Page 160 of Dear Grumpy Boss

I stumbled backward, somehow managing to steer myself toward the door.

We were over.

Really, truly over.

Chapter Forty-one

Elise

Almostblindfromthetears spilling in heavy waterfalls down my cheeks, I tore open the door...and ran smack into the man standing on the other side, his key poised in his hand.

“Elise?” Weston caught my arms, holding me steady. “What are you doing here? Are you crying?”

I sucked in a breath, not quite understanding what I was seeing. “How are you here?”

“I’m coming home from the office.” His palms slid up my arms to cup my face. “Why are you crying, baby? What’s wrong?”

I tried to explain. “I heard…I thought…” I swallowed hard. My stomach was a mess of panic mixed with utter relief. “I thought you were with someone else.”

His head jerked. Astonishment flooded his features as if the suggestion was preposterous. “Why would you think that?”

“I heard…” I waved my arm toward the bedrooms. “I heard fucking.”

Weston’s gaze snapped in the direction I’d gestured to. “Miles,” he hissed. “Stay here.”

He stalked off, disappearing down the hallway. There was a loud slam followed by Weston bellowing Miles’s name. Then he yelled something about burning the sheets.

He returned to me, red-faced and in a hurry. “Come on. I shut his door, so you won’t have to see the horror I just did.”

His hand closed around mine, and he pulled me to his bedroom, closing the door once we were inside.

“I was gone for three hours.” He pressed on the door. His head dropped. “Three hours, and he found someone to fuck. Jesus. Can I kick him out yet?”

A little snort escaped me. I couldn’t help it. Weston looked so disgusted I could only imagine he saw Miles’s pasty ass pumping away.

His head shot up. “Is this funny to you? It’s your fault he’s here.”

I sputtered another laugh, and Weston’s shoulders fell, the tension in him bleeding away. The corner of his mouth hitched.

He closed the space between us and snagged me around the waist, tugging me against him. “You’re here.”

My hands flattened on his chest. “I’m here.” Then a wave of madness came over me, so I pushed him. Like the stubborn brick wall he was, he didn’t budge. “Why did you never tell me you like pickles? How could you have given me all your pickles when you like them? Why would you do that?”

I’d been laughing a moment ago, but now I was crying again. Weston had to be confused by my wild outburst, but he gathered me in his arms without question and held me through it.

“Baby.” His lips were at my temple, fingers stroking my hair and back. “Who told you that?”

“Luca. And Elliot told me you started giving me your pickles when Dad died.”

Warm breath fanned across my skin as he exhaled. “That’s true. I’d give you anything, you know. Pickles are no big deal.”

“It is a big deal. Why should you go without something when you like it? I would never knowingly take something you like away from you. Never.”

He pulled back, and the look he gave me was devastating. “You took you away from me, and I more than like you.”

“I didn’t want to go.”

He nodded, slow and heavy. “I know, baby. But you’re here now.”

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