Page 35 of Secret Desire

“So, what’s your plan, genius? Wait another eleven months for her contract to finish before asking her out?”

I couldn’t wait eleven months. She already consumed my every thought. “I’ll figure something out.”

“There is no other way, not unless… No!” He stood up from his chair and paced the floor. “We worked our asses off for over twenty-five years to get to the top. Together. We rule this place now. Together. We’re partners. You’re not seriously thinking of quitting? You belong here. I don’t want to hear you talk about starting your own hedge fund company again. Wealth Asset Group is your life.”

“I’m not gonna quit.” I didn’t want to leave, even though I often toyed with the idea of punching the chair in the nose and fucking off to start my own firm. But John and I were great partners in business. I couldn’t imagine working without him by my side.

He grabbed my shirt with a fist. “Promise me, Steven.”

“Calm your panties.” I grabbed his wrist and flung his arm away. “Don’t be so melodramatic.”

John sighed and flopped down on the chair. “I did minor in theater.”

“For the girls.”

“Yeah. Those were the days. You know what’s even crazier? I feel like my best friend from those days is slowly coming back. I forgot how much I missed him. Have to admit, you’re not as much of a grumpy bastard since she started working here.”

“I’ve always been the same. Then. Now. And all the years in between.”

“HA! Are you so delusional you don’t even know your own temperament? Sure, you were always a bit awkward socially, and that made people think you were aloof or rude. But once you got to know someone, you’d relax and let them see your fun side. And man, did we have fun. All those frat parties and—”

“We were young and drank too much. The only difference now is that I matured, and you didn’t. You still go out almost every night and get drunk, except now you get drunk on champagne that costs $1000 a bottle instead of the cheap beer we managed to scrounge in college.”

“It’s not just the drinking. You didn’t yell at people back then. You didn’t piss everyone off. You didn’t hate the world so much that you turned into…into… Hell, I don’t even know what to compare you to. I was going to say the Hulk, but even he shifts back into the gentle Dr. Banner sometimes. Then I was going to say Mr. Hyde, but he also switched back to mild-mannered Dr. Jekyll. But you, you turned into a grinch, constantly in a bad mood and making everyone around you miserable.”

Iwasdifferent now, and I knew it. I wasn’t an idiot. But I would never admit to it. I had my reasons. “If I’m so awful to be around, then why do you keep barging into my office to hang out?”

“Because I know why you’re the way you are. And I know who you really are, and that you’re the only person I can trust completely. And I knew the old you would resurface someday. I just didn’t think it would take this long for you to get over what Barb did to you.”

Goddammit, why did he have to utter her name? In all these years, he’d never brought up her name until this month. This was the second time he’d mentioned Barb since Laura started working here. Why now? After twenty years? “This conversation is over. Leave.”

“So fucking stubborn. Why don’t you face it and deal with it…process it instead of shoving it deep down like a coward?”

“Get out!”

John leaned back into his chair even more as if telling me he was getting comfortable and had no intention of leaving. “I don’t know how the intern did it, but she’s breaking through to you, and I could kiss her for it.”

Every muscle in my body tensed. Anger boiled in my blood. I pointed a finger threateningly at him. “Don’t you fucking go near her.”

John barked out a laugh. “Whoa, big guy. She’s not my type. Besides, I would never make a move on your girl.”

John still spoke like a teenager. She wasn’t my girl. She was my woman. Or she would be. One day. “She’s not my anything.”

“Whatever.” He waved a hand dismissively. “All I know is that that dark, cold heart of yours is melting and the old Steven is slowly emerging. I’m fucking thrilled to have you back, buddy.”

I needed to turn this conversation around so he wasn’t focusing on me anymore. “You’re not gonna start crying like a little bitch, are you?”

“Have you spoken with her? Does she even like you?”

Shit, he didn’t take the bait. “Of course, she does.” Probably because I could advance her career. Or maybe it was my money that she was drawn to, like every other woman I had ever met. “What’s not to like?”

“Oh, I don’t know. A, you’re a jerk. B, you’re a jackass. And C, you’re rude. To. Literally. Everyone.”

“It doesn’t matter. Nothing’s gonna happen. This feeling will pass soon, and everything will go back to normal.”

This feeling will never pass.

“Whoa! Dude.” His eyebrows shot up. “You’re afraid she’ll choose her job over you?”

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