Something in Dexter’s expression changes. His gaze loses its fire, and his frown falls. “I’m not here to fire you. You can stay at Urgency. You’ve earned you keep, and your clients love you. That promotion I promised you is still there too.”
“I don’t understand. What about Mallory? She told me everything, Dexter. What she knows, why I’ve always received the short end of the stick. She doesn’t want me to have that raise.”
He doesn’t even flinch. “Let me deal with Mallory.”
“Why do I feel like there’s a catch in there somewhere?”
He nods. “There is. I want you back in the office today. I’m taking you off Bexley’s account, and this time I don’t care what you or Anderson say. You’re going to have to choose.”
My heart squeezes tight, and I hate how conflicted his ultimatum makes me feel.
“Even if that means losing my business?” I jump at the voice coming from behind me. Swiveling, I see Anderson approaching, his frown deeply woven into his features. “Because I’m not holding to my end of the contract if I’m not working with the project manager you were hired to provide.”
Dexter’s gaze hardens on Anderson. “With all due respect, Mr. Bexley, I do not give a fuck. You need Urgency more than Urgency needs you. We can see the contract through if you want, but you’ll do it with Mallory, not Hope. Take it or leave it. I won’t even sue you for backing out of the contract early. We can end things just as they are.” He looks at me. “While I’m still signing Hope’s checks, I have to draw the line somewhere. As a businessman yourself, surely you can understand that.”
“Funny.” Anderson tilts his head. “I didn’t take you for a rules-following kind of guy.”
Dexter smiles. “Why’s that? Because I fucked your girl on every surface of my office?”
Anderson lurches forward, but I slam my arm into his chest before he can get any closer to Dexter, which is enough force to make him stop and look at me.
“Stop.” I glare at them both. “No one is getting into a fight. I don’t think what Dexter is asking is unfair either.”
“Are you kidding me, Hope?” Anderson asks. “How can you even consider still working for this prick?”
“Because he’s giving me a choice, and this is the best option for everyone,” I snap back. Although the thought of continuing to work for Dexter turns my stomach, I don’t want to get blackballed in the industry if I refuse his offer. I can’t afford that kind of ding on my record, especially when Dexter is offering me a way out. I can have the job, and I can have Anderson too.
I give Anderson a pleading look, begging him to understand. “I don’t want to lose my job. I also don’t want to leave you. At least we can still be together this way.”
“Then work here,” he pleads. “You don’t have to go back to being an activities director. Everything you’re doing for Urgency, you can do here.”
His words spark through me like a lit match. He’s right. I could continue doing what I love, but do it for Camp Bexley.
“I’m afraid you’re incorrect.” Dexter steps forward, far too close to Anderson to mean anything good.
My heart sinks.
“Hope signed a noncompete that denies her the right to work in any nature deemed competitive to Urgency for two years.”
“Two years?” I shriek. I try to remember that day in HR’s office when I signed the final paperwork for the job. There was a noncompete, but it wasn’t like I had a choice in signing the damn thing. And at the time, I was too thankful for the job to consider the ramifications.
Anderson takes a step forward, ignoring my arm still pressed against his chest. “That noncompete won’t hold up in court.”
Dexter slips a piece of paper out of his pocket and holds it up for us both to see. It’s a photo of Anderson and me, locked in each other’s arms outside my cabin, and I’m completely naked. “My noncompete will fare quite well with this attached to it.”
Anderson swipes at the image, grabs it, and crumbles it into a ball. “You fucking asshole. You have no right to step foot on my camp and dictate Hope’s future the way you’ve done the past year. She doesn’t need you or your job. This is her home, and this is where she’s staying.”
My heart is racing while I look wide-eyed at Anderson. “You can’t make that decision for me.”
Anderson glares down at me. “The hell I can’t.” He points furiously at Dexter. “You’re not going back to Seattle with this prick. No fucking way.”
I shake my head slowly, drawing in a deep, steady breath as I do. I pull Anderson a few feet away so we can talk in private. “You’re doing it again,” I whisper. “You’re trying to make me think I have no other choice, but this is my decision to make. I’m sorry, but you’re going to need to trust me to make it on my own.”
His jaw drops. “Are you serious? You’re actually considering this? You could pick up and leave, just like that?”
I squeeze my eyes shut. “I didn’t choose that. I’m saying it’s my choice.”
He looks genuinely confused and hurt as he shakes his head and steps closer so only I can hear him. “Letting you leave for Seattle last time was the biggest mistake of my life. I can’t lose you again. And the fact that Dexter is even giving you the option to go back to the office doesn’t sit right with me. He still wants you. He’s just going to get close to you again.”
“Then you’ll need to trust me because I’m not in love with him. I’m in love with you. I’m also terrified to burn this bridge before I have a chance to find something else.”
“You’re giving him so much power. Look at him.” Anderson throws Dexter a disgusted look. “He thinks he owns you.”
“You need to trust me.”
Anderson’s anger fades, transitioning into sadness. I plead with him again with my eyes. “Look, we’re all worked up right now. I can’t let whatever I decide in the heat of the moment fuck with my future. Whatever I decide, you’ll need to be okay with.”
Anderson looks over my shoulder at Dexter. “If Hope decides to go, then it’s you who will be in breach of contract. You understand that, right?”
Dexter nods. “I’ll accept that responsibility. I’ll even refund you for the remaining budget.”
Anderson looks back at me, furious but also a little bit desperate. He hooks his arm around my waist and pulls me in. “And I’m not making the same mistake twice with you. I’m going to do what I should have done last year. I’m going to beg you to stay. I love you, Hope.” His voice cracks, and his eyes plead with mine. “Please don’t go.”
My chest swells, I wrap my arms around him, and I look up into his eyes. “I love you, too, Anderson. More today than ever before, and I don’t want to leave.” A war is waging in my heart and mind, a gruesome battle, and I don’t even know which side I’m on. “It’s important for me to figure this out myself.”
“Why are you being so stubborn about this? We’re finally together.”
“And we still will be. Me leaving doesn’t change anything between us, but…” I blink back a fresh set of tears while I search for words that will make him understand. “You’re still the man who broke my heart last year. And while I’m very happy with where we’re at now, I’m terrified to build my world around a man. By staying here and working for you, that’s exactly what I’d be doing. Let me pave my own way, and I promise I’ll be back. I just need some time.” I look deep into his eyes. “Can you give me that?”