Page 24 of Without Apology

CHAPTER TEN

Simon

I had a tough time with apologies. They showed weakness, in my opinion. Although I was unhappy that Peyton felt the way she did, I wasn’t sure I was sorry for my actions. They’d served to keep Tom from suspecting anything. However, I did regret this entire situation.

As I drove away from her house, I realized the biggest regret was that I wouldn’t get to see her again outside of work. Something that had such potential had instead completely ended. There’d been no choice. I didn’t mix business with pleasure. For the first time, though, I found myself wishing I could.

By Friday, I’d seen her twice. Both times in meetings and in front of others. I’d been professional and brief, trying in vain not to notice how beautiful she was. Or to recognize how much I missed her laughter. I did observe her late hours along with Jeff’s lack thereof. Not that we were at the interview stage, but I did make a point to take note of people’s habits. You could teach a lot of things, but work ethic wasn’t one of them.

When I looked at the clock turning six, I was well aware that, if things had been otherwise, I would’ve been anxious to get out of the office and pick her up for a second date. I glanced over at Emma who stood in my doorway, her laptop bag in hand.

“I’m heading to the hotel. Uber is waiting outside.”

“Okay.” I’d probably be here awhile yet. Now that we knew the initial discovery work had been completed and the audit thus far had turned up no red flags, we were proceeding towards the end goal of a purchase agreement. So long as the audit cleared by the end of next week, we’d then proceed with the staff interviews.

“I’m getting my own wheels this weekend. Figured it might be fun to try my hand at driving. By the way, Tom left for the airport an hour ago. But Peyton is still here.”

My heart beat faster with the mention of her name. “How do you know?”

“She sent me an email two minutes ago saying she’d have the last remaining items to me by eight.”

Since Friday was the deadline, I shouldn’t have been surprised she was working late, but what did surprise me was how guilty I felt about it.

“I should probably just let her work.”

Emma’s expression softened. “But you want to go down there. Text me if you want me to place an order for some food. I have options for Asian, Tex-Mex—whatever the hell that is—and Italian.”

With her last words, she was out the door, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

Fuck. I wanted to see Peyton. Find out how she was holding up this week. If I did, would I be able to stay unbiased? Was I now?

I worked for ten more minutes and then cursed out loud. I could have a simple conversation to ask her how it was going. No harm in that. We could be friendly. No fault in that, either.

I made my way downstairs and didn’t see anyone else on the Maddox Consulting floor. As I walked towards her office, thankful I’d received a floor layout to locate it, I could see her light on. Her door was not quite closed. I knocked and heard her call out.

“Come in.”

She glanced up from her computer screen, surprise evident on her face. “Oh, hello.”

“Hi.”

She was wearing glasses and couldn’t have looked sexier in them.

“I emailed Emma to let her know I just about have everything. Only three more items.”

I shut her door, giving us privacy. “I noticed you’ve been working late all week.”

“Yes, well, with so many items on your list plus my regular day job, it’s been busy.”

It was said without heat, matter of factly, but it still bothered me.

“You could’ve asked for an extension.” Most people did. And most of the time, I’d give a day or two. I wasn’t completely heartless.

“I could’ve. I didn’t.”

I sensed there was some pride behind her words. “You wear glasses?”

“Yeah. Sometimes. They’re computer screen glasses. Supposed to help your eyes.”

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