Daphne does nothing to hide a self-satisfied smirk.
“However, this does not mean the end of our relationship.”
I take a hopeful, tentative breath.
“I agreed to terminate the contract because the nature of my relationship with Ella has changed. As all of you know, our relationship was a farce in the beginning, an arrangement forced upon me by the board. But over these last two months, Ella and I have come to care for one another beyond a professional setting and beyond our contract. Our relationship is no longer something we’re being forced into and is something very real.”
I exhale in relief, sagging into Asher’s side as gasps break out among the team. Emily looks at me, smiling in shock, withher hands pressed to her chest. Daphne’s face is stuck somewhere between rage and disbelief.
Asher continues. “Since the board offered a termination, I agreed because I want to move forward with Ella without the contract hanging over our heads. So, from here on out, things will be different. We no longer need a team of this size because there is no more agenda in the press. This will now be a traditional PR endeavor. Living in the public eye means both Ella and I require a PR team, so this team will serve both of us. But it will change in the sense that I’m no longer interested in drumming up attention, and if anything, I’d like the attention to die down. I want to live my life with the woman I love in relative privacy.”
“Love?” Emily gasps before clapping her hand over her mouth. Everyone else stays still, silent and stunned.
“Yes, love,” Asher says, with a hint of a smile. He clears his throat, and his face morphs back into his stern CEO mask.
I lift my head to look at him. “You scared the shit out of me,” I whisper-hiss.
A smirk tugs at the corner of his mouth. “You can’t think I’d break up with you by team email,” he murmurs back.
“I didn’t know what to think. Look,” I hold up my hand for him to see, “my hands are still shaking.”
“Baby, you’re mine now. You can’t get rid of me so easily.” He leans down and kisses my temple.
We turn back to the team, and they’re still standing in shocked silence.
“I’ll leave it to Ella, Emily, and Matthew to decide who remains on the team and who returns to their former positions,” Asher says. “If you have a preference one way or the other, let them know, but as I said, they will be the ones who make the final decisions.”
He takes my hand and leads me out of the conference room, and Matthew follows behind. We head into his office where thecontract is sitting on Asher’s desk, and the same woman who notarized it the first time sits in a chair, waiting.
“We move forward, but on our own terms,” Asher says, nodding his head toward the contract.
I lean down and sign my name on the conclusion article, almost dizzy in disbelief. This wasn’t supposed to happen for months. And now I know, without a doubt, that everything between us is real. The contract may have been the thing that brought us together, but it isn’t what created the feelings between us.
The notary signs and stamps the document, and Asher flashes me his devious grin that I love so much.
It’s over.
No more contract. No more board pushing an agenda.
Just him and me. For real this time.
I reach up, wrapping my arms around his neck and his lips meet mine. The weight of expectations and falsehood falls away. Relief and joy burn through the kiss, and it’s like we can both truly just be ourselves for the first time in two months.
When we pull away, Asher smacks my ass, and I look around and realize Matthew and the notary woman are both gone.
“As much as I’d love to continue this, I have something urgent to get to,” Asher says, checking his watch.
“I have one more quick stipulation.”
He quirks a brow. “Yes?”
“I don’t want to work on my own PR team anymore.”
“I figured as much. Do you have an idea of what you’d like to do?”
I shrug. “Not sure yet. This happened much sooner than expected.”
“Whatever you want, it’s yours.”
