Page 38 of Free Agent

Montgomery Rudolph was a very determined man.

Always had been, it was one of the qualities that made him attractive. Him being disgustingly handsome had always been more plus than primary. He made me laugh, treated me like the hottest bitch walking, and he respected my brilliance in my field.

Revered it, even.

My office had always been kind of a sacred space, even before it was actual office space, when it was just a room wherever we lived. He knew that when I was in my zone in front of a screen, I was locked in, not to be bothered.

Which was why I didn’t think I needed to take steps for him to not be allowed in the building.

I didn’t understand what a mistake it was until he was at my office door with that fucking smile and a bouquet of my favorite flowers.

As if my personal life hadn’t been conversation enough around the Hive.

I had been able to avoid him otherwise, ignoring and blocking calls, and he gratefully had been giving me physical space, probably knowing it was for the best.

Apparently that grace period had expired.

“What the hell are you doing here?!” I asked, springing up from my seat at my desk to meet him at the door. I peeked out to a sea of faces turned in my direction. They scattered when they saw me there, but I knew they were still watching.

Shit.

I grabbed him by the arm, pulling him through the door so I could close it from prying eyes.

Damnit, Shan.

If she hadn’t stepped out for an appointment, there was no way his ass would be in my face right now.

“I asked you a question,” I snapped, turning to him with crossed arms.

He turned up the wattage on his smile, extending the bouquet in my direction. “I thought it would mean more if I brought you the flowers myself.”

My nose wrinkled.

At him, and then the flowers, which I made no move to accept. “I don’t have time for this.”

“Rori, come on,” he pleaded, following me to my desk. “Don’t be like this.”

“Excuse me?” I rounded on him, eyes narrowed. “However I’m being, you made it that way, with your actions. Don’t you dare try to turn anything around on me.”

“I’m sorry,” he insisted, in a tone that suggested his words as true, but I’d heard that shit too much at this point. He put the oversized bouquet on my desk, freeing his hands to grab mine. When I tried to pull away, he held them tighter. “Rori… I know I hurt you?—”

“You keep hurting me,” I countered, successfully freeing my hands from his. “And I cannot keep letting it go. For what, Monty? Because you love me?”

“I do love you. I’ve loved you for… hell, twenty years. I had to beg you to accept a ring!”

“With good reason,” I scoffed. “If only I could turn back the hands of time and listen to whatever it was that made me feel like getting engaged wasn’t a good idea.”

“You don’t mean that.”

I sucked my teeth.

Hard as fuck.

“Boy! Look at where we are. Look at what you’ve done! My hesitance to get married, my insistence on a long engagement is the only thing I can look back at and say, well, that was smart, as far as this relationship is concerned. What a blessing to have been dragging my feet to plan a goddamn wedding.”

His eyes went wide, head pulled back.

“That’s… the only good thing about us to you? After all these years?” he asked, quietly shoving his hands into his pockets.

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