Nope, she reserved those choices for fear.
Damn, could she slap her own self silly?
“I never said you did. And if Dad claimed that, then he’s wrong.” Josh crossed his arms. “Can I ask why you are resigning?”
She sighed and leaned back in her office chair. She and the heir apparent had never been close, so why he’d searched her out to find out her plans boggled her mind. Ever since Griffin’s return, he’d been real chatty with his cryptic statements wrapped up in questions. Too bad for him that since she’d quit, she no longer owed him a polite “kick rocks.”
“Me first.” She tilted her head, narrowed her eyes. “Why do you suddenly care? Since I started working for your father I can count on one hand the number of times we’ve talked. You damn sure have never been interested in my personal life. So why now? So much that you waited until after five to search me out.”
He didn’t even blink at her surly tone, just slipped his hands in his pants pocket. And in spite of the difference in their coloring, reminded her so much of Griffin, she had to glance away. God, when would things, people, scents, goddamnbreathingnot remind her of him?
“Because I wanted to tell you it’s about time. And I hope you’re happy.”
“Okay, wait. What?” she blurted, taken aback.
“Griff and I haven’t exactly been…close over the years. That’s an understatement. He saw my path as putting my nose up Dad’s ass, and I saw his behavior as that of a petulant spoiled brat. No, we definitely didn’t see eye-to-eye.” A wry smile curves his mouth. “But one thing I always did admire about him was your love and support.”
“Josh—” she breathed.
But he waved off her objection. “I saw it; I’ve always seen it. As he grew older and no matter what he did, you remained by his side, I started to look at him differently. I have you to thank for that, Hayden. If not for your devotion to him, I would’ve never bothered searching beneath the tough, rebellious exterior to see the hurt, rejected and brilliant kid that captured the heart of one of the kindest persons I knew. If you loved him, there was more to my brother than what he elected to show people. And I was happy he had you. Even after he left home, I believed you two would somehow end up together again. I didn’t think it would take five years, but at least it’s finally happened. Because you need him just like he needs you. You haven’t been as happy or as free in the past few years as I remembered. I’m glad you’ll have that again.”
Shock robbed her of speech. Hell, air.
“When do you leave?”
“I’m not,” she whispered.
He frowned, and she finally detected emotion in those eyes. Anger. Disappointment.
“What? Then what’s this about?” He nodded toward the cardboard box.
She pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. “Over the last week I’ve realized I’m not a good fit here. I can’t…agree with some of the decisions your father makes. And by continuing to work for him, I’m silently abiding them. I’m not that person. And even a well-paid position in Sutherland Industries, possibly for the next governor of Texas, isn’t enough to convince me to be that person.”
“And you hadn’t figured this out two weeks ago?”
Before Griff returned homelay unspoken between them.
Gritting her teeth, she said, “No.”
“I never took you for a coward, Hayden.”
The bald, flat statement again halted her, rocking her back against her chair.
“Excuse me?” she snapped.
He didn’t flinch at her biting tone or the healthy amount of “mind your damn business” in it.
“I’ve watched you face down my father at his angriest. Witnessed you handle difficult clients without ruffling a feather. Only the strongest sort of woman could manage to earn a position as my father’s personal assistant without fucking her way in and remaining off her back. I respect you. And it’s because I do that I’m calling you on your shit.” He planted his palms on top of her desk and leaned forward, his black gaze pinning her to the office chair. “You. Are. A. Coward.”
“You don’t even know me,” she snarled, shooting to her feet. Damn if he would make her cower. “I don’t care whose son you are, you—”
“Love my brother,” he interrupted with a snarl of his own. “We don’t have to be confidantes for me not to notice how you look at him. The same way you always have. With love. And for some reason you’d rather stay here alone than go after what,who, you want. That makes you a coward.”
“I-I,” she stuttered, the fight, the denial, the anger draining from her, leaving her weak.Christ. What was shedoing? She flicked a glance at Josh, for the first time reallyseeinghim.
The loneliness. The pain.
“You would so cavalierly throw away what most people will never have the gift of experiencing. Of having,” he murmured, his stern face solemn.
