Page 90 of Grumpy Boss in Love

Deep blue eyes, so mesmerizing, so gorgeous, hit me hard. God, I loved those intense deep blues. A part of me was glad to see him, and I was disgusted with myself. But no matter how much I hated Elliot at the moment, I missed him. We stared at each other for what felt like an eternity. I took him in, the dark circles under his eyes that matched mine. His hair was disheveled, which showed that he’d been agitated because he must have run his fingers through the strands a million times.

"Ruby," he finally spoke, his voice hoarse. "Can we talk?"

I hesitated, my heart waging a war. Part of me wanted to shut the door and guard myself from further pain, but another part yearned to hear what he had to say. Without a word, I stepped aside.

As I closed the door and turned to glower at him, I said, “If you’re here to throw accusations, I have protective brothers-in-law. One’s a cop, one’s an ex-soldier, and one’s a former hockey player with a mean swing, so tread carefully, Westwood.”

I swear, if he uttered a word about me betraying him by going to the media, I’d call Nic to shoot him in the foot after all.

Elliot huffed, a hint of amusement gleaming in his tired eyes. “Noted. I take it Chief Wilder is the cop brother-in-law? His dealing with me seemed a tad too personal now that I think about it.”

I just kept glowering.

“And I’m not here to accuse you of anything. I know you didn’t plot with your friend.”

“Oh? And what gave you such clarity about my innocence?”

“Megan came to see me, to explain.”

I scoffed. “So it took the culprit to plead my innocence? Nice.”

“No, I knew you weren’t guilty before I spoke to her, Ruby. I thought about it, and I realized it wasn’t you. You’d never do something like that.”

“You thought about it, did you?” I muttered bitterly. Giving him a dirty look as I walked to one of the sofas to plop down, I told him, “If you have divorce papers or whatever, give them here. I’ll gladly sign.” That must be why Prince Westwood traveled all the way to Nebraska. The contract was up. Time to end this farce once and for all.

Elliot gazed at me with a frown, then he took the seat across from me. We had another stare-down. “I came to apologize,” he said. “The way I treated you after… It was unacceptable.”

My lower lip quivered, and I pulled it between my teeth. Dammit. If there was ever a time that I hated crying so easily, it was now. “Okay… If that’s all, thanks. You can go now.”

“Ruby,” he sighed. “Please, I’msorry. I thought you had betrayed my trust, and I was angry. I behaved like an ass.”

Because I was emotional and dramatic—and I owned it—a sob escaped. “I told you I loved you and you ran me away, Elliot! You can apologize, but you can’t expect me to just get over that. My name being dragged in the media didn’t compare to the humiliation and hurt I felt when you did that to me.”

His eyes slid away from mine, and he swallowed hard. “I messed up. I flipped out when I found myself in a media scandal, which I’ve managed to avoid for so long. I was furious that I didn’t get to reveal our relationship my way.”

“Because you’re a control freak,” I commented.

He met my gaze and nodded. “I won’t deny it.”

Of course, I couldn’t deny my part in the disaster. “I messed up too. I was naïve to think I could trust everyone.”

“Not naïve, you just have a good heart.”

I folded my arms. That didn’t make me feel any better.

“And you made a mistake,” he continued. “We all make them. I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did. But I fell in love with you, Ruby. I saw a future with you. For the first time, I allowed someone complete access to my heart, and I had a lingering fear. When shit hit the fan, I freaked out. I was irrational.”

I stared at Elliot, with my mouth agape. He loved me? “If you really loved me, how could you discard me so easily?” He wasn’t getting off the hook because of a few sweet words. “I was scared, hurt, and alone, and you wouldn’t even answer my calls. You had your lawyer and PR team to rally behind you. The one friend I had in Chicago betrayed me. I had no one. I was locked in my apartment and afraid to go out because there were paparazzi following me!” My voice had risen to a hysterical screech, and I had to take several breaths to calm down.

Elliot had gone a little pale, and he watched me wide-eyed. “What can I do to fix this?” he asked.

“The one thing I feared when getting close to you was getting my heart broken. You shattered it, Elliot. I’m not ready to…” What, get back together? Forgive him? I wasn’t even sure. “What you can do is leave me alone so that I can… fixme.” I had to get my life back together.

His jaw tightened as guilt and pain danced across his face. It was rare to see his emotions so clearly. I wasn’t sure if he meant to be so open or not, but I steeled myself against the natural allure I had with him.

“I’m not leaving here until you forgive me,” he said stubbornly. “Until you tell me you’re coming home with me so we can?—”

“I’m not putting myself in the position to be hurt again—by you or anyone,” I spat. “When I get back to Chicago, on my own time, I’m resigning from Westwood Collective, signing the divorce papers, and giving you back those rings. You know, the ones we used as props for our fake wedding.”

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