Page 67 of Foreplay with the Boss

If this meeting went the way I’d planned on it going, I’d probably miss her forever.

The heart that she’d teased me had been replaced with a robotic one knotted, misery seeping from the hole Kat left, and it hit me, the thing I’d tried to deny since she’d walked out of my office Monday. Possibly even from the day she’d first walked into it. I loved her. I loved her, and I was about to lose her. She might’ve been the one to storm out, but this would be slamming the door on us for good.

I couldn’t close that door. I didn’t want it to be over. The thought of going all in with Kat and calling her mine didn’t scare me, it called to me. I had to fix things between us, even if I crashed and burned. I’d regret it forever if I didn’t at least try.

I cleared my throat and looked at the sea of expectant faces.

“I’m so sorry. I can’t do this without my assistant. I need to push back the meeting.”

It was unprofessional and 100 percent emotion-driven, and I didn’t give a shit. Kat was more important.

“You can’t run the presentation on your own?” Mr. Williams, one of the older, grouchier board members asked with a huff.

“I can, but I won’t because I’d rather take the time to get it right. Something new has come to light, and I need time to analyze what exactly it means.”

They didn’t need to know that the something was realizing just how in love I was with Kat, and that it might change everything. Even the way I did business.

CHAPTER 39

Kat

After staying up all night and catching a power nap, I decided to walk around Boston and say goodbye to the place before climbing into my car and making the drive home. The plan was to hit the road before the news broke about the Hartford Branch, that way I could use the excuse of “I was driving” to avoid the endless phone calls that would inevitably flood in. Dad might still be the boss at the office, but a lot of people called me when they wanted information since I was more likely to answer.

At first, I was just going to stare out at the harbor a few minutes, the way I’d done yesterday, but I found myself wandering toward the New England Aquarium. Stepping inside was so bittersweet. This was part of Jameson’s and my first official date. It was where I’d seen a little deeper into who he was—who he could be if he let himself think about something besides work for just a little while.

It was the day I knew that I was a goner; the day I’d dared to hope.

Hope was beating me up a bit lately. I’d had it yesterday evening, and I’d poured through reports and charts and added and subtracted figures until the wee hours of the morning, trying to find a way to save the Hartford Branch. It sucked that I hadn’t found one, but in a lot of ways, running the numbers again and again had been good for me.

It showed me that Jameson wasn’t just being a ruthless businessman. Our branch had consistently lost money, and I wondered why Dad never told me how bad it’d gotten. Didn’t he realize that between figuring out a way to fix how much money we were hemorrhaging and learning how to be a bolder boss, getting our company out of the red would’ve been more important?

Not that I’d give up this past month for anything, but still. If I’d taken over, I’m sure everyone would say I ran the company into the ground, even though it was flattened before I even had a chance to take the helm.

I stopped at the giant tunnel part of the aquarium and stared at the giant grouper I’d dubbed the Godfather of the Sea. “I feel less vengeful than yesterday, so I won’t ask you to whack anyone, but you wouldn’t happen to have any advice on how exactly to move on, would you? I mean, you’ve probably seen a lot of your fishy friends come and go through the years.”

The aquarium was nearly empty this time of day, so I didn’t have to worry about people thinking I was crazy. Today I was letting that flag fly.

Naturally, the Grouper didn’t answer. He just hovered, his fins moving as he looked around at the nearby fish like he was suspicious of everyone.

A “trust no one” motto might keep me from getting hurt again, but it wasn’t me. From now on, I was going to try my hardest to be the best version of me. Someone who was kind and understanding but didn’t let herself get walked over.

And part of that was thanks to Jameson.

My phone rang, and my heart stopped beating as I wondered if he was calling again. I didn’t think I could resist answering this time. I’d meant that email as my final goodbye, but I wished I could have a better one with him, even though it’d also hurt like hell.

Steeling myself, I pulled the phone from the pocket of my sundress. It’s just Dad. Of course it wasn’t Jameson. He was running the board meeting right now. Then again, Dad should be there, too, because there was no way it only took…I glanced at the time—fifteen minutes.

I glanced around to make sure I was alone enough to not bother anyone with a phone call and then answered. “Hey, Dad. Are you okay?” I felt a little guilty I hadn’t warned him about the branch closing, but I would’ve felt guilty telling him, too. My loyalties had gotten all tangled up, along with everything else.

“I’m fine,” he said. “It’s been a strange couple of days. JT took me to dinner last night and told me he was going to recommend closing our branch to the board, but at the meeting, he told us he needed to postpone. The board members are all grumbling.”

I clenched my phone tighter and bit my lip. “And what’s Jameson doing?”

“Trying to find his girl so he can beg her to give him another chance,” a deep voice said from behind me, and I jumped, my phone slipping out of my hand and falling to the floor.

Jameson scooped it up and extended it to me. I vaguely noticed the screen wasn’t cracked, but I didn’t get a close look because I couldn’t stop staring at the guy standing across from me, noting the same things I did the first time I met him. Dark hair, a little less perfectly styled than usual, blue eyes so clear you could practically see yourself swimming in them, although they also showed strains of stress, and one of those dimples in the chin that made you want to run your tongue over it—and boy, had I.

A giant lump rose in my throat and settled there. “I’m pretty sure delirium is kicking in. I thought I woke up from my nap, but I must still be asleep.”

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