“Don’t bother,” I said, wiping at my tears. “You’ve already said your goodbye. And I heard it loud and clear.”
I pulled the door open and waited for him to hand me my coat.
His eyes roamed over me, regret clear in his eyes but nothing else about the way he watched me was readable. And no words were being said to support it.
I had my answer.
He gently placed the coat over my shoulders. “For what it’s worth, I couldn’t sleep either,” he said in a husky voice before I strode away.
35
SCOTT
My new officehad been a revolving door since I’d moved in. The location was temporary; I leased out an entire floor at the Hayes Enterprises building. As much as I wanted to venture away from where I’d started, I still had quite a bit of accounts open with H.E. and knew Donovan would only want to hold meetings at his building. So it served a purpose to rent the space.
I closed the binder prepared for my review by Dean’s assistant and handed it back to him. “Plans look great. Let’s just hope we didn’t miss anything. How’s New Year’s Eve looking?”
Dean pushed out of his chair, eagerly. “Our entire staff is booked for new years.”
“Excellent.” I noticed other new implementations from my review that sounded strangely familiar. “I like the new time management system you’ve set up for each planner,”
Dean nodded. “Tracking project hours will help us improve efficiencies, and figure out where time is being wasted and unnecessary money being spent. It was something Elle started, and my office manager fine-tuned.”
I should have been satisfied at the progress on staff efficiencies since it was one of the key issues I noticed and immediately needed to rectify. Instead, I stood, irritably. “Have you spoken to her?” I asked in my most disinterested tone.
As though I could get one over on Dean.
“She finally answered my call a few days ago,” Dean replied, and then chuckled. “She was very pleased to hear that our staff won’t be getting away with half the shit they used to. I needed some advice on the new plans and also to…”
I turned. “To what?”
“To apologize,” Dean said straightforwardly. “I urged her to come work for me after Brightman folded and she accepted. Only to fire her less than two months later.”
My chest ached again.
I walked to the window, fighting the urge to ask him how she sounded. It had been two weeks since Elle walked out of my apartment. A stupid thing I let happen.
For days I was convinced the woman had shown up that night simply to curse me. Because since then, at exactly that hour each night, I lay awake in bed picturing an entirely different outcome. I’d have said all the right words and kissed her in all the right places, taken her to my bed and made love to her the way she deserved instead of letting my anger and frustration, my constant need for power get the better of me.
Of us.
I belittled her after she poured her honest heart out and practically manhandled her; a reality that haunted me mercilessly.
There was no denying it; I missed her.
“Do you know if she found a new job?”
“Not something you ask someone less than two weeks after firing them.” Dean admitted. “Besides, her saying no would only tempt me to do what you told me not to.”
I cleared my throat, keeping my tone even. Since apologies weren’t something I did well. Or ever. “Surely, she’ll be alright. She would still be getting a year-end bonus, correct?”
“No, she hadn’t worked for us long enough to be eligible,” Dean answered flatly. No doubt the man was trying to get a reaction out of me.
My jaw tightened. “Right.”
Dean strolled to the door and shrugged. “But you know I did just get a new partner who I suppose could bend the rules.”
I shook my head and let out a short laugh. Soon, I was going to be his only partner. A week ago, Starr had proposed to sell her share of the company. Dean accepted and came up with a plan to buy her out.
