“We should leave.”
“You’re a handsome devil, but I’d prefer to spend the rest of the night with…um—”
“Shelly.”
“Yeah, yeah. Shelly. And maybe her friend. Since you’re a prude after your countryside escapade.”
I take a deep breath and decide to leave my bodyguard to babysit Adam.
“Call for a car for those two ladies. Then haul Adam’s ass to his place.”
“Yes, sir.”
Testing the theory that I craved Eliza’s touch because I hadn’t had sex in a long time was unnecessary. I knew already. I was only lying to myself.
I wanted to call her the moment I landed in New York but what could I say? I wrote and deleted texts dozens of times.
I’m sorry I left earlier.
I’m sorry I shoved my insecurities on you.
Sorry for leaving like a dick.
Nothing sounded right. How can I text her about the regret patched to my soul from the first moment I stepped back into my penthouse? And how I miss her. Do I have any right?
Sleep doesn’t come easy anymore in this large bed. In my house mornings are too quiet. I fill my dinner calendar with meetings because eating at home alone is nerve-wracking. The silence is loud.
“I’d love working directly with you,” the director of Sintex says, smiling wider than appropriate for a business discussion.
Tonight’s meeting with the director of the research lab we plan to acquire is taking an unpleasant turn and her tone made me take a closer look at the woman. Her cheeks are flushed, leaning over to give me a prime view of her cleavage.
“You’ll be dealing mostly with Jackie. She’s still in charge of R&D,” I say, skimming over their financial reports from last year, completely shutting down her advances.
“But you’re back now. I don’t mind a bit of micromanaging from the famous Carter Rawlings,” the woman says seductively.
I stare at her unimpressed, my jaw tight. “Are you telling me how to run my company?”
“Oh, no,” she stammers, scooting back in her chair, flustered by my dismissal.
She doesn’t know it yet, but the acquisition won’t protect her job. Her father is the great mind behind Sintex and their leaps in artificial intelligence development. He’s the one I’m interested in.
And this young woman tonight is only a pale shadow of the woman haunting my dreams.
As the weeks go by, I’m still a stranger in my own life. The things I was so eager to get back to seem hollow. This is what I wanted, I just need to get in the right head space.
“How was the meeting last night?” Jackie comes into my office daily now. She fills me in on what I’ve been missing, we discuss strategy. “When do I take over?” she asks, sifting through the final proposal.
She’s in full business mode and I smile for the first time in a while. My little sister is so much smarter and more capable than our father ever gave her credit for. Her focus and unwavering support kept operations going smoothly after my heart attack and I couldn’t be prouder.
“Wow,” she says, her eyes on me. “It’s the first time I’ve seen you smile since—”
The problem with my sister is she doesn’t let go of uncomfortable subjects. She’ll hound me about my health or worse, about Eliza, and I do everything I can to stop her before she goes into full therapist mode.
“I never thanked you. For taking over while I was recovering.”
“Mm,” she hums, biting the inside of her cheek. “You might consider going back for some morerecovery.” Jackie air quotes. “You look—” She waves her hand up and down my face with a grimace and I know what she means.
She doesn’t need to worry about me. “After I readjust to my schedule, things will get back to how they were, don’t worry.”
