Page 37 of Undeniable

It wasn’t until I was safely in my car and on my way to my apartment to eat the lasagna that was still in my passenger seat that I allowed myself to reflect on what the hell had happened.

All of the defenses I’d built against him had crumbled at the first hint of vulnerability. One kind word against the several awful ones I’d had to hear earlier in the night, and I was fucking mush.

I’d been through too much to come undone at the first signs of concern or care. If that’s what it really was.

He’d never cared before, so why now? Watching me hurt or in pain was when he decided to drop the act and pretend that I mattered?

Or was it only when it was someone else’s fault that he swooped in? Because he didn’t care when it washimwho hurt me.

THIRTEEN

James

Life really was a bitch sometimes.

I rolled into work almost half an hour late to my eight a.m. meeting that the assholes refused to reschedule. My assistant, Shelley, gave me a wide-eyed, worried look, probably because of the state I was in. It was only Wednesday, and I looked like I’d barely slept in weeks. It felt like I’d barely slept in weeks.

I’d gotten home later than usual the night before, deciding to go home and sleep in my own bed rather than on my couch in my office for the third night that week.

But some jackass parked in my reserved spot in the parking garage, which meant I either had to call a tow truck at two in the morning or park in front of the leasing office in the visitor spots. I parked in the visitor spot, not thinking much of it.

After a few hours of sleep and a quick shower, I hurried downstairs that morning to find my car was gone. And in the place where I’d parked it, a pile of glass likely from my car window.

That’s where I’d been instead of in my eight a.m. meeting with our new marketing director and the CEO of the company we were acquiring. I’d spoken to the cops, filed a stolen vehicle report and then ordered a car to take me to work.

“Can you try to get them back on the line?” I asked Shelley, who diligently nodded. I’d texted her when I found my car gone, and she’d tried to get them to reschedule.

My desk was just as I’d left it the night before—in complete disarray. Seventy-hour workweeks and constant meetings meant I saw my desk more than I saw the inside of my eyelids or ate a meal that wasn’t in a cardboard container.

I was running off pure adrenaline, and that was about to give out, too.

Shelley’s number rang through my desk phone right as my ass hit my leather chair.

“Yes?”

“Sorry, James. He said they’re going to have to reschedule. The CEO is on another call already.”

I sighed and frustration bubbled to the surface, but I wasn’t going to take it out on Shelley. It wasn’t her fault, and there was nothing she could do.

“Okay, thank you for trying. Can you please coordinate with his office to schedule a call as soon as possible? Explain to them the circumstances if it helps.”

“Will do.”

We both hung up, and I tilted back in my chair. And for the first time in nearly a decade, I contemplated that a break may be in order. Not a long one and nothing too extravagant, but some time away to ground me and reset.

I hadn’t even had my usual vices like Murphy’s to fall back on. It was my go-to when life, especially work, became a little hectic. Spending time with my friends in our favorite place always worked.

But I hadn’t been back in since I’d once again found Ivy in the break room.

My hands twitched with the memory of touching her. Even weeks later, I could see the blush across her skin like it was happening in front of me. I could hear her quick intakes of breath and watch her eyes flutter closed.

And the anger felt just as real and potent as it had that night. I couldn’t comprehend or try to understand the mind of a man who would look at Ivy and think she was anything less than absolute perfection.

Yes, she wielded sarcasm and sass like a sword, and she was often venomous without provocation. But her body? Her body was mouthwatering and tempting in the most irresistible ways.

My cell phone buzzing across my desk pulled me from my Ivy-filled thoughts. My mood lightened when I read the name scrolling across the screen.

“Hey, Mom.”

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