he apologized for something I overheard him say when I was younger.”
Xavier looked at me expectantly. “What did you overhear?”
“Remember when I said I’d been having trouble sleeping because of recurring nightmares?”
“Yeah, the ones about Anne Marie, right?”
“Yeah, those too, but they weren’t the only dreams I’d had. One was about my father. The night of my tenth birthday party. I overheard him telling my mother that he had never wanted me. At first, I’d thought it was just a dream but then I remembered…”
“It wasn’t a dream,” Xavier stated through the phone.
“No,” I answered, shaking my head. “It was a memory. One I’d long forgotten about, but for some reason, my damn subconscious thought it was a good time in my life to bring it up now. I know it’s stupid to hold that against him, but—”
“It’s not stupid. You were hurt. That’s some shit no kid should ever hear.”
I closed my eyes after letting out a heavy breath. My body filled with gratitude. The understanding in Xavier’s voice is what I needed.
“Did his apology help?” he asked.
I paused to consider. “I think so. Not the apology so much as his acknowledging how hurtful it was. All I ever wanted as a kid was to matter to my father.” I wiped a tear that’d managed to escape.
“Good.” I heard the sincerity in his voice.
