Page 72 of One Night Only
“Youkissedme!” she hisses. “What if Andy walked in twenty seconds earlier?”
I pull back enough to gauge her, looking between her eyes. “What’s wrong, baby?” I ask lowly. “I can tell something’s wrong.”
She averts her gaze, looking down, and I tuck my finger under her chin, forcing her eyes back up and looking directly in them.
“I had to sit in with Andy and our Head of HR this morning as a witness while they fired a woman on the spot because she went home with an athlete after the charity event on Saturday.”
Oh shit. No wonder she couldn’t even look at me. I take a step back, only because I know that right now, she needs the space. Dragging a hand over my face, I consider my words before I say something stupid, because I have no doubt that would have been hard, but even more so for Emily considering what we spent the entire weekend doing.
“I’m sorry you had to do that, baby.”
She sighs heavily. “It was horrible. Shecried. It was her first real job since college. She moved all the way from Utah to New York with no one, no money, nothing. Because working for Andy had been her dream job.”
“Baby—”
She continues, “And all I could do was sit there and watch as Carlo, the misogynistic pig from HR who should know better, by the way, started low-key slut-shaming her, telling her she really should be more careful with how she holds herself at company events, and all the while I’m this big, fat hypocrite.” She throws her hands in the air, shoving her fingers through her hair.
I place my hand on her cheek, dragging my thumb over the rosy apple. “Breathe, Emily.”
She looks like she wants to say something, but she stops herself and heeds my advice, taking a big breath in through her nose, meeting my eyes with a slow exhale. And then her shoulders fall and I can see that’s not all.
“When I walked into my office,” she starts, “and I saw Carlo and Andy standing there, waiting for me—” Her eyes flit between mine. “I thought it wasmewho was about to be fired.”
I nod slowly, understanding exactly what she’s saying, and what she’s not saying.
“Breathe,” I remind her again, ducking my head to press my forehead against hers for a moment, still cupping her cheek with one hand, still holding her goddamn salad with the other.
“I was so happy this morning,” she whispers. “I was… feeling things I haven’t felt in a long time. Things I’veneverfelt. As I walked to work this morning, it really felt as if today was a new start.” She shakes her head. “And then that happened.”
“We just need to take it slow,” I remind her, hopeful, yet terrified she’s about to revert back to when she almost walked out on me yesterday in my apartment. “We’ll be careful. And when the time’s right, we can tell Andy. Together.”
Finally, after a few long, silent seconds, Emily nods, but I’m not convinced she fully believes me.
“What is it?” I press, knowing there’s more.
“When I asked Andy why he doesn’t let his employees date his clients, he said…” The breath she releases trembles, and I can tell whatever it is he said has really affected her, and I love Andy like a fucking brother, but right now, I swear I could march right back to his office and punch him in his face. And I’ve never punched anyone… off the ice.
“What did he say?” I ask, my jaw clenching painfully tight.
“He said he can’t risk it because… when it ends, and italwaysdoes, it only ever endsbadly.”
This time it’s me who swallows hard because I know exactly what she’s thinking. And goddamn, Andy. I swear to fucking God. I release a hard breath, resting my forehead against Emily’s once again, taking a moment to breathe her in.
“You trust me, don’t you?”
Her gaze meets mine and she nods.
“Then that’s all that matters.” I implore her with my eyes, hoping like hell she believes me when I say, “You’re the girl for me, Emily Ruth Cole. There’s no one else. And one of these days, Andy’s going to eat his fucking words, I promise you that.”
CHAPTER 29
EMILY
When I return back to the office, I’m stopped by Fran practically pouncing on me the second I walk past her office. She grabs me, tugs me into the room, and closes the door, her eyes frantically wide, smile threatening.
“What the hell was that?” she squeaks, evidently on the verge of losing her ever-loving shit. “Please tell me you went back to his car and… I don’t know… banged or at least gave him a handy.” She waggles her eyebrows.
“Yes, actually I did.” I deadpan. “In fact, we didn’t even wait until we got back to his car. Just got right down to business on the corner of Madison and Forty-Ninth.”
