“That kiss in the closet at the gala changed my life,” he said, his tone gentle. “The attraction between us was something neither of us could deny.”
Relief came but was short-lived when he added, “I never intended for us to make it this far, or to embark on a relationship. Especially one where you’re making plans with me... Plans I can’t make with you.”
“Royce, what are you talking about?” The flowers in her hands grew heavy, as if each soft petal was sculpted from concrete. She tossed the bouquet on the small chair on her stoop and wondered if she should’ve sat in the chair instead. Her knees weren’t very stable at the moment.
“The tablet launch is happening soon.” His words were robotic. Carefully measured. “My first big release as CEO. The hours I’ve been working are only going to increase.”
“So will mine,” she said with a half laugh. “It’s only temporary.”
“Like us.”
Temporary.
She’d done the unthinkable: she’d fallen in love. Despite her telling herself not to do it, despite her justifications that she had plenty of time to win his heart.
“You’re breaking up with me.” Her words were as disconnected as if someone else had said them. She waited for him to refute that statement. Instead, he confirmed her worst fear.
“Yes. While we can still piece ourselves together. Before we end up like Gia and Jayson.”
“What the hell does this have to do with Gia and Jayson?” She would love to know. She needed answers and didn’t have any. Royce showing up at her apartment, delivering flowers and announcing that he didn’t want her anymore had come out of nowhere. “What brought this on?”
“I had some sense knocked into me.”
She’d noticed the dark bruise around his left eye. “Oh? Who do I have to thank for that?”
Royce said nothing.
“This isn’t about Gia and Jayson,” she said. “You didn’t bring me flowers—” she shot a disgusted look at the gorgeous bouquet on the chair “—so that you could talk about your sister’s failed marriage. Yes, I want a family. I told you that. Eventually. Not now.”
“You never told me you fell in love with me.” His tone was accusatory, and she instantly felt young and foolish, like she didn’t know her own mind or her heart. Shame blanketed her like a heavy coat, and even in today’s cooler temperature, she was suddenly too warm. Suffocating under the weight of this conversation. “I suspect you didn’t tell me how you felt because you feared my reaction.”
“I don’t fear you at all.” She was more afraid of herself. Or more accurately her emotions—the ones that had run ahead of her shouting, Come on in! The water’s fine!
“You have a lot on your plate,” she said, denial setting in. “You’ve been busy. I’ve been busy. I didn’t want to distract you.” But they were lame excuses. There’d been plenty of instances where she could’ve shared her feelings. She just...hadn’t.
He was right. She didn’t want to scare him away. She worried that putting pressure on him would cause him to shut down, like he was doing now.
“Nothing has to change,” she said, desperate to make everything okay. “I’m trying to learn how to balance work and home life, too. We can figure it out together and—”
“How long?”
She blinked. “How long what?”
“How long are you willing to wait to start this family, Taylor? You’re closing in on thirty. How long?”
“I don’t know. A few years.” She’d never had a conversation this intimate with anyone. Not with any guy she’d dated. And definitely not in front of her apartment where her neighbors could overhear.
“What about five years?” he asked. “How about seven? Ten?”
It took her a second to understand he wasn’t negotiating. He was trying to prove a point.
“I won’t ask you to design your life around me.” Some of the hardness left his eyes. He was still in there, the man she fell in love with. The man who’d intrigued her for half her life. The man who’d caught her in his arms when she was too young to understand what her fluttering stomach meant was the same man who had thoroughly won her heart—only to demolish it now.
“Isn’t that up to me?” she asked quietly.
“It’s up to you and whomever you build a family with. My position as CEO reigns supreme over everything else. I won’t be distracted from my legacy. I’m sorry, Taylor.”
His apology was somehow more final than the whole of his breakup speech. His mind was made up. He was rejecting her.
It was like a bomb had gone off nearby and deafened her, leaving behind only a high-pitched ringing interspersed with her broken heartbeats.
Royce, task complete, walked to his car. She watched him drive away, and only when he was out of sight did she sag against the door.
There was nothing to say after he’d said it all. He didn’t have to say he didn’t love her—he knew she loved him and had offered nothing in return. Except the assurance that ThomKnox mattered more than anything.
More than her.