She smiled back and handed him an envelope. “My resignation letter.”
He froze, his throat tightening. “Jordan, this isn’t necessary.”
“I think it is.”
He sat back and crossed his arms over his chest, fixing his eyes on hers. “So you’ll just give this up? You’ll walk away? You’llchange jobs, uproot your entire career, take a pay cut instead of just talking to me?”
“Yes.” He hadn’t taken the letter from her hand so she simply dropped it on his desk. “And my new package is not bad at all.”
“Where are you going?” he asked, trying to keep his tone as neutral as possible.
“Royal Holdings.”
He gritted his teeth, stood up, and walked over to close his office door. He took a calming breath before he turned to face her again. “Isn’t that Timothy Coldwell’s new company?”
“It is.”
One point for Jordan.He took a step towards her and she took a step back. Their eyes locked, his determination clashing with her defiance. It was a long staring match. He took a step towards her and she took a step back.
“Coldwell doesn’t want you as just an accountant.”
“Well, I recently discovered that I can beusedas more than just an accountant,” she replied with a sardonic smile.
The way she said it made him feel sick to his stomach, a slow churn brought on by anger, jealousy and pure disgust for what he’d done.Two points for Jordan.
One step forward.
One step back.
“You’re toying with me.”
“Feels like shit, doesn’t it?”
One step forward.
One step back.
She was against his table now with no more room to back away.
“I never meant to hurt you,” he said, keeping his voice low to hide its unsteadiness. “What you’re doing is deliberate.”
And with his slight hint of vulnerability, she faltered. Her eyes softened and in that moment of weakness, he moved closer.One point for Tyler.
“Why won’t you just talk to me?” he asked.
Her wall of strength immediately came up again. “It might be just a hunch, Tyler,” she said, sarcasm in full force, “but I have a feeling I won’t believe a word that comes out of your mouth.” She nudged past him and walked out of his office.
Three points for Jordan.
With a sinking feeling of helplessness, he sat down again. She was trying to hurt him. She was pushing for a reaction and a reaction she would get.
*****
Jordan groaned. She was trying to finish off as much as she could before the end of her notice period. Her new job would be starting in January and getting everything done was proving to be an impossible task. She couldn’t wait to get out of this place, get away from Tyler and allow herself some time to heal. She didn’t see him every day, but when she did, it was a tough pill to swallow. Her mind was playing cruel tricks on her, torturing her with so many conflicting thoughts. She knew Tyler liked her, but he wasn’t over Trisha. He wouldn’t be holding onto so much anger if he was. And once he got over his anger, would he go back?
Jordan wasn’t willing to be a substitute until that happened. The few months she’d spent with Tyler was nothing against three years and those few months were all based on a pretense.
He’d told her that he’d only used her in the beginning and after mulling that over for a few days, she believed him. She hadn’t completely forgiven him yet, but it was something she could forgive in time. That wasn’t the problem. The problem wasthat she didn’t know how he felt about her. She didn’t know how he felt about Trisha. Those were things they never discussed.
