“I am a jerk. We’ve established that.”
“You made it that way. I’m just stating the obvious.”
That was fair, but Donovan still felt a need to explain himself. “I think we should talk about the elephant in the room.”
“Any more elephants and one of us is going to need a degree in zoology.”
Donovan snorted.
“I don’t know that we need to talk about it,” she continued. “Just let it go.”
“I feel bad about what happened.”
“And I’m supposed to relive it so you can unburden yourself?”
“Hey. You’re the one who unburdened herself by saying that you used to be in love with me.” In fact, three years later, Donovan still wasn’t over the realization. He kept mulling over his past, wondering how things would’ve been different. Would he have been happy? Would he have ended up with Lela? Or would that relationship have ended the same way his marriages had? He knew none of the answers to these questions, which really bothered him. Why did his own life have to be such a mystery? “Why did you do that? You seriously messed with my head.”
“I barely remember it, Donovan. I was half asleep and delirious.”
He had to fight the smile that wanted to cross his lips. Despite the way things had ended, their interlude in her bed had been pretty spectacular. “It was still hard to hear.”
“Look, we wouldn’t be having this conversation at all if we hadn’t had this little instance of happenstance.” She circled her hand in the air above her head. “Talking about any of this doesn’t change what happened. You still would’ve left in the middle of the night, and I would be walking through life, tired of feeling like I was never good enough for you.”
For a moment, Donovan was stuck. Stuck between his two pasts with Lela—the recent and the more distant. “Is that really what you think?”
She looked truly startled, in a way that could only suggest that Donovan was the biggest moron to ever walk the earth. Frankly, he didn’t disagree. “I did at one point. The first time. Don’t worry, the second time cured me of it. I’m over it.”
What she really meant was that she was overhim. “So that’s it, then?”
“Yep.”
Okay.Apparently the case of Lela and love was an open and shut case. The past was the past, and it was time to move forward. “Okay, well, I’m still sorry I left. But clearly, it was for the best. For both of us.”
Lela turned away from the window and walked to the center of the room, still admiring her new office. “Are we going to be able to work together? Because I really need this to pan out. At this point in my life, I can’t help but think that I have a limited number of chances at success. If you’re going to stand in my way, I need to know now.”
He wasn’t going to hold her back. Hell, he didn’t see how he could stop bold, silver-haired Lela from doing anything. “We both have a vested interest in Echo Echo. That’s a good thing. I think we keep things professional and cordial, remember we’re on the same team, and try to forget anything that happened before today.”
“Fine. Good.”
“Okay.”
“Just no more cracks about my hair, okay? I love it, and I’m proud of it.”
“It’s gorgeous.” He tamped down his urge to tell her thatshewas gorgeous. It would only make their working relationship more difficult. But he not only felt that way, he felt it in a way he hadn’t before. This new version of Lela, with her own brand of confidence and a distinct air of not giving a fuck, was extremely appealing. Too bad he was done with women. Too bad he was done with love. Too bad he’d promised Echo that he wouldn’t go there.
“Thanks.” An off-kilter grin bloomed on her face. “In an odd way, I have you to thank. I decided to start Lela B and go gray the morning after you left three years ago.”
“Really? The morning after?”
She nodded eagerly. “Yep. I knew that between my divorce and what happened with you, I was just spinning my wheels. I knew then that I simply needed to move on.”
Chapter Eleven
Two weeks in,being under the Echo Echo umbrella had proven to be a whirlwind inside a tornado brought on shore by a hurricane with a bonus tsunami. Also, an earthquake. The pace was unrelenting. Lela worked twelve-hour days, dragged her ass home at night, lucky if she had the energy to feed Rio before she collapsed on her couch. Going upstairs to her bedroom was too exhausting a proposition.
Donovan, for his part, was giving Lela space, which she appreciated. Of course, there were the moments, mostly late in the day when Lela was tired and prone to weak thoughts, when he’d walk past her office not noticing her and she would wish that things were different. But there was no longer room in her life for regret, or pining for someone who didn’t want her.
So Lela kept her eyes on the prize. She conferred with graphic designers on the rework of packaging. She had meetings with the ad team about campaigns, and strategy sessions with the sales department. At every step of the way, Echo was remarkably hands-on. Honestly, Lela couldn’t figure out how she did what she did. She was involved with everything, never seemed to miss a beat, was always cheery yet stone-cold sober about business decisions, and a dream to collaborate with. She brought zero ego to her role, even though she had every reason in the world to be as much of an asshole as she wanted. In short, Lela was in awe of her unflappable brilliance.
