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She noted the hard set to Bruno’s jaw before he abruptly turned and marched across the parking lot to his car.
Raw pain twisted in her chest, and the glimmer of hope she’d entertained extinguished.
That was it. It was over. He barely put up a fight.
Marissa raced up the stairs, blinking back tears that threatened to spill from her eyes. She let herself into the apartment and leaned against the door. She had suggested Bruno was to blame for the wreck of her life, but that hadn’t been fair. He presented the carrot, and she ate it. She had choice. She didn’t have to go to California with him, and after California she didn’t have to continue sleeping with him.
She had wanted to.
He had been a welcome distraction from a mundane, safe, predictable life, but the wonderful distraction of dating a rich man was over.
Time to focus.
Marissa straightened the glasses on her nose, went into her bedroom, and lifted her laptop out of the desk drawer. Going to one of the top job search sites, she set up a profile.
“I can do this,” she whispered to herself.
Then she began her search for work.
Chapter Forty
When Bruno entered the Executive Match, Inc. office, the soft doorbell chimed. Soon after, a young man with dark hair approached. Lori must have already moved into her new role as matchmaker, probably taking over Marissa’s office.
“Hello, welcome to Executive Match, Inc. I’m Dane. How may I help you?” the man asked.
“I’m here to see Arnie. I don’t have an appointment, but you can tell him Bruno Santana would like to speak to him about the Marissa Liburd situation.”
“Sure. Wait here and I’ll let him know.”
When Dane left, Bruno paced to the far wall, anxious to get the meeting over with.
As soon as Marissa had snapped her ultimatums at him, he had known he needed to do something. He was certain he couldn’t get her job back, and he had no intention of trying. Besides, despite what she had said, he doubted she wanted to come back to work for Executive Match after what happened. What he hoped to do was halt any additional fallout from her dismissal. That was the least he could do since the reason she lost her job was his fault.
He had upended her life and might lose her because of his actions. He couldn’t imagine life without Marissa. He barely remembered life before her.
She was the type of woman he had been looking for, the type of woman he had come to Executive Match to find. She was the woman he wanted to marry and have children with.
Dane returned. “Arnie is available. This way, please.”
He led Bruno to the back. The CEO’s executive assistant watched him from her desk as he was led to the closed door.
Dane knocked and then popped open the door, waving Bruno in.
“Thank you,” he said.
Arnie came to his feet when Bruno entered. He was a huge man, with meaty arms and a thick neck. He thought again how Arnie didn’t look at all the way he expected the owner of a matchmaking service to look. No wonder his sister was the face of the organization.
“I appreciate you taking the time to see me on such short notice,” Bruno said.
“When Dane told me the reason for the visit, I thought it was a good idea for us to meet.”
Arnie sat down and Bruno followed suit.
“I won’t waste your time. I’m here because of what happened to Marissa. As the other party in the relationship, I’m partially to blame for her… decision to break the rules.”
“That was a gross lack of judgment on her part,” Arnie said.
“You’re in the business of helping people meet and fall in love. Surely you can understand that love doesn’t care about rules,” Bruno said.
