“If you’re looking for Alora, she was last seen entering the ladies’ bathroom on floor three,” his PA said.
“Thank you.”
Hanging up his cell phone, he used the stairs to get to floor three, taking two at a time.
The gossip in his office was ridiculous. Even as he entered floor three, he saw people in groups, talking, and he knew what they were discussing. The gossip never bothered him, but his need to protect Alora from the bullshit was overwhelming.
He entered the bathroom. No one was there, but one stall door was shut.
“Alora,” he said.
“Go away.”
“I’m not going anywhere. I need you to come out so I can see you.”
She sniffled. “I’m not coming out. Did you hear what they’re saying?”
He sighed. “Alora, I’m not going to talk to you through the bathroom stall.”
“I can’t go out there. They all think the worst. I can’t even—”
“I don’t give a fuck what they think, and you shouldn’t either. Alora, please, come out, talk to me. I can fix this.”
The door opened, and there was Alora, tears falling down her cheeks. She rarely wore makeup, and today was one of those days. Her face was puffy and her eyes looked slightly swollen.
“What the hell happened?” Alora asked.
He told her everything. What Marvin did, his threats. “I do not submit to threats,” he said.
“No, but now people are looking at me like I don’t deserve to be here, and I don’t think I do. They probably think I’m a whore. A gold digger. We never should have—”
He cupped her face and slammed his lips down on hers. “Don’t say that,” he said. “You’re the only thing I’ve done right.”
“Thing?” Alora asked.
“You’re my woman, Alora. Mine completely.”
“I can’t stand them looking at me like that.”
“And I will fix it, I promise,” he said.
Chapter Six
She’d worked hard all her adult life. Everything she’d accomplished had been completely on her own. For people to think she’d slept her way to the top was the worst thing that could happen. The stares. The accusations. It was all too much.
Alora just knew something like this would happen.
Yet, she couldn’t bring herself to regret going home with Adam the night of the Christmas party. If she were completely honest with herself, she was falling in love with him. He made her feel safe, wanted, and beautiful. She didn’t want to give him up, but she also didn’t want the company he’d built from scratch to come crashing down because of unfounded accusations. He didn’t deserve this any more than she did.
Maybe love wasn’t in the cards for people like them.
She wasn’t mad at Adam, but she’d wanted to leave the office building and have some time alone to think. Being back in her little apartment didn’t have the same appeal. Her eyes had been opened to so much more. Settling for her fantasies and daydreams of the perfect life would no longer do after having a taste of what life with Adam could be like.
Alora flopped down on her sofa. It felt even lonelier in her apartment with Burt missing. Since she’d been sleeping at Adam’s condo, her cat had gone along with her. They were a package deal.
She’d never been happier. Things were slowly coming together. And now this. Marvin was a little weasel with no sense of honor and completely lacking a moral compass. If his work held weight, he wouldn’t have to stoop to trashing her name or trying to put Nelson Industries out of business.
She couldn’t see a way out of this mess. Maybe walking away from her job—from Adam—was the only answer. Christmas lights from the balcony above her lit up her dark apartment. They taunted her. Reminding her she’d always been alone, unwanted, drifting through life with nothing to ground her. Alora covered her face with her hands and cried. So many emotions, old and new, came rushing to the surface.
Alora wanted the fairy tale, only it didn’t exist at all.
She drifted in and out of sleep, finally waking fully from a constant ringing. Alora sat up with a start. At first, she thought it was her cell phone, but it was her doorbell. She rarely heard it. Since the front door lock to the building was broken, even delivery drivers rarely pushed the button. She slipped from the sofa and hit the intercom by her door.
“Hello?”
“Can I come up?” Adam asked.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“Please, Alora.”
She pushed the release buzzer on her intercom, even though it was pointless. Within minutes, he knocked on her front door.
Just opening the door a few inches, she blocked her apartment from view. “I told you I needed some time.”
“Yeah, that was nine hours ago.”
Alora glanced at her watch, shocked to see it was so late at night.
“Look, this isn’t meant to be, okay? I’m not going to let Marvin ruin everything you’ve worked for. I just won’t let you throw away everything for me.”
He chuckled, that confident sound that attracted her to him. “Baby, the only one who needs to worry is that asshole. He doesn’t know who he’s fucking with. One phone call and he’ll never be able to land a job in this city again.”
“You’re just saying that.”
Adam shook his head. “Can I come in?”
“I don’t want you to see my place.”
“I let you see mine. Remember, the cold, white condo with no soul, or so you call it.”
“Whatever.” She held her door open. Although her place was tidy, it was small and rundown. It was all she could afford in this overpriced city.
His presence in her apartment was larger than life. She watched him, wondering if he was judging her.
“Nice. I like it. It has soul.” He touched the Christmas lights around her window. “Why aren’t they on?”
“I was sleeping.”
He kept on exploring, occasionally checking his watch.
“Why are you here, Adam?”
This time, he turned to face her. “Did you think I’d let the best thing in my life just walk away without a fight?”
Then she heard the distinct sound of Christmas carols. It was ten o’clock at night. She walked past him to the window and pulled it up. Carolers stood on the sidewalk, dressed all in festive attire. And there was snow. Beautiful, lazy flakes fell down to the street below.
It felt truly magical.
When Adam’s arms snaked around her from behind, she instinctively leaned her head back against him. “It’s so late for them to be out,” she said.
“One thing I’ve learned over the years is that money talks.”
She turned around in his arms. “You did this?”
“I want you happy, Alora. We belong together, and you know it.”
“The entire building thinks I’m sleeping with you to further my career. I can’t live that down.”
“So you’ll give up on us that easily?”
He had no idea how much she wanted this to work. What was wrong with her? She seemed hardwired to sabotage her own happiness as if she didn’t deserve unconditional love. But she craved it no less.