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“I’m sorry, Alexia. I should have and I don’t really know why I didn’t.”
Then I asked the million-dollar question. “Were you responsible for me getting my job?”
“No, absolutely not.”
“Did you have anything at all to do with it?”
“Yes, but very little. Lisbeth called and told me you needed a job. She said you’d lost yours at the restaurant and were searching for one. I had her shoot me your résumé and I took it to my uncle. I said I knew you but couldn’t vouch for anything else. I asked if he could at least see that you got an interview and that you were Lisbeth’s personal assistant. He called Grams and she told him Lisbeth couldn’t say enough about you. That was the extent of my involvement. I swear this to you, Lexi. I would never lie to you about this or anything.”
Those eyes, those perfectly sexy eyes were telling me the truth, as they drilled into me.
“Dammit, Pearce, why didn’t you just tell me? I looked like a fool today when I found out.”
Those stupid tears fell and then gushed down my cheeks like a freakin’ downspout. I frantically tried to wipe them away, but there was a flood of them. I shook my head and bolted out the door. I made it as far as my car before strong arms were hauling me back up the stairs.
He never said a word. He just whispered soft, sweet comforting noises that your mom makes when you’re little and you fall off your bike and scrape your knees. I hadn’t had that kind of comfort from her in I don’t know how long, I just felt my fingers clinging to his shirt and anything else I could grab a hold of.
When the flash flood finally ceased, he handed me a handful of tissues and I wiped my face and blew my nose.
I finally got up the nerve to look at him and was trying to figure out what to say.
“Why do you do this to yourself?” he asked.
“What?” I sniffed.
“Self-torture. Babe, you know me well enough by now to know that if I ever do anything that involves you, I ask you first. I would never take it upon myself to insist on someone hiring you. Do you even know my uncle? The one who runs MedSoft?”
I shook my head because I had no idea what his name even was.
“Uncle Will is the biggest ... let’s just say, he doesn’t do anything that doesn’t serve his interests. He wouldn’t have hired you unless you had something to offer the company even if you’d been related to the Queen of England. I’m serious, Alexia. He’s a tough nut. To say you were hired because you dated me was a joke to begin with. By the way, his name is William Bennington. His mom is a Middleton. Now, are you gonna tell me what happened?”
I didn’t even want to talk about it anymore, but I knew I had to. I told him the whole icky mess.
“I can’t believe those two little fucking twerps ruined your celebration. You are amazing to have gotten that kind of promotion. I’m totally serious. You can call my dad right now and he’ll vouch for me and what I’m telling you. Uncle Will had to approve your promotion, and knowing him, he’s probably even forgotten that you and I know each other. We haven’t had any formal engagement announcement party yet, so I doubt he has a clue. He’s gonna die when he finds out that his new Associate Marketing Director is my future wife.”
Apparently, Pearce’s dad and “Uncle Will” weren’t the best of friends. Not to mince words, as Pearce said, Henry thought Will was a self-serving ass! It was nice to hear that the big boss at the company you worked for was an ass.
Pearce was laughing at me. “Stop it! I have to work for the man and now he’s going to be super hard on me.”
“No, he won’t, Alexia. He’s going to make sure you succeed, because he promoted you without knowing any of this. He’ll want us all to think he found this little gem on his own. And honestly, by all rights, he did. But, honey, I can’t tell you how proud I am of you. I’ve heard how difficult he can be to work for, and to see how you’ve excelled and grown. I’m wowed by it all.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. I knew you had the talent, but you’d buried it down deep, you didn’t know it yourself. I just wanted you to see it too.”
I waggled my brows. “Is there anything else I need to know?”
“Yeah. I love you madly, babe.” And he kissed me.
After a minute, he pulled back and said, “Your lips taste salty from your tears. I’m sorry I made you cry.”
Wrapping me in his arms, he walked me over to the couch, where he sat down and tucked me right next to him. “I know this is kinda lame, and now you probably don’t feel like it, but is there anything you’d like to do to celebrate?”
“Yeah, sit right here and let you baby me.”
“Done.”
We decided to order in from the local Thai restaurant that delivered.
