Page 12 of Single Dad's Second Chance

Eddie shook his head. “No, no. Mia’s just an employee. She’s not… uh, a partner to grow old with.”

Ouch.I steadied my breath through the pain of his words.Owwww, does that hurt.I never asked to be put in my place, but he’d done it anyway.

Henry released me and didn’t reply to his father. All he did was round his desk and sit, seeming ready to focus on work. Since he didn’t argue against what Eddie claimed, I felt obligated to assume that he ultimately thought that too. I wasn’t a plus-one. Or even a friend.Justan employee. That was how I was supposed to consider myself around here.

Oh, come on. Snap out of it.Of course, I was just an employee. I certainly wasn’t an eligible, lovely lady like the wealthy, prestigious women Eddie would bring by. Yet, it warmed a tiny morsel of my heart when Henry seemed so reluctant about the idea.

“Fine.” He frowned, not making eye contact with his father as he agreed. Shuffling papers and letting out an aggrieved sigh, he gave in. “I guess I’ll show her around, then.”

I expected nothing else. Henry always wanted to please his father. He previously confided in me that it was often easier to do as he said to get him off his back. According to Henry, itwas far more convenient to play along with what Eddie wanted because they never lasted long. The ideas or the women. Every single “eligible, lovely lady” Eddie presented stayed for exactly one date.

But one day, I worried,some lucky ‘proper lady’ will stick.

I eyed him sitting there, listening to Eddie yammer on about the details of picking up Ann.

He was handsome, so sexy and charming with that classic nice-guy appeal. His serious nature only made him hotter, and his workaholic tendencies endeared him to me even more. He was a catch, gorgeous, ripped, wealthy, confident, and so damn successful. Any woman would be lucky to get him, but it was with a heavy heart that I knew it would never be me.

The secretary with the big, bad secret about what she did at night.

5

HENRY

Just an employee?

I couldn’t stop thinking back to how my father declared Mia to be nothing more than a member of the staff. First of all, I didn’t understand how he saw her like that. She was always included at family things. She was often my assistant when I traveled for work. I’d driven her to the ER when she got food poisoning and she’d picked me up when I was in a fender bender. If we were each other’s person to depend on in times of minor crises, in things unrelated to work, how could she only be an employee?

Seated across from Ann Vance, the tall, overly peppy blonde my father insisted on my showing around, I thought about how Mia had reacted when Dad called herjust an employee. She’d stiffened, freezing her polite smile in place, but I saw the hurt in her eyes.

Or did I?

Iconsidered myself an expert at reading Mia. We knew each other that well. Yet, I couldn’t help but wonder if I was merely wishing that she’d want to be something more than just an employee.

She did look upset when he said that, right?

I couldn’t be certain, but if what he said had bothered her, then that would imply that she saw herself as more than just an employee. And if she considered herself more than another member of the staff, perhaps as wanting something much more with me, wouldn’t she give me a hint?

“You know what I mean?” Ann flipped her pin-straight hair back, dismissing the waiter with a curt flick of her hand as she beamed at me.

“Yeah. Yep.” I nodded.I have no fucking clue what you’re talking about.

I checked out of this conversation as soon as we sat down. Knowing I was supposed to be having pizza with Jason while we waited for Mia to meet us at the arcade, I figured anything on the menu at this posh, upscale restaurant would taste bland. Then once Ann ordered with the most rigid, uptight tone about her many requests, I realized I would never enjoy a second moment spent with her. I still wasn’t sure how we’d turned “showing her around” to eating dinner together, but the longer we stayed here, the smaller my hopes became about leaving and salvaging our arcade night.

Reminiscing about Mia was a far better expenditure of my attention. As long as I nodded and inserted hums or sounds like I was listening, Ann would blab away all night. Pretending to listen gave me a much-needed moment to collect myself and get my head on straight about Mia.

It wasn’t my imagination that she’d seemed off all day at work. Ever since my father made that comment about her “just” being someone Dunn Enterprises hired, she’d seemed aloof. More tired than usual, and dare I say it, down.

Doesshethink that she’s just an employee?I didn’t want to think that was possible. She had to know how much she meant to me. While I wasn’t brave enough to spill my guts and tell her the whole truth, that I’d been harboring thoughts about her thatdelved further from what friends or coworkers might feel, she had to be aware of how much I cared about her.

Worries about her reaction ate away at me, and I again debated that I could be misinterpreting so much just because I wanted her to reciprocate my feelings for her.

If she had stronger feelings for me, wouldn’t she say so?

I glanced up, feeling caught. Ann raised her brows higher, watching me closely.

Fuck.She’d asked me something.

“Um. What was that?” I asked.

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