by Lexy Timms
Her eyes narrowed. Something was up with him. The nice way he’d greeted her at the beginning of their call should have clued her in. Plus, he had sounded relieved that she’d called about the reporter. “I don’t know Gary, you tell me.”
“I don’t want a fight, but if it’ll get you off my back, you should check your mail when you get home today,” he said.
“Just spit it out,” she huffed. “I don’t have time for games.”
“Well, since you asked so nicely, I’ve been in touch with my lawyer,” he said. “It’s about Finn’s custody.”
“What about it?” Suddenly, she felt a crushing weight on her chest. Icy cold dread slipped down her spine. The same dread she’d felt a month ago when she’d realized Finn had gone missing. “I’ve got primary custody, while you get alternative weekends and holidays. That hasn’t changed.”
“It might,” he said sourly. “With the way you’ve been acting, I thought it was best to reach out to my lawyer and work something out. Especially if this story is about to break. I don’t want this kind of scandal and media attention affecting our son.”
“Work out what?” The anger she’d been fighting threatened to boil over.
“Finn’s custody. I’m tired of you getting to have him. He’s my kid, too, and I’m going to fight to get custody of my son. Full custody.”
Chapter 4
Simon gulped down the last of his coffee.
What a freakin’ day. First the board, then talking with Heather, catching up on business that didn’t look promising, and now he was late for a meeting he’d arranged. Arranged after the board had practically ambushed him and Heather. Now, he was walking out of work without Heather’s knowledge.
Nobody at Dover could know what he was up to. It would sabotage everything, and he needed to be sure.
Keeping his head down to avoid being noticed, he sprinted to the parking lot and got into his car. He pulled out of the parking lot, heading across town.
His phone went off. Damn. He couldn’t remember the last time he left his office and didn’t get a phone call from someone on staff.
He reached over, answered, and put the call on speaker phone. “Hi, Heather.”
“Simon? Where are you? I forwarded some e-mails to you that you need to look at, but I can’t find you anywhere.”
“I stepped out,” he said quickly.
“Is something wrong?” He could practically hear her frowning. “I don’t see a meeting in your schedule for this hour and—”
“It’s a personal appointment,” he said. Not exactly forthcoming, but he couldn’t tell anyone at Dover that he was meeting with a financial investigator. Not even Heather could know. It was stupid, and it pained him to keep a secret from her, but he had to keep things professional. Still, it didn’t stop the guilt from surging inside him. The urge to tell her the truth was killing him.
“Oh.” She paused. “Is everything okay?”
“Everything’s fine. I’ll be back shortly.” He hung up and fought the guilt that was rising inside him. Lying to her had been almost painful, and he hoped he wouldn’t have to do it for much longer.
BY THE TIME HE PARKED his car and ducked into the Boathouse Restaurant, dark clouds had started to gather overhead.
He spotted Josh Bradley sitting in the corner and headed over to him.
Josh looked up from his newspaper. “Were you followed?”
“Hilarious.” Simon eased into the seat across from his old Stanford roommate.
“You’re the one who wanted us to meet in secret,” Josh pointed out. “I know we have to keep a low profile, but nobody at Dover is going to get suspicious if you bump into an old friend.”
Simon raised an eyebrow. “Old friends?”
Josh shrugged. “You know me. I know you. We exchange pleasantries occasionally.”
“If you consider twice a year occasionally,” Simon said.
“You cut me to the quick,” Josh said dramatically. “I thought we were pals.”
“Well, twice a year is more than anybody else, so I guess we are pals,” Simon said. “What’s good here?”
“I hear the stuffed seagulls are good,” Josh replied.
“Sometimes, I can’t tell when you’re joking,” Simon grumbled.
After ordering, Simon cleared his throat. “I need you to look in to something for me,” he said.
“Like last time?” Josh asked
Weeks ago, when Simon had suspected insider trading had been going on at Dover, he’d called up the one financial investigator he trusted. Josh wasn’t exactly a friend, but with a high-pressure job in such a tough environment it paid to have someone with his financial skills on call. It was Josh who had helped him discover that his former assistant, Xander, had been giving confidential information to an outside source. Josh’s expertise was valuable, and he needed it now.
“Not exactly,” Simon replied. “It might be something, or I might be paranoid.”
“What’s going on, Simon?” Josh pushed his sandy-blond hair out of his eyes. “What’s with all the subterfuge? Asking me to meet someplace nobody would recognize us?”
“I like my privacy.”
“Is someone robbing Dover?” Josh asked.
“I think someone is spying on me.”
Josh scoffed. “You’re paranoid.”
“Just hear me out,” Simon said.
“Fine.”
“There’s a story that’s about to break,” Simon began. “It’s about me and a relationship I’ve been having.”
“You? In a relationship?” Josh grinned. “Who is she?”
“It’s over.”
“Of course, it is.” Josh rolled his eyes. “Who is it? Someone famous?”
“Someone inconvenient,” he replied.
Josh’s eyebrows furrowed. “Inconvenient for whom?”
“Both of us.”
“Simon, I can’t kill the story,” Josh said. “I don’t do that kind of stuff.”
“Trust me, I tried killing it earlier today,” Simon said. “That’s not going to happen. I don’t need you to kill it. I need you to find out how it got out.”
“Well, maybe she talked,” Josh said. “You know how some people are. They go after you for a little money or attention.”
“I know that,” he said in exasperation. He knew that all too well. That was one of the reasons he was still single. It was impossible to know who to trust when he had so much money. When he had first struck it rich, almost everyone he came into contact with wanted a piece of him and his newfound wealth.
Getting rich so quickly had reminded him of the summer he’d had that growth spurt and subsequently got more attention from girls that he ever dreamed of. But he’d always had attention from Heather. She was the only one who had noticed him before he’d shed his nerdy exterior.
Which was why he felt so guilty about lying to her on the way over here. It seemed wrong to keep something like this from her, based on their history. Not only was the press going to come after her as well, but there was still an underlying friendship between them. Even if all hope of ever being more than friends had died when she slammed her front door in his face.
“So, maybe she talked,” Josh repeated.
“She would never do that,” Simon said bluntly. “I do think her ex-husband had something to do with it. She called him earlier today and he admitted that he talked to a reporter.”
Josh rubbed his hands together. “The plot thickens.”
A waiter appeared with their orders, salmon for Josh and grilled shrimp for Simon, and promptly left.
Simon reached for his fork and popped a shrimp into his mouth. “I don’t think it’s all down to the ex-husband. Someone else has something to do with this. The timing of the story is too suspicious. This story is about to come out right when our new products are hitting the market. That can’t be a coincidence.”
Josh frowned. “Corporate espionage?”
“I think somebody got a reporter to call t
he ex-husband. Somebody pushed the reporter to this story. At first, I thought it might be someone in a law firm I do work with but...”
“The timing,” Josh finished for him.
“There are no coincidences in this business,” Simon said. “It’s like somebody has been waiting for me to screw up.”
“Is that what this secret girlfriend of yours is?” Josh asked. “A screw-up?”
Simon had told Heather that he regretted their affair. Had made the wrong choice by being with her. But that had been a complete lie. Heather wasn’t a screw-up or a mistake. She was everything. Everything he could never have. Everything he had to find a way to get over.
Because, if he didn’t get over her, he’d be stuck in this loop of insanity for the foreseeable future. She consumed every part of his day. From when he woke up in the morning after dreaming of her, to when he finally got over obsessively thinking about her and slipped off to sleep at night. Sleep that was filled with dreams of her.
There was no escaping her, and the insane thing about it was that he didn’t want to. He had actually been relieved when she turned down the chance to move to a different department. Being obsessed with the one woman he could never have put things into perspective for him. Before she came back into his life, everything had been dull. Grey. And, truth be told, lonely as all hell.
He’d never been this hung up on a woman before. Nothing distracted him from his work. Yet here he was, shirking work responsibilities to start an investigation based on a nagging feeling that there was something he had to protect Heather from.
“No,” Simon finally said, “she isn’t. But she’s in my past now.”
“Tough break,” Josh said. “Well, who do you spend most of your time with?”
Simon mulled over the question. “My assistant.”
“Then, that’s the culprit,” Josh said. “It was your assistant last time, and it would make sense now.”
“No, that can’t be right,” Simon said harshly. “There’s no way Heather would want this to get out.”
“How can you be so sure?” Josh asked.
“It can’t be her,” Simon said. “Trust me on this.”
“You’re screwing your assistant, aren’t you?”
“Dammit, Josh,” he whispered harshly.
“Sorry,” Josh said and shrugged. “What am I supposed to think?”
“Don’t talk about Heather like that,” he growled, leaning closer. “That’s not what we are. She’s not just some lay.”
“Okay. I’m sorry.” Josh shoved a bite of salmon into his mouth and chewed. “I just...I’ve never seen you get worked up over a woman before.”
“We’re not close enough for you to know a damn thing about my personal life,” Simon said. “Look, it’s not her.”
“Where did she work before?” Josh asked. “Your assistant. Heather.”
Simon let his fork drop, the sound reverberating across the restaurant. “That hardly matters.”
“You’ve only been working with her for a short time,” Josh said. “You have no idea if you can trust her. You’re here asking for my help. So, let me help you. Where did your assistant used to work, Simon?”
He gave Josh a hard stare, his typically restrained anger making his body go taut. “VLA Technologies.”
“Dover’s main rival?” Josh whistled and leaned back in his seat. “What if she seduced you to screw you over? What if this whole thing has been a setup?”
“It’s not,” Simon hissed loudly.
Every patron in the restaurant turned to stare at him but he didn’t care. There was no way Heather could have done what Josh was accusing her of. Sure, she had started their working relationship with a lie, but she had only done that to protect herself. It was only natural for her to want to avoid conflict if she was looking for a job.
“Do the math, Simon. Your PA got fired because of insider trading. You hire a new one very quickly, almost like a rush job, right?” He didn’t wait for Simon to respond. “Then this... this girl is swooning over you, somehow manages to get the vault known as Simon Diesel open. She lost her job or quit her old job and you’re the one who hired her. She seduces you, the story gets leaked to the media, and yet she’s still innocent?” Josh sighed. “I’m not trying to throw around accusations.”
“So, don’t,” Simon warned through gritted teeth. “I want you to get to the bottom of this with evidence.”
“That I can do,” Josh said. “After I start investigating, the first task is writing up a list of possible suspects. I’ll get that list to you as soon as I can. We can proceed from there.”
“I’m not telling you how to do your job.” Simon shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He hadn’t wanted to blow up at Josh, but he wasn’t going to let anyone make accusations against Heather. Not when a news story that could destroy her reputation was about to break. He refused to believe what Josh was suggesting. He knew once Josh did some investigating he’d realize it, too.
“I get it,” Josh replied. “I’m not trying to make baseless accusations. I just want to be upfront. Sometimes my investigations reveal very unpleasant things, and it’s best that you know that now.”
“Find out who’s trying to fuck me over. I’ll take care of the rest.”
They finished eating; Simon picked up the tab and headed back to the office. It was pouring rain by the time he raced into the lobby. He dried off in the bathroom and head into Heather’s office, to find out what was so important that he’d missed.
The sight in front of him pierced his heart.
Heather was sitting at her desk, tears streaming down her face.
Chapter 5
How had things gotten so out of hand? The board meeting and now Gary? All this was her fault. She sniffed but didn’t bother looking for a Kleenex.
Her door creaked open, making her jump.
She frantically tried brushing the tears away. She figured he’d be out of the office for the rest of the day, but here he was, concern etched on his face.
“Heather, what is it?” he asked quietly. “What’s wrong?”
How could she tell him that Gary was trying to take Finn away from her? “It’s... nothing.” She searched her drawer for a packet of tissues.
“That’s not true.” He walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. It was so hard to ignore how much his touch soothed her. “Today has stressed you out. I didn’t even stop to think that it would be harder on you. The board was tough, and I just expected you to head back to work. I should have told you to take the afternoon off.”
“I’m fine,” she insisted.
“No, you’re not,” he said. “Take the rest of the day off. And work from home tomorrow.”
“But, Simon—”
“I’m serious,” he said. “Work from home until this story blows over. It’ll probably be out sometime this week, so I’m giving you permission to work from home for the rest of the week. You’ve got company access from your laptop. Have your calls directed to your business cell phone. Stay with Finn.”
“What about you?” she asked weakly. Being home with Finn sounded so good.
He shrugged. “I’ll come in and work.”
“You need me, Simon,” she said.
Simon stared down at his hand and her gaze followed his. He frowned, suddenly realizing that he was touching her. He jerked his hand back like he’d just touched a hot stove and quickly shoved both of them into his pockets. “I need you at your best. You’re not at your best if you’re crying at work. Today has taken its toll and you need time away from Dover.”
“It’s not fair to leave this burden on you. Boss or not. This mistake includes both of us. I can’t run and hide if you’re not.” She chewed her lip, apprehension seizing her. Part of her felt like she was asking him to come hide with her. She pushed the thought away as images of what kind of things they could do while hiding filled her mind. It wasn’t fair. She was the one who told him she wasn’t interested. Like he’d done back in high
school. Now she’d gone and done the same thing. Not that it made her feel any better. He was a good man. Simon had been so strong all day. So confident. It wasn’t fair for her to fall apart now when he needed her the most.
Now she was angry at herself for crying at work. Her call with Gary had just thrown her, made her so upset. Her ex was determined to take Finn away from her. And he was going to use this scandal to do it. Gary had all but admitted that he was going to take advantage of the scandal and paint her as an unfit mother.
Then, after she’d hung up on her ex, she’d crunched some numbers. There was no way she could afford the fancy lawyer Simon had gotten for her a month ago, and that’s when she’d burst into tears. She could only afford the lawyer she’d relied on before, which made fighting Gary that much harder. The thought of losing Finn had sent her into a fit of hysterics and then Simon had walked into her office.
“How about a compromise?” he said. “I’ll show up to work in the mornings for the rest of the week and then work from home in the afternoons. It’d be like I’m hiding, too. Sort of. I can work from my office and avoid unwanted media attention.”
“I don’t mind stopping by your place if you need me to do anything,” she offered. She realized how that sounded after it came out. “I mean, I don’t want the media to think I’m coming by because...”
“Just park in the underground parking lot.” A small grin played on his face before it quickly disappeared. “That area’s safe from reporters, so you’ll be able to get to my apartment without much trouble.”
She straightened, feeling slightly better. She couldn’t afford not to work right now. She was going to need all the money she could make. “Sounds like a good plan.”
He glanced at her and furrowed his brow. “Is there anything else that’s bothering you?”
“No,” she lied smoothly. If she told Simon about her troubles with Gary, he’d just do something crazy like offer to pay for that fancy lawyer again. She couldn’t take more of his money. Especially not now that he’d been so good to her even after she had closed the door on them. “Why do you ask?”
