by Lexy Timms
“I’m saying that my personal life is irrelevant,” he said pointedly. “What matters is the work we do at Dover.”
“But you said in your speech that nobody makes it on their own,” the blogger pressed. “If it takes help to get where you are, don’t you think the public has the right to know who might be by your side, helping to get you there?”
This was the price he was paying for opening up in his speech. He didn’t regret thanking Heather, but giving even a small scrap of himself seemed to make the public feel entitled to him. Resentment boiled his blood. “The public has the right to be curious,” he said, choosing his words carefully. “But my private life is off limits. As always.”
Linda focused her attention on another journalist and Simon slumped back in his chair. Well, his version of slumping was still sitting very upright. The perfection of a business with power.
Everything about dealing with the press was excruciating. For his entire career he had kept the world at a distance. And in the span of less than two weeks he had reversed course with his speech. All because of Heather. All because his assistant seemed to know the real him, and didn’t see anything wrong with letting the world see who he really was.
Altering the speech had meant inviting the world into his private life, but he had wanted to thank Heather. Speak to her without causing any embarrassment with a confrontation for the truth. The speech had said all the things he had wanted to tell her, but hadn’t been able to.
That made him start to analyze the things that had gone unsaid between them. Why hadn’t he gotten in touch with Heather in their years apart? Was he that closed off?
Thankfully, Linda managed to shut down more questions, and the Q and A ended minutes later. Simon rushed backstage to find Heather.
When he spotted her, the expression on her face was unreadable.
“We need to talk,” he said.
“Right now?” She frowned. “With the conference done, work is over for the day. Unless you’re asking me to work overtime.”
“You’re not going to blow me off,” he said, annoyed she could play it so cool. And the hint about overtime, was that meant to imply something else? Somehow he doubted it. “We’re having this conversation. Now.”
“Are you going to fire me if I don’t?” she asked.
He glanced over his shoulder. Linda was headed backstage. If he was going to get the truth out of his assistant, he was going to have to do it now.
“Of course not,” he said firmly. “I can’t fire you for refusing to hash this out. The truth is, after what we did today I don’t think it would be ethical for me to have a say in your continued employment at Dover.” Simon gave her a meaningful look, hoping she’d understand without having to say anything that might be overheard.
She sighed. “Where can we talk?”
He placed his hand on the small of her back, and started to lead her towards the door that led out of the hotel conference room. “Upstairs. I have a permanent room at the hotel, so we can talk in private there. But we have to hurry. I don’t want the press to see and get the wrong idea.” What was the wrong idea? That he wanted her up in his hotel room? Did he have ulterior motives? No! Of course not. He just wanted to talk, and it was the only private moment they could have. If she left now, he wasn’t sure they’d ever talk about it again.
With a nod she silently let him lead her away, and they reached his hotel suite minutes later.
“Nice view,” Heather said as she stared out the huge windows at the cityscape before them.
The view had been one of the perks of this place. Simon didn’t care all that much about luxury, but having a permanent room at Highcastle made his work easier. Sometimes it helped to have a place of his own. A place where he could work and think in peace. Away from the chaos of the office. Away from the media’s insatiable appetite for stories on the private lives of the wealthy.
He knew how fortunate he was to be able to afford such a lavish suite. Having a permanent place to stay at a luxury hotel was a privilege most people could only dream of. But if the price for his wealth was giving up his privacy, that was a price he wasn’t willing to pay for any reason.
“It is a nice view.” He walked across the plush carpet to the minibar. “Do you want a drink?”
Usually, he avoided alcohol. He didn’t like his mind being altered. But being around Heather already made him feel drunk anyway. It was impossible to think straight around her, and that unnerved the hell out of him. Besides, if he planned on getting to the bottom of this, a stiff drink sure as hell couldn’t hurt.
“No, thank you,” she said softly.
Simon grabbed a bottle of whiskey and poured out a glass. He downed the glass in one gulp, the liquid burning as it went down. It tasted like engine oil, but his resolve had already been strengthened. It was time to get the truth out of Heather. Even if that meant destroying their working relationship.
Setting his glass aside, he turned around to face her. “I know this can’t be easy for you.”
She crossed her arms and met his gaze. “Nothing is ever easy. Not anymore.”
Simon raised his eyebrow. Her words were so cryptic. Despite that angelic face and her desire to keep the truth from him, he sensed something potent simmering underneath.
It didn’t matter how prim her manner. How conservatively she dressed. Something raged beneath her calm exterior. He had tasted that much in her kiss. There was passion inside his assistant. The same passion that the girl from his youth had shown him. That was how he had known it was the Heather he had grown up with. Nobody kissed like she did. Without restraint.
There had been no good reason to take her into his arms and return her kiss. But it was like he was completely at her mercy. A woman making him this out of control was dangerous for his career. And yet, he wanted this danger with her. Welcomed it.
“Life will always be difficult. And lying makes life even more difficult,” he said coldly.
Her eyes flashed, but her only answer was stone-faced silence.
So, she was going to insist on making this even more difficult than it had to be. Heather might not know it yet, but one way or another he was going to get the truth out of her.
He wouldn’t let her out of this room until she confessed.
Chapter 8
It was impossible to tell him the truth. Not if she wanted to keep her job. Or her dignity.
Her insides were in knots. “I didn’t mean for things to get so out of control.”
Simon’s eyes were fixed on her. That severe gaze of his made her quiver with some dark, indescribable emotion.
No matter how much Simon had tried to mold himself into the controlled man he was, she knew that deep down he was utterly ruthless. She had witnessed that much at the Q and A earlier. Even with his entire reputation and company on the line, he still refused to back down from the press. The press he needed. If he was willing to discard the reporters he needed, what would he do to a mere assistant who probably meant nothing to him?
“But you lied anyway,” he growled. “You are Heather Monroe, aren’t you? The Heather I grew up with.”
She had no idea how to tell him that, even though they had grown up together, she was no longer Heather Monroe. That girl was long gone. All the innocence and hope she had carried in her heart as a teenager had been crushed after Simon left her without a second glance.
“Yes,” she said finally. “We grew up together.”
“How could you lie about not knowing me?” he demanded.
If she had expected him to take her into his arms after her confession, that hope was immediately dashed. Simon was now scowling at her, suspicion still flashing in his blue eyes.
“It wasn’t intentional,” she said. That much wasn’t true, but she had told one lie already. What difference did one more make? “I just blurted out the lie without thinking. I didn’t let on that I knew you because I was worried I wouldn’t get the job if I admitted knowing you.”
He n
arrowed his eyes. “You think I’d refuse to hire you because of our history together?”
She nodded.
“I don’t know what you’ve heard, but I’m a fair man,” Simon continued. “I would have given you a chance just like anyone else.”
“If we had simply been friends I would have admitted the truth, but we were more than that.” Her face flushed, and she lowered her eyes. “We broke up, and I didn’t know if that would affect my chances at getting hired.”
“That was years ago,” he said. “We’ve both moved on. The breakup hardly matters at all now. We were kids back then.”
For some reason his words were like a cold, sharp knife straight to her heart. Simon had ended things so long ago, but that didn’t make it hurt any less. If anything, being around him these past two weeks had reopened a wound that had never fully healed.
During their time together in high school, Heather had thought they might have a chance at a future together. A happy life. And Simon had said as much by promising to stay with her even after he graduated. Then he’d abruptly changed his mind, telling her he was going to college out of state and wasn’t interested in a long- distance relationship with her.
The summer after their breakup had been so agonizing. She had buried most of the hurt, but their breakup had devastated her more than she had ever let on. Devastated her so much that she had agreed to let her grandfather pay for her to be transferred to one of the most elite prep schools in the city.
That was why, when Simon had asked where she went to high school, she had answered truthfully. After Simon went off to college, she really had spent her senior year at Roosevelt Prep. Spending her final year of high school away from the public school they had both gone to made the breakup easier. At least she had been able to go to a school that didn’t constantly remind her of Simon.
“Well, I’m glad to hear that it hardly matters. I wouldn’t want us to be so hung up on the past,” she said, hoping he didn’t detect the hurt in her tone. There was no way she could reveal the truth to him. No way she could let her boss know how much their breakup had hurt her.
Or about why she had been laid off from her old job. She was keeping so many secrets inside, and telling Simon would only make things worse. For them both.
“What matters is the present,” he said, bringing her back from her frantic thoughts. “What matters is how we move forward.”
“What are you suggesting?” she asked. “Are you going to fire me for lying about knowing you?”
He heaved out a sigh and turned away from her. “Even if I wanted to fire you, I couldn’t.”
“Why?”
“We shared a kiss, Heather.” He turned back to face her, his jaw clenched as if going over the embarrassing details of their kiss was nothing more than a nuisance to him.
“I kissed you,” she murmured. “What happened is my fault. I got caught up in your speech and—”
“That’s why this is my fault,” he said, cutting her off. “I never should have allowed that speech to get so personal. I see that now.”
“It was a great speech,” she said.
“I added personal details to that speech, even though I suspected the truth,” he told her. “I wasn’t entirely sure that you were the girl I grew up with, but I still had my suspicions. I never should’ve let my judgment get so clouded by our past together.”
“Well...if the past doesn’t matter, why did you let it affect you that much?” she asked.
He hesitated. “I don’t know. I guess I’ve felt like I owed you my success, and I never got the chance to thank you. The speech was the chance to do that.”
“You could always have gotten in touch with me,” she pointed out. Damn, why did she sound like a wistful teenager? Why didn’t you call? He was going to think she was still a kid.
“I could have,” he admitted. “But I’ve never been good at holding on to people. And as each year went by, the idea of getting in touch with you seemed more and more absurd. It seemed better to let the past stay in the past.”
“That’s why I had to lie,” she said. “I wanted the job, and I worried that our relationship would just create awkwardness between us.”
There was more to her lies than wanting to avoid an uncomfortable conversation. But she couldn’t tell Simon that their breakup had hurt her so much that in a moment of loneliness and weakness, she had ended up in Gary’s arms. And then ended up pregnant. With a baby on the way, she’d had to do what was right. Had to marry Gary so her baby could have a family. She was never going to tell Simon that their breakup had inadvertently led to a bad marriage and a messy divorce.
“Unfortunately, there’s awkwardness now anyway,” he said. “The kiss backstage was...”
“A mistake,” she blurted out.
Surprise flickered in his eyes. “I was going to say that I felt things. Things that no boss should feel for a subordinate.”
So, he had felt the same passion that had been burning inside her. When she kissed him, she’d thought he’d pull away from her. Instead, he had deepened the kiss. Revealed a part of himself that he had kept so under control. The fierce way he had kissed her had taken her breath away. And now, he had just confessed to feeling something for her.
She swallowed hard. “You can’t blame yourself for something that started years ago.”
“I can’t,” he said. “And yet I do.”
Heather took a step toward him. Then another. Until she closed the gap between them and was standing so close to him she could inhale the rich scent of his masculine cologne. “What if I wasn’t your subordinate?” she asked. “What if right now I was off the clock? What if I was just the girl you knew in high school and nothing more?”
He groaned and shut his eyes.
As if of its own accord, her body closed the remaining space between them and her arms wrapped around his strong shoulders. Her lips met his and suddenly she was blazing out of control. Simon didn’t end the kiss this time either. This time he took control. Gripped her tightly to him until the sensation of his hard body against hers made her ache in places that hadn’t been touched in a long time.
Heather melted against him as he took her mouth with his. His tongue stormed her mouth, claimed her and branded her.
This was a dangerous, insane thing to do, but right now she didn’t care. She hadn’t been held like this in so long she couldn’t remember the last time it had happened. It had been a long time since someone had noticed her. Wanted her.
With their lips still locked she started to stumble towards the bed, losing her handbag on the way. If she didn’t do this now she’d always regret it. Always wonder what her life would have been like if she’d only been brave and taken charge of it. And Simon made her brave. Made her feel like it wasn’t crazy to want more than she had.
They stumbled together until they reached the bed. Suddenly they were on it, Simon on top of her. The weight of his hard body on hers sent the most delicious feelings through her.
He ended the kiss to stare deep into her eyes. “Are you sure you want this? Because once we do this, there’s no going back. You can’t pretend you don’t remember. Not after you’ve been with me.”
If bedding him was going to be that memorable, she had to have him. Now.
“I’m sure,” she gasped out. “I want this. I want you.”
His hands wandered down and slowly began undoing the buttons of her blouse.
“You don’t have to be that gentle.” Her boldness should have surprised her, since she hadn’t been intimate with a man in months. But if she was going to break all the rules, there was no sense in being gentle now. Her desire for Simon had started off as a spark, and now it was burning out of control. The only way to stop the passion was to let it burn until it burned itself out.
Simon’s blue eyes widened with momentary surprise. “Damn, woman, you have changed” He grinned wickedly. Then he started tearing off her blouse, the buttons popping off.
With her lacy black br
a still on, Simon cupped her breast and thumbed her taut nipple through the fabric. She moaned softly, quivering underneath his touch.
Wanting more, she sat up, holding the hand that was still caressing her breast. She licked her lips, desperately hoping that she somehow looked seductive, instead of the bundle of nerves she was now. It was one thing to let him do things to her. But she had to be present with him as well. And the thought made her anxious.
Her ex-husband’s taunts echoed in her mind. She wasn’t adventurous enough. Couldn’t hold his interest. But the way Simon was looking at her, like he wanted to devour her, made her see herself in a way that she had never felt with Gary.
As anxious as she felt right now, having a man look at her like this made her feel sexy and desired for the first time in ages.
With one quick movement of his free hand, Simon unclasped her bra and tossed it aside. She let out a soft gasp as the fabric was ripped away, exposing her breasts.
This wasn’t the awkward, fumbling schoolboy she had lost her virginity to. Every motion of his hand, every look in his eye, showed her that Simon knew exactly what he was doing.
“Damn, woman, you are so perfect,” he breathed.
He circled her exposed nipple with this thumb, sending a delightful shiver down her spine. When he lowered his lips to her other breast, taking a nipple into his mouth, she moaned loudly.
His teeth lightly grazed her sensitive skin as he sucked greedily. Already she was losing control. She tossed her head back and closed her eyes, allowing herself to just feel for once. As he thumbed her nipple with one hand, his tongue swirled around the other. Pleasure made her body go limp and she collapsed onto the bed.
That didn’t stop Simon. He turned his attention to her other breast, taking the other nipple into his mouth, his tongue licking at her flesh. He groaned loudly, as if he enjoyed pleasuring her as much as she enjoyed being pleasured.
She was already so wet with desire. Right now she ached for more intimate contact.
