“What? No! That was a misunderstanding. What? How do you know about that?”
“You bitch,” I say.
Suddenly, everything around me seems to spin. I can’t believe that my personal assistant is the person who destroyed my lover’s life. Heath may not be my husband or my boyfriend, but whatever this thing is between us, it’s not over, and I can’t let the fact that she hurt him go.
“You don’t get to call me that,” she snaps.
“You need to leave. Now.” I hiss at her through clenched teeth. I will not punch her at a professional event. I won’t do it. There’s no way. I’m so fucking close, though, that my entire body hurts.
Em looks at me and seems to realize that I’m fucking serious. She also sees my clenched fists and notes that it’s taking all of my strength not to punch her. Oh, I want to. I really, really want to.
It’s just that I also want to be the bigger person.
She makes the right decision, though, and she takes off running in the opposite direction.
And then it’s just the two of us.
It’s me and him.
It’s everything it’s supposed to be.
It’s us.
I turn to him.
“Heath,” I whisper. I’m on the verge of crying because I can’t believe he’s here. How is he here? Why is he here? “What are you doing?”
“I found your note,” he whispers. He reaches for my chin with his finger and tilts it up to him. Now we’re staring into each other’s eyes, and I can’t look away. “Why didn’t you tell me who you were?”
“Would it have mattered?”
“No. It wouldn’t have changed how I feel about you.”
“You came for me.”
“I came for you.”
“How is this possible?” I whisper. “I thought you only wanted a fling.”
“I was wrong, Theresa.” Then he blushes and looks around, seemingly remembering my pen name. “Terri,” he corrects himself.
“I thought that’s what I wanted, too,” I tell him. “Turns out, what I really want is you.”
“Terri, being with you was the best thing that’s ever happened to me. Well, that and watching you put my ex in her place.”
“I can’t believe she was my personal assistant,” I shake my head. “I had no idea what she did to you.”
If I’d known, I would have fired her a long time ago.
“It’s not your fault.”
“I know.”
“I’m sorry I let you go,” he says. “I should have told you how I really feel.”
“Well,” I smile. “Here’s your chance. Shoot your shot.”
He laughs, and grabs me, and he pulls me close. My cocktail dress rustles as he pulls me close to himself. He’s wearing a suit, which means that not only did he come here to sweep me off my feet, but that he prepared himself ahead of time. That’s something incredible.