Yes. “That’s unfair. You’re making me choose between my career and you.”
“And what if I am?”
Heat rises in my chest. Dexter might be giving me a choice, but he’s forcing my hand, and that’s just as bad as choosing for me. “Then I choose my career.”
He narrows his eyes, his body bending toward mine. “And who do you have to thank for your career, Miss Davies?”
I gasp. “Excuse me?”
“You walked into my office with inexperience, a lack of education, and an innocence that should have made me send you right back out the door, but I gave you a chance and saw potential. You were untouched by the corporate world, therefore moldable. And you dare stand here like your career is in your hands to own? Your career belongs to me, and so do you.” He wraps his arm around my waist and yanks me to him.
Before I can stop him, his mouth slams on mine.
One week ago, I would have melted beneath Dexter’s fire. I would have crawled onto my knees and devoured his cock like only a powerful woman could. I would have let him ravage me on the hood of his car in this empty parking lot if he’d wanted. But now… now all I can think about is Anderson and my love for him that never left. If anything, it’s only gotten stronger.
I yank my lips from Dexter’s, rage filling my entire body. The smirk across Dexter’s face when his eyes slip to something over my shoulder makes it no better. “Oops. Looks like we’ve been spotted.”
My head snaps toward whatever he’s referring to, and my heart instantly drops into my feet when I see Anderson standing there on the trail, his face cloaked by the surrounding trees’ shadows, but it’s undoubtedly him. Like he was waiting for me this whole time, only to witness me kissing another man.
Anderson takes one step backward then another until he’s gone.
I’m going to be sick.
I turn back to a chuckling Dexter and shove him so hard and unexpectedly that his back hits his driver’s door with a thud. “What the fuck, Hope?”
“Leave.”
Fury crowds his brow. “What about us?”
I lift my hands in the air and take a step back. “We’re over. I’ll work with you, I’ll work for you, but I won’t be anything more to you. From now on, it’s business only.”
“You don’t mean that.” He tilts his head, his breathing coming harder. “I came all the way here to see you, and this is the thanks I get?”
I take another step back. “I’m sorry you had to waste the gas money. Feel free to take it out of my next paycheck.”
His palms slam against his face then drag down his skin. Rejection isn’t something Dexter is used to. “Stop. Now. This isn’t how today was supposed to go. Look, I get it. You’re stressed and focused on your promotion. But there’s no need to be. Maybe we just need to take a breath and talk about this later.”
For a successful entrepreneur, Dexter is a shitty listener. “I won’t change my mind.”
He lets out another frustrated breath, this one resembling something like defeat. “So that’s it, huh? It’s over before it ever fucking began, and I don’t even understand why.” He shakes his head like he’s trying to put together a puzzle in his mind. Moments later, something new appears in his eyes. A realization that knots my belly. His eyes narrow. “This is about Bexley, isn’t it? Are you sleeping with him?”
“No.” My answer comes too quick and too loud, causing his glare to harden.
“You two have a history.” He’s searching my face like he’ll find all my secrets there. “He’s very complimentary of you, and you’re very protective of him.” His eyes dart over my shoulder to where he saw Anderson watching us earlier. “And why the fuck was he waiting in the woods for you?”
Everything is short-circuiting in my body while another wave of panic washes over me. All I know is that if I tell Dexter the truth about Anderson, it will hurt him a hell of a lot more than he’s hurting now. I can’t do that to him after everything he’s done for me.
“Maybe he didn’t want me to walk alone in the dark,” I suggest.
He studies me again like he’s conflicted, like he wants to believe me but can’t. With a final huff, he rips his door open with one hand then points at me. “If I find out you’re lying, you can kiss your precious career goodbye. I won’t have my employees fucking my clients on my dime. I’m not your pimp.”
“Really?” I tilt my head. “Aren’t you the one who wanted me to show a little cleavage to win Anderson over in the first place? Make up your mind, Dexter.”
Daggers shoot from his eyes one last time before he speeds off, spraying gravel everywhere in the lot before his car finally disappears through the entrance gates.
Chapter Fifteen
ANDERSON
Tires spin through the gravel of the parking lot, a sound that would normally send my tolerance needle into the red, but no more fury is left inside me after what I just witnessed. If I could take an eraser to my brain, I would scrape the thing so damn clean and take the rest of my memory with it. The walls of my chest feel like they’re closing in on my heart.
Just when I was starting to think my life was finally turning around, a storm comes in threatening to destroy what I love most—yet again. I may have lost my family, but somehow, I know it would all be okay if Hope was back in my life. And here she was, my dream girl, closer to being mine than ever before—and then I catch her wrapped up in a kiss with Dexter Van Douche.
My hand latches on to a thick twig from a tree branch. I yank on it hard while a growl rips from my throat. It snaps from the tree, and I toss it deep into the woods. It doesn’t make me feel better. If anything, the splinters that lodged into my skin make me feel worse. Weak. There’s no pain bigger than this type of heartbreak. The kind that’s like laughter in my face. Payback for the damage I did to Hope’s heart a year ago. I guess I deserve this.
Raindrops start to fall—slowly at first and then quicker as the moments pass. The wind whistles as leaves rip from the trees, and the sky rumbles. Of course the sky would choose this fucking moment to storm. I knew it was coming. I just didn’t realize it would be here to destroy my life once again.
“Anderson, wait.” Hope’s faint voice still sounds far away, so I pick up the pace. Nothing good can come from facing her right now. Not when all I see is red.
Her footsteps grow faster, louder, until she’s practically running to catch up to me at the opening to the new cabins.
“Anderson, please stop,” she cries. “Let’s talk about this.”
I swivel around, her presence gas to the fire we’ve already lit. I can’t put all the blame on her since I was the one who carried the match to begin with, but I can sure as hell remove myself from the flames. “Talking would have been a nice thing to do before I had to witness your tongue down Dexter’s throat.” I point toward the parking lot while glaring back at her. “You’re having a fling with your boss? Which means he sent the flowers here. I’m a fucking fool.”
“You’re not a fool.” Her voice shakes. “I was going to tell you.”