Page 35 of The Billionaire's Secret Kiss

I didn't want to tell Vance and Maggie the details. I hadn't begun to think about how to handle my job with them if I was going back to school.

"He went out of his way to show me how much I mean to him. But his priority has to be his company right now, and coming in second-place is what broke us up the first time. I told him it's over."

"What did he say?" Maggie asked.

"He's not very happy with me. I'd rather not see him before he goes back to California."

Seeming to make some internal decision he didn't share, Vance leaned forward and said, "That's cool. Maggie's got an appointment, and I have to run over to the gallery, but I'll be back by three thirty. We don't need you here for the meeting with Noah. We can handle Rosie. Why don't you plan to head home when I get back?"

"Thank you," I said, relieved. I'd already been through one crying fit today. I could do without another.

Fortunately for me, Rosie was a sweetheart for the rest of the afternoon. When she woke up from her post-lunch nap, I took her and Scout on a long walk that ended in the backyard, where Rosie practiced her walking skills.

Scout, who loved his little mistress even when she wasn’t slipping him food, stood beside her, his short legs putting his back at the perfect height for her hand as she took one wobbling step after another.

It blew my mind how much she’d grown since I’d first started watching her. From barely rolling over and making incoherent baby sounds to walking and talking. I hoped I could figure out a way to go back to school and still work part-time as Rosie’s nanny. I couldn't wait to see what the next year would bring.

Watching her leaning into Scout, resting her legs as she stroked his soft ear, I had a flash of another baby, this one with dark hair and bittersweet chocolate eyes. I didn’t think of having kids often, but I’d always planned on it. And when I imagined those future babies, they always looked like Noah. Even when we’d been broken up, I hadn’t been able to picture a child that wasn’t Noah’s.

We still had a chance, didn’t we? I’d told him we needed to be apart for a while, but not forever. Remembering the look on his face when he told me I was running, I wasn’t so sure he agreed.

He would once he had a chance to think things through. He’d get back to California, get sucked into the chaos of Endicott Tech, and realize that I’d been right.

Now wasn’t the right time for us. I’d rather let him go than have him forget me again.

When will be the right time?

I didn’t want to look ahead, but I couldn’t stop myself. If he was too busy for me now, what would happen when the company took off, and they were working like crazy to fill orders and expand? Or if Noah failed and he had to start over? Would he have more time then?

With a sinking heart, I realized there might never be a right time.

Or maybe, the right time was up to us, and I’d just completely messed everything up.

No, I hadn’t.

I’d looked Noah in the eyes and asked him if he could put me first. He hadn’t said a word. I wasn’t asking him to leave his company. I wasn’t even asking him to work less.

I just wanted him to assure me thatwewere a priority.

That we were at least as important as Endicott Technologies.

I could do that for him. I’d always thought of Noah first. I was doing it now, letting him off the hook so he could focus on his dreams for his company.

The only major decision I hadn’t made with us in mind was my refusal to leave Tech to follow him to California. But there wouldn't have been anything out there for me. Not like there was in the program with Oliver.

I rescued Scout when Rosie’s ear strokes got a little too enthusiastic and resolved to stop thinking about Noah. I was making myself dizzy going in circles of blame. Noah’s fault. My fault.

What did it matter?

Either way, we couldn’t seem to make it work.

By the time Vance was back and I was ready to leave, Rosie’s eyelids were drooping. I changed her and tucked her in before I waved a quick goodbye to Vance and fled.

Noah wasn't due for another hour, but his impending arrival was bearing down on me. I just wanted to get away.

I had done the right thing in cutting him loose. I knew I had. His company was more important to him than anything, and if he was distracted and it slipped through his fingers, a part of him would never forgive me.

Better to say goodbye now so that we could have a chance later. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if he lost his company and I was partially responsible.