Page 7 of Weathering the Storm of the Century

“Never.”

“Look, you need a place to stay, and I have plenty of room,” he said, sounding reasonable, though there was nothing reasonable about this crazy situation. “As for what people will think of you, it’s going to be hard for you to find true happiness if you begin to care too much about what other people think, Merritt.”

I eyed him. “Spoken like a man with all the power in the world to make people look the other way,” I pointed out. “However, everyone knows that it’s sleazy for a secretary to sleep with her boss.”

“You’re wrong, Ms. Dale,” Cutter said as he let out a dark laugh. “It’s sleazy for a secretary to fuck her boss when either or both of them are married. It’s sleazy for a secretary to fuck her boss when they both know that she’ll never be anything more than a piece of convenient ass. It’s sleazy for a secretary to fuck her boss for ladder rungs.” Those hazel eyes of his regarded me sternly. “However, that’s a moot point since we’re not sleeping together, don’t you think?”

“My reputation is important to me,” I muttered lamely.

Cutter cocked his head. “And what makes you think that people aren’t already saying that you’ve been in my bed?” he asked evenly. “With as much time as we spend together, you have to know that some people are already thinking that, Merritt.”

I could feel my shoulders sag with that harsh truth. “Be that as it may, staying with you will only make it look worse.”

“Well, get over it,” he ordered as he turned from me to glance at all the boxes on the floor. “If you don’t want to move in with me, fine. However, you will be staying with me until we find you a suitable place to live. I will not have you living out of a motel room, Merritt.”

“Cutter-”

“I’m finished with this conversation, Merritt,” he said, and I knew that tone, though he’d never used it on me before. “Now, make sure that you haven’t missed anything as I take these boxes to the car. It shouldn’t take too long.”

“I can carry-”

“Over my dead fucking body,” he practically snapped. “Now, do as I asked.”

Yeah.

Because he asked.

Fuck my life.

Chapter 5

Cutter~

Merritt was setting her stuff up in one of the spare bedrooms, and even though my penthouse was over eight-thousand square feet and there was plenty of room in the place, I felt her presence in my house like we were sharing a one-bedroom loft.

Merritt was finally here.

After two years of doing my best to accept that she was going to marry another man and create a life with him, Merritt was in my home after having broken things off with her ex-fiancé, and I knew that I was only going to have one chance at this.

Though our relationship had been strictly professional these past two years, that still hadn’t stopped me from noticing all the things that made Merritt Dale unlike all the other women that I’d ever met. While her looks were enough to turn a man stupid, Merritt was more than just her blonde hair, blue eyes, and sexy figure. The woman was intelligent, witty, engaging, ambitious, and possessed basic common sense, which was worth its weight in gold in this day and age.

She was also loyal to those that she loved. I knew all about her parents and how she spoke to them once a week like clockwork. I also knew about her brother, and Merritt was close to him, despite his military career and how much he traveled. She had no real friends, but that was probably because she spent every waking moment working for me. Nevertheless, I’d never heard her complain one bit about her lack of friends or social life. Merritt Dale was a doer, and if something needed to be done, then she did it, no questions asked. She was the perfect personal/professional assistant, and I’d cut off my right arm before losing her in any capacity.

Holding myself up in my office, I pulled out my phone, praying that Cotter wasn’t busy with Aelix. For something that was just a sexual arrangement, Cotter took the time that he spent with Aelix seriously.

“What’s up?” he asked, answering on the third ring. “Is this about Japan?”

“I’ve got her, Cotter,” I blurted like a rookie.

“Merritt?” he asked, already knowing that there was only one ‘her’ that I obsessed over.

“Yeah,” I answered. “She’s at my place.”

Silence.

After a few more seconds, he said, “I’m confused. If you finally got her in your bed, then why the fuck are you wasting time calling me?”

I let out a sigh. “She called off her engagement earlier this week-”

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