Page 32 of One Night with the CEO

“I want you back.”

Silence. Mia quickly continued before Genevieve could decide to hang up.

“I wasn’t ready before, but I am, now. I love you, Genevieve, and I want to be with you. I know I’ve made mistakes, but I’m ready to earn back your trust, no matter how long it takes.”

Genevieve sighed. “Thank you for your honesty, Mia, but I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

This was exactly why Mia had wanted to meet in person. Over the phone, she couldn’t read Genevieve’s body language or facial expressions, and she needed every advantage she could get in this situation.

“Are you saying you don’t love me too?”

There was a long pause. “That wasn’t what I said. That’s not the point, though. We can’t be together, Mia.”

“May I ask why not?”

“You may be committed now, but what happens when your past gets in the way again? I don’t want to do things halfway, Mia.”

“Neither do I. I may not have been invested enough before, but I am now, and I’m willing to prove it. Come on a date with me? Let’s take things slow. If you don’t like what you see—if I give you even the smallest indication that I’m not one hundred percent committed to making this work long term—you can always still leave.”

There was another long pause. Mia waited on tenterhooks, hoping with all of her being that Genevieve would take her.

“No.”

Mia felt like her insides shriveled at the sound of that tiny, awful word.

“I’m sorry, Mia, but I have to go. I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to be in contact anymore.”

The line clicked dead.

Mia let her hand holding the phone drop to her side. She wasn’t going to cry, because this wasn’t defeat—not yet.

She had hurt Genevieve in the past. She completely understood why Genevieve may be hesitant to trust her. Mia wasn’t going to let the love of her life go without a fight, though. If, once Genevieve knew how serious Mia was, she still didn’t want a relationship, Mia would respect that.

First, though, she had to make Genevieve see how truly loved and wanted she was.

Mia had a plan.

11

Genevieve

Genevieve was looking at her phone, again. She knew she was being stupid. She had made herself clear to Mia, and Mia was simply respecting her boundaries.

Still, Mia couldn’t have been as committed as she said, if she had given up so easily, and that made it all that much harder not to wallow in her own misery and disappointment.

Genevieve knew that she was doing the right thing. It had been five weeks with no word from Mia. She was glad she hadn’t said yes, given that Mia had clearly moved on from her so quickly that Genevieve was beginning to doubt Mia’s assertion of love.

Maybe if she kept telling herself that enough times, she would start to believe it.

“Genevieve?”

“Yes, Penelope, come in.”

Penelope had taken to checking on Genevieve. She always had a valid work excuse for it, but those excuses were things that she could easily have taken care of on her own. Genevieve didn’t mind it, really. It was nice to know that people cared.

Before Mia, this would have simply annoyed her, but while she was committed to keeping herself away from personal relationships, she still appreciated Penelope’s concern.

Mia had changed Genevieve permanently, and Genevieve feared she would never recover.

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