Page 20 of Promise Me Forever

And I guess I’m dismissed. Awkward. He doesn’t look up again, and I turn around to head out.

“Actually, Miss Ryder, may I have a word?”

My heart sinks. This is it. He’s going to fire me. I’m going to get the wholeit’s not your fault, but you can’t work for me after I made you scream my name in rapturespeech. There will be some offer of an extended notice period and the assurance that I’ll be recommended and other nice words—but I’m on the chopping block. I feel it in my bones. Why oh why oh why did I have to meet this guy at a wedding? And of all the weddings in all the cities in all the world, he had to walk into Emily’s?

I swallow and turn back around. He’s standing behind his desk now and looking damn near edible. Could that suit be any more fitted to his body? The fact that I know exactly what he looks like out of it makes him even more sexy in it, and the serious cast to his face makes him even more handsome. This really isn’t fair. I even find the man attractive when he’s about to crap all over my life.

“Of course, Mr. James,” I say as calmly as I’m able to, hoping he can’t tell that my heart is racing like a runaway stallion.

He clears his throat. “Please take a seat.”

I do as he asks, and he sits back down behind his desk and loosens his tie a bit more. Is he feeling as uncomfortable as I am? The skin on my back is sticky with perspiration, and I’ve chewed the inside of my lip so much that I taste blood.

He clears his throat once more. “I just wanted to get this out in the open and clear the air. If I’d had any idea you were starting work here, I never would have…” He clears his throat yet again, and his strangled cough is matched by his pained expression. He really is feeling as uncomfortable about this as I am. This is like pulling teeth, and it will be better for both of us once it’s done.

“I feel exactly the same, Mr. James, I assure you. If I’d known you were going to be my boss…” I don’t finish the thought. Neither of us need any further reminder of what wewouldn’t have done.It’s too late. We’ve already done it.

His dark eyes rake over my face the same way they did two nights ago, and I can’t help wondering if I see something more than regret in them. That’s probably wishful thinking on my part. It’s possible that I am so desperate for him to have some fond memories of our night together that I’m imagining it. “I don’t date my employees, Amelia. Ever.”

Of course he doesn’t. He’s a billionaire and a founding partner of one of the most prestigious law firms in the country. He certainly wouldn’t date his secretary. That makes sense. That’s good. So what’s with the wave of disappointment that washes over me?

“And I certainly don’t…” He coughs again before his eyes lock on mine, reminding me of the eye contact he made the other night when he was…

I press my hand to my forehead as heat blooms beneath my skin. No. Don’t go there, Amelia. “You don’t what, Mr. James?”

He swipes his tongue over his lower lip. “Fuck them senseless, Miss Ryder.”

Wow. What an arrogant douchebag. And I don’t care if it is true—it isn’t right to use it against me.

“I think you’ll find I’m still in full control of all my senses, Mr. James,” I reply, amazing myself at the calm and steady cadence of my voice, given that my legs are trembling. “This might come as a shock to you, but I’m not in the habit of dating my boss either, so you have absolutely nothing to worry about. I won’t be harassing you for a repeat performance, and I guarantee I have no feelings toward you other than professional. I want this job, Mr. James. I need this job. I will also be good at this job, and I feel just as upset as you do about this awful… coincidence.I’d suggest the best thing to do would be to stick to being Miss Ryder and Mr. James. Let’s leave Charlie and Scarlet where they belong—in the past. Would that suit you,sir?” I add the last word purely for sarcasm, but the look that flashes across his face makes me immediately wish that I hadn’t.

His expression is too complicated for me to read. He’s pissed off and amused all at the same time, and none of this makes any sense. This is too much. I need to get out of here and away from his square jaw and intense brown gaze. Away from the sight of his hands on his desk, and the way my body still remembers what he can do with those long fingers. I need to lock myself in the restroom and calm the fuck down. “Is there anything else?”

His brow furrows with a frown. “No, that will be all, Miss Ryder.”

Ugh. I suggested he call me that, but the way he says it is so cold. I pull back my shoulders and take a deep, restorative breath. I guess I should count myself lucky that I still have a job. I can cope with a little chill in the air. “Thank you, Mr. James,” I say stiffly before I leave his office, my knees threatening to give way with each step. Just keep going, I tell myself. Don’t look back, and don’t let him see your weakness.

When I sink into my chair a few seconds later, my heart is hammering so hard in my chest, I’m worried it’s going to beat its way right out of there and take off. I have no idea what Linda’s HR policies would say about that, but I’m fairly sure she wouldn’t be happy with a heart floating through the office. That would definitely be a health and safety risk.

It’s okay, I tell myself. I did all right. Drake didn’t find an excuse to fire me, and I didn’t give him a reason to. We can work together and be professional despite what happened between us. I’m sure of it. That was Scarlet, and I am Amelia Ryder. Sensible and dependable, the same person I’ve always been. The sameperson I will always be. My heart has survived far worse than this.

Chapter

Nine

DRAKE

Nathan is shrugging on his jacket by the time I walk into his office. There was a time when he would have worked until at least seven, but now that he has Mel and Luke to rush home to, he’s eager to leave after a mere ten-hour day. I can’t blame him for that, even though I’m likely to be working until midnight. I want him to have that freedom. It’s one of the reasons I agreed to come back from Chicago.

Glad I caught him, I hold up the bottle of Scotch. “You have time for a quick drink?”

His eyes scan the label, and he smirks. “You brought the good stuff, huh? You either had a great day or a really shitty one.”

With a sigh, I take a seat on the sofa in the corner of his office while he grabs a couple of glasses. He hangs his jacket back up, and I appreciate the gesture. It means he has time for me, and that will never not matter.

“So which is it?” he asks, sitting opposite me and placing a pair of empty crystal tumblers on the table. I pour us each a generous measure while Nathan eyes me suspiciously. He doesn’t push me any further, although I’ve obviously got something on my mind. Something that merits the good stuff. He knows me well enough to understand that I’ll get there whenI’m good and ready. He holds up his glass. “To new beginnings. May the bestdayof your past be the worstdayof your future.”

“Is that Irish?” I down the entire contents of my glass in one. “It sounds Irish. You been spending too much time with the Ryans?”

---