He stared at her. “We’re not talking about Mattis anymore, are we?”
“Does it matter?” She spun on her heel and headed for the balcony.
All day she had been on edge, so as not to make things worse. Yes, she had made her share of mistakes last night, but that was no reason for Simon to punish the entire company because of it.
She stepped out onto the balcony and stared at the sky, watching the sunset. Mentally she was kicking herself for letting things get so personal again, but mostly she hated herself for caring so damn much about what Simon thought.
Chapter 15
Her back was turned to him.
His eyes focused on the arch of her slender neck, exposed since her auburn hair was tied up as usual.
Heather was standing just a few yards from him, and yet she might as well have been hundreds of miles away. Even without seeing her face, Simon sensed her agitation.
He walked across the room and joined her on the balcony.
She was holding tightly to the railing, staring up at the sky. Though he hated to, Simon had to admit that she really was lovely standing in the light of the sunset. He hated admitting it because it meant admitting that he could be distracted. Could lose focus from his work. That never happened. Until now.
“I know you think I push people away,” he said.
“It’s not just me who thinks it,” she said softly. “Everyone thinks so. The media. Your media relations officer, Linda. I mean, Linda pretty much warned me that you don’t care about the lives of your employees.”
“That isn’t true,” he said. “I do care.”
“Forget I said anything,” she said. “I don’t want Linda to get in trouble.”
“I won’t bring it up to Linda, if that’s what you’re afraid of.” He glanced at her, struck by her wholesome, innocent beauty that made his chest tighten. “I do care about my employees.” One employee in particular, if he was telling the truth. Which was the problem. Caring about someone like this wasn’t in his nature. So, why start now?
She turned her head to face him, her hazel eyes glowing fiercely in the light of the setting sun. “Is that why you made things so difficult today? Because, if you cared about your employees, you wouldn’t have made the meeting with Mr. Mattis so difficult.”
“This isn’t about Mattis,” he said coolly.
“So, what is it about if you know so much?” She threw her shoulders back in defiance.
There was something so thrilling and exciting about this delicate wallflower of his childhood standing up to him. Nobody stood up to him. Not really. He wasn’t an unfair man, but wealth made people suck up to him in a way that Heather seemed to shun. It really was remarkable, even if it frustrated him at times.
“You’re upset about something I’ve done,” he said. “This is personal for you, isn’t it?”
She narrowed her eyes. “You tell me.”
“You’re angry with me,” he murmured. “Angry that I’ve kept people at a distance. Angry that I’ve kept you at a distance.”
Silence. Heather turned from him and looked back up at the rapidly darkening sky.
“Heather, talk to me,” he insisted. “You were letting me have it a mere five minutes ago. Don’t go all quiet on me now.”
“Why didn’t you get in touch with me for all these years?” she asked.
“I...” He hesitated. Turned her question over in his mind. It never occurred to him that Heather might have been more hurt about how things had ended between them than she’d let on. Their breakup had seemed amicable, but maybe she had still expected his friendship. “It never felt like the right time.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Why not?”
“First came college, and I got so busy focusing on that. Then came the chaos after college,” he said.
Her head jerked back in surprise. “Chaos? What happened?”
During his years in college, he had invested in Dover. Laid the groundwork for the little startup to become one of the most important tech companies on earth. The consequences for his initial decision had almost ruined his life. Almost destroyed him. But there was no use dragging Heather into his personal life now. Demons weren’t meant to be shared, no matter how she insisted.