Page 22 of The Billionaire Boss and the Barista

Chapman winced. “Please don’t run,” he said.

He took a step backward, giving her a bit more space. “I’m not here to bother you. I just wanted to apologize for scaring you.”

The man looked out of place in his fancy suit and stylish wool coat. Everyone else on the waterfront was in casual clothing. Even the ones who were wearing coats didn’t have anything as nice as what he had on.

“Okay, fine,” she muttered, a little bit of her panic fading as she realized they weren’t alone.

De Ollaclosed at five. At this hour there were still a lot of people out here by the water’s edge. It wasn’t like this was a dark parking garage…

That timely reminder straightened her spine. She wasallowedto be mad about that. This jerk was lucky she didn’t kick him in the nards.Verylucky.

“Apology accepted,” she added in a clipped voice. “You can go now.”

Mr. Chapman rocked back on his heels, his dark-brown eyes closing for a long uncomfortable moment.

“I know I deserve that,” he began. “I was way out of line, making you bring me coffee and then that, um, that other thing.”

Emma tilted her head to one side. “What thing would that be?”

It was hard to tell in the fading light, but she would bet money that he was blushing. “The, um, the thing. By Fletcher’s Ferrari.”

“Oh…” she began, fluttering her lashes. “You mean when you tackled me in a dark parking garage? Is that the thing you are referring to?”

Emma was aware she was taking no prisoners, but shewas on a roll and couldn’t seem to stop herself. “Because that qualifies as a serious incident, not a thing, according to your own HR person.”

“Yeah.” He coughed. “And it was a big deal.”

Emma hadn’t expected that quick capitulation.

“Yeah, it was,” she muttered. “Mrs. Myers also assured me you wouldn’t approach me directly. Any sit-down or apology is supposed to happen in her office, with her in attendance.”

His eyes narrowed on her face. “You wouldn’t agree to see me or accept my apology.”

She threw up her hands. “Because I don’t want it!”

Chapman clapped a hand on his forehead. “Look, I can only imagine how weird it is to be confronted by a total stranger who claims to know you.”

“But you do know me,” she mumbled.

That was no longer in doubt. When Emma had packed up her things and moved in with Pedro, her mother had insisted she bring along her high school yearbook. Emma hadn’t wanted to, but she also hadn’t wanted to argue with her perpetually exhausted mother.

The yearbook confirmed she and Garrett had both graduated from Verdant Falls High the same year. According to the inscriptions of friends she no longer remembered, he’d been class salutatorian to her valedictorian.

He’d come in second to her.Bet he loved that.

Which was in line with that other bombshell his business partner had shared. “Oh, also, you hate me with the intensity of a thousand suns.”

“We didn’t always get along in high school,” he corrected, holding up a finger. “But I never hated you.”

She wrapped her arms around her chest. “Your best friend said you did, Mr. Chapman.”

His shoulders lifted but he jerked suddenly, looking down at his coat with a frown before returning his attention to her.

Emma’s brows rose a fraction.And I thought I was weird.

“First of all, please call me Garrett. And yes, Fletcher is an old friend and my business partner, but he doesn’t know every detail of mylife. He wasn’t even in most of our classes. It was my fault he got invested in the whole corporate spy theory.”

“Because that was rational.”

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