I leaned in, baring my teeth, fury blazing in my eyes. Still, she didn’t flinch. Instead, she straightened her posture, folded her arms beneath her chest, and regarded me with bored indifference probably filing me away as just another unstable woman.
I exhaled sharply, forcing myself to continue. “I guarantee you he’ll want to see me. We’re not exactly friends. More like old enemies. He thinks I betrayed him, and I hate him for never believing me. Honestly, our fallout could probably earn a page in this town’s history books.”
I couldn’t believe I’d just spilled my past to a stranger.
To my surprise, her expression softened. She reached for the phone. My heart raced, half-expecting her to call security and have me dragged out.
“You can go through that walkway and take a lift to top floor,” she said finally. “Walk straight ahead. His secretary will let you in.”
“Thank you,” I muttered, moving quickly before she could change her mind.
“Oh, and Ms. Carter,” she added casually. “I do know who you are. Everyone does.”
“Great,” I murmured as I walked through the door.
The hallway was short and led to a spacious office with a single door. A woman, most likely his secretary stood as soon as she saw me. Without a word, she opened the door and gestured for me to enter.
I took a deep breath. I never wanted to see him again. But after leaving my father’s house, I wasn’t myself.
I was furious.
Unsteady.
Broken.
Ashton sat behind his desk, leaning back in his leather chair as if he’d been expecting me. The top buttons of his shirt were undone, revealing a shadowed line of skin meant to distract and damn him, it almost worked.
I stopped in the center of his grand, open-concept office. The space was impressive: a sleek meeting table, plush sofas, a private bar, and a high-end coffee machine that screamed indulgence. I was so distracted by the surroundings that I nearly missed the way his gaze lingered on me.
“We need to talk,” I said, my voice betraying me with a slight tremor.
He studied me in silence before standing. “Can I make you a coffee?”
I blinked. “Why would you do that?”
He let out a short laugh as he walked toward the coffee machine—the very one I’d been eyeing. “Because I’m trying to be polite. And because you look like you need it, considering you stormed my office after confronting me earlier today.”
“I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t important. Believe me.”
“Oh, I do,” he said calmly. “Something happened that made you change your mind.”
He handed me a cup of coffee. “Drink.”
I hesitated but accepted it. A faint smirk crossed his face as he gestured toward the sofa. I hated feeling vulnerable in front of him.
Instead of sitting, I placed the cup on the table and crossed my arms. “Is the offer still on the table?”
“What offer?” he asked, feigning innocence.
“You know exactly what I mean.”
“Why the sudden change? I thought your goal was to make my life miserable.”
“I’m done playing with the past,” I snapped. “Are. The. Offer. Still. Standing?”
He watched me intently, arms folded, jaw tight. “Tell me, Bailey..why did you come back?”
“What kind of question is that? You know why.”
