Page 128 of Dear Grumpy Boss

She looked breathtaking, and it killed me because she hadn’t been in my arms.

If I knew Luca, he took great delight in rubbing my face in my screwup.

I had one chance to fix it.

With a tray of coffee in one hand and a bag of pastries in the other, I kicked my front door closed. When I turned around, Elise was standing a few feet away, rubbing her eyes.

“Good morning, baby. I have coffee.”

She covered up a yawn with her hand and eyed the cups on the tray. “Is that from Patterson’s?”

“Mm-hmm. I had it delivered.”

As soon as I set the tray down on the kitchen island, she plucked her iced coffee from the cup holder and opened the drawer where she had started keeping a stash of metal straws.

I set the pastries on a plate. She chose a chocolate croissant and carried it with her coffee to the table.

I followed with my cherry Danish and steaming cup, taking the chair across from her.

“Sleep well?” I asked.

“Better than I thought.” She sipped her coffee. “You were tossing and turning.”

“Yeah.” I dragged my fingers through my hair. “Spent a lot of time thinking.”

“I might have slept through it, but I didn’t notice you leaving the bed to go to your office.”

I huffed a dry laugh. “I’m not letting you out of my sight until you’re mine again.”

She leaned back in her chair, wiping her mouth with her napkin. “If you don’t want me out of your sight, can you tell me why it was so easy for you to do at the fundraiser?”

“No.” I shook my head. “It wasn’t easy. I didn’t want to do anything other than spend the night with you on my arm, but I’d already agreed to talk to Peters, and with the direction our negotiations were going, it wasn’t something I felt comfortable backing out on. I kept thinking once I handled him, I would be able to get back to you and give you my full attention.”

“I understand you have obligations. But you made me feel like an afterthought, and I was expected to grin and take it.”

“You’re my first thought, Elise.Always. I know my actions directly contradicted that, but it’s the truth.”

I got up from my chair, rounding the table to crouch beside her, and took both of her hands in mine.

“I fucked up. I genuinely lost track of time. It was not a conscious decision to be away from you as long as I was. That is absolutely no excuse, but I need you to know I didn’t purposely set you aside. I know the result is the same and I made you feel unimportant, but you are unequivocally themostimportant person in my life.”

I brought her hands to my mouth and finally caught her eyes with mine.

“Nothing like that will happen again. Please forgive me so I can make it up to you.”

Her eyes narrowed. “How could you possibly make it up to me?”

“Would you dance with me?”

Her lips were pursed. If I thought for a second she’d be happy about it, I would have kissed her. We weren’t there yet, so I held her chin and rubbed my thumb along the crinkled bottom one until her mouth relaxed.

She gripped my shirt with both hands and sighed. “You really disappointed me, Weston.”

“I’m so sorry, baby. Remember that second chance I made you promise to give me when I inevitably screwed up? This is it. I’m cashing it in.”

“So soon?”

“Yeah.” I stood and pulled her with me. She was still clinging to my shirt. I slipped my fingers through the back of her silky hair. “I’m surprised I lasted this long.”

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