Page 76 of Miss Typed

There he was, framing my face with his hand. I leaned into his touch, feeling no doubt he was in my corner. Feeling we’d crossed the line from dating into something more.

“What do you wish?” he asked.

“I wish I could get my moment back with Tom. I know it’s gone, but have you ever wanted a do-over? Just a rewind button that could get you back to the minute you wish you could’ve done something differently?”

He nodded, his eyes full of deep turmoil. Shit. Was he thinking back to the roadside bomb? To something he couldn’t have prevented? “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”

“Don’t apologize, Chloe. I know exactly what you meant. Come on. After your bath, I have some other ideas about how to distract you.”

* * *

Aiden distracted me that night to the tune of three orgasms, with another thrown in the next morning for good measure. I hadn’t known so much pleasure was possible, but he was clearly a man on a mission, a mission to prove his tongue was incredibly gifted.

Which is why I was blushing when I came into his office and had my first glimpse of him looking so handsome in his suit. I bet the way he’d looked in his uniform had been even more impressive.

He smiled, leveling me with his gaze. “How are you feeling?”

“Better, thanks to you. What’s on the agenda today?” I hoped to distract myself from the fact Tom would be meeting with global HR later this morning.

He took a look at an incoming message on his phone. “Actually, we have somewhere to be.”

“Another client meeting?”

“Nope. Downstairs. Quick meeting.”

I didn’t think anything of it until we went into the conference room space, and I saw Tom sitting alone in one of the smaller rooms on his laptop.

I spun around to keep out of sight and faced Aiden before Tom could see us. “What is this?”

“It’s your moment if you want it. But if you don’t, you have to know that’s okay, too.”

I swallowed hard at the chance he was giving me. A re-do. “Just me?” I had to clarify in case Aiden was thinking to come with me as muscle.

He grinned. “Just you, baby. I’ll be around the corner to ensure you’re not interrupted.”

Gah. The way he called me baby warmed me from my toes to my ears.

“And just so we’re clear, you’re a tiger. Not a pussy.”

It was my turn to grin. I could do this. I would do this. “Thank you,” I whispered. I didn’t know how he’d arranged for Tom to be alone in a conference room, but I was grateful Aiden had gone to the trouble for me.

This was it. This was my moment. And thankfully, this time I wasn’t at a loss for words. I’d envisioned what I’d say if I ever had a chance to do it over. What I should’ve said the day he’d fired me. What I wished I’d said in the elevator. I wasn’t about to hold back now.

After a brief internal pep talk of you’re not a pussy, you’re not a pussy, you’re not a pussy, I entered the small conference room.

Tom’s head snapped up, and his eyes widened. “What are you doing here? The HR meeting is in a couple of hours. You’ll be fired.”

I stood on the other side of the six-person, round, conference-room table. “In that case, you should know I’ve memorized every hotel you used and every restaurant you took your girlfriend to, along with the address of her condo here in the city. I also memorized your wife’s phone number.”

His face turned into a tomato. An extremely angry, ugly tomato. “Are you trying to blackmail me?”

“Call it what you want, but I’m doing what I should’ve done months ago, which is to tell you to your face that you’re a pussy, Tom. A selfish, cheating, lying pussy who threw your assistant under the bus to save your ass with your wife. If you want to try to get me fired, do it. But know the person you’re firing would have nothing left to lose. She’d have absolutely no reason to hold back the details of your affair from your wife.”

His eyes darted around as if he was nervous someone was overhearing my speech. Hell, for all I knew, the conference rooms were bugged. After all, the company read our messages and emails.

“It’s too late. I already called the meeting.”

“You’re a smart guy. I suggest you figure something out. Tell them you believe in second chances, or you misread my message, or hell, tell them you like being called a pussy. It was our fun inside joke. But fix it. And fast. Oh, and don’t forget about your wedding anniversary next week. Buy the wife lots of roses.”