Isaac watched him walk in his office. “I was wondering, did the invitations for the party go out yet?”
“I have to ask Manuela,” he said, gesturing for Isaac to step out of his office, as he closed the door behind him. “She took half day off,” he said, unwilling to share anything else with Isaac.
“All right. Well, I’ll ask her tomorrow. I wanted to add a few clients I left off.”
“Sounds good,” he said, as ideas on how to make it up to her populated in his mind. His pulse skyrocketed, adrenaline filling his insides. “I got to go, have somewhere to be.”
8
Manuela pet Gustavo, who leaned into her touch, his tail lazily wagging from side to side to show her she was doing something right. At least that.
She’d stormed out of the office earlier, hours ago. Maybe she’d been impulsive, but it took her over a year to get with him, and to think she’d have to keep her love for him a secret from his freaking ex hit a nerve. What if he was ashamed of her? She wasn’t as experienced or successful, or came from a blue blood family like Megan. What place did she have in his world?
That had been why she’d told him she was resigning. She’d rather have no place at all in his life than to be treated like she didn’t matter enough.
And now… a tear ran down her cheek. Now she’d have to start all over, with a broken heart.
Damn Nate. Damn him.
Gustavo licked his paw with precise attention.
“You’re smart for not getting attached, buddy,” she said, and he purred in response.
The door knocked. She’d ordered pizza, so maybe they were early. She had problems, but lack of carbs wasn’t one of them. Putting Gustavo aside, she stood from the couch and walked up to the door. In her apartment, this meant exactly six steps.
When she swung the door open, on the other side was the devil who had been haunting her thoughts. In the flesh. She squared her shoulders, and immediately crossed her arms over her chest, assuming a self-defense position. As much as she wanted to jump in his arms, she had to be strong. “What do you want?” she asked. Did he come because he wanted her to come back to work? Perhaps convince her to work for him and not date anymore. She couldn’t do it.
He held something behind his back, with a hand holding it. Flowers?
“May I come in?”
“Sure,” she said, opting for not arguing at her doorstep. She opened the door wider, letting him in, but without much finesse, and just sat on her couch again. Gustavo meowed at him, recognizing him.
“You are right. I should have told Megan about you,” he said, standing in the middle of her living room. “That wasn’t fair to you.”
“Thanks,” she whispered.
“She came to my office because she texted me a few times and I thought avoidance was the best answer. I obviously was wrong. But I guarantee you, Manuela, that I have no intention whatsoever of ever going back with her.”
She shifted on the couch. Her pulse raced, and she willed her nervousness away, without much success. What did this all mean? He could still be wanting to make it nice with her to end it in a clean way, or to have her back as an assistant.
Cold sweat covered her palms.
“Do you believe me?” he asked.
“I don’t know… I mean, I want to. But the fact that you lied to her makes me wonder—did you lie to me as well? Is there another reason why you don’t want to tell people at the office? What if you’re just hoping our thing is as quick affair, and it’s not worth it to make it public?”
“I promise you I want to make it public,” he said, then showed her what he’d been carrying behind his back. A white throw pillow, with the words Come with me to the office party embroidered in red. “I want you to be my date for Collier Realty’s annual party.”
A warm glow flowed through her, the zany energy lowering all her defenses, and turning her bones into mush. “For real?”
“For real,” he said, then bridged the gap between them, and knelt in front of her, giving her the pillow. “I love you, Manuela. I want you. I don’t want anyone to think otherwise.”
She glanced down at the pillow, then set it aside, and Gustavo quickly plopped on it.
“Nate…”
“I’m sorry it took me so long for me to see you,” he said, stroking her cheek. “Sounds like I made you work a lot.”
