I lift my arms, wrapping them around his neck. “I love you, Killian Thorn.”
“Not nearly as much as I love you, Tessa Rivers. Now, go to New York and get your ass back home to me.”
“You really did a great job while you were away,” Brynlee says as we sit in the observatory of the most insane apartment I’ve ever seen.
Her husband is a billionaire and owns a luxury penthouse on billionaire row, overlooking Central Park, and I am in awe.
She’s holding her son, Jameson, who is completely passed out.
“I appreciate that.”
She smiles. “And you signed two new accounts. I’m…so impressed. Truly.”
“I really wanted both of them. I know Aarabelle brought Penelope to the table, but thankfully she signed. With Hazel, it’s a totally different project and I can see so much potential withProse & Perk. Hazel wants to expand, and I think we’re really going to be able to help her with that.”
Jameson shifts and we both go silent, afraid to wake him up, until he settles.
“I had a call with Killian this morning.”
That takes me by surprise. “Oh?”
Brynlee is quiet for a second. “He told me that you were vital in saving the ranch and he didn’t think he could’ve survived the arrest and subsequent release if it weren’t for you.”
The tone in her voice makes me wonder if she knows there’s more. I came here with the intention of being completely honest with her. I don’t want to hide what happened, who we are to each other, and why I want to return to Ember Falls.
The opening sort of wrote itself. “Brynlee, I’d like to be honest.”
“Okay.”
“Killian and I…well, we became very close. The night before you told me anything about him, I met him at the bar. I had no idea who he was and he didn’t know who I was. He was expecting Aarabelle. Anyway, we…spent the night together before we both learned who the other was.”
Her eyes widen. “Oh. Well, that’s definitely not what I was expecting.”
“I know the company’s policy on sleeping with clients, and I want to assure you that I didn’t know at the time.”
“Did it happen again?”
I could lie. I probably should lie for the sake of my job, but I respect my boss and I owe her the truth. “It did, and I’m sorry. I never meant to betray you or the company. I also want to say that I did everything within my power to keep things separate and help restore the image of his business in the most professional way, but my heart and my head didn’t align.”
Brynlee lets out a long sigh and pats Jameson’s back softly. “I’ll be honest, I don’t really know what exactly the right thing to do is here. We do have rules for a reason. The first time isn’t really the issue—it’s the subsequent times you admit you were together. That said, you did your job, and you did it very well. You kept Killian’s company from going under and his arrest from becoming a major news story, so all of that shows your ability to be a publicist. Plus, you signed two more companies in the time you were in Ember Falls.”
“That said,” I say, clasping my hands in front of me. “I know I was wrong.”
“I do appreciate your honesty.”
Before I can respond, Brynlee’s husband knocks softly and then opens the door. “Sorry, I didn’t know you had company,” he says.
“Crew, come meet Tessa. She’s the publicist I was telling you about.”
He enters fully and walks toward me, hand extended. “Tessa, hello. I’m Carson Knight, however everyone calls me Crew.”
“It’s great to meet you.”
Crew turns to his wife. “Everything okay? I thought you were going to take months off for the baby?”
She grins up at him. “Yes, well, Tessa just got back and we were catching up. Think of it as girl talk instead of work.”
He chuckles. “Sure, love, I’ll just call it that. I need to make a few calls to my employees in other locations, we’ll call it the same.”
