Page 25 of Dear Grumpy Boss

I blinked at him, gutted by his dismal recollection of some of the worst years of my life. He wasn’t exactly shrugging his shoulders, but it felt that way. “You don’t remember what you did to me?”

He cocked his head, studying my face. “Well, I’m not going to deny I was an idiot back then. I did anything for a laugh and probably hurt your feelings. For that, I’m sorry.”

Probably?This wasn’t the confrontation I’d dreamed about as a teen. But it was Miles. I should have predicted he wouldn’t drop down and beg for forgiveness.

“Miles,youcome on. You did a lot more than hurt my feelings. You can at least acknowledge you spent four years with a very specific agenda. You wanted me as uncomfortable as possible. And you succeeded.”

His brow furrowed, and he cupped the back of his neck, seeming genuinely worried. “I told you I’m sorry. I can’t take it back. What else can I do?”

“Stop leaving notes on my desk!”

He threw his arms out. “I’m not! I swear on my dick, they’re not from me. You want to fingerprint me? Do a handwriting analysis? Game on, Lisie. I’m innocent.”

I sputtered. “You’re not innocent.”

His arms fell heavily to his sides. Contrition weighed down his features. “No, I was a bad guy to you a long time ago, and now I see I did more damage than I ever cared to acknowledge. Lisie, for that, I swear, from the bottom of my heart, I’m sorry, but I didn’t leave those notes.”

“Well…”

I was stumped. I believed he’d locked away the things he’d done to me to keep the weight of remorse away all these years.

So, I had a choice to make. I’d gotten my apology from Miles. It wasn’t the pretty package of soul-deep regret and pleas for forgiveness I’d wanted back then, but it was something. Probably as good as I’d get from Miles.

“Look, I know it’s really crappy to hear, but until you just brought it up, I had completely forgotten about the elephant thing. When I see you, I see my old classmate, Elise, who turned into a pretty woman I now work with. I have no reason or desire to hurt you. It’s easy for me to say I let all that stuff go a long time ago, but it’s true.”

There was no guile behind his pleading eyes. Miles wasn’t trying to pretty up our past or sell me lies about living with regret for years. He’d done something bad to me and moved on from it.

It hurt.

But it was believable.

My grudge against Miles Aldrich was so long held, it would be difficult to let it go. But maybe I could.

“Lisie.” Miles came for me, moving in slow motion so I could dodge him if I wanted to, but I didn’t move away. He wrapped me up in a hug, and after a moment, I hugged him back. “I’m really sorry I hurt you,” he murmured.

In my mind, I was stomping and yelling, demanding to know why he treated me that way, scratching and clawing so he would feel the same pain he’d inflicted on me.

But where would that get us?

Miles Aldrich was standing here, hugging me, earnestly apologizing, and I believed him to be sincere.

“I forgive you,” I whispered, and it was a relief to mean that.

He lifted his head and pulled back slightly. “Yeah?” His green eyes were alight with mischief. “For real? Did we just become best friends?”

With a breathy laugh, I shoved him away from me. “Don’t push it.”

“Fine, fine. One day, you and me, Lisie, we’re going to be besties.” He patted his chest. “I’ll earn it, though.”

He opened the stairwell door for me, allowing me to walk ahead of him, then stopped me by grabbing my wrist.

“Do you want me to find out who’s been leaving the notes?” he asked quietly.

“Um…” I glanced around, but no one was paying attention to us. No one except Weston. Standing beside the collaboration table on the other side of the room, he watched us through narrowed eyes. “No. I think I know who left them since you didn’t. I don’t know why but—”

He grimaced. “Westie, huh?”

I nodded. “It kind of has to be him.”

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