Page 58 of Miss Manage

“I can’t.”

She must’ve sensed the anguish in my words because she sighed. “Fine.”

I reached out with a shaky hand to unzip the back of her dress. “Here, let me.”

I was so damn thankful when she didn’t fight me. Gently, I guided the material off of her shoulders, down her waist, and over her hips, finally letting it drop to the bathroom floor. Her bra came next. She was so fucking beautiful it nearly took my breath. It was all I could do not to touch her.

But tonight wasn’t about me. It was about putting her needs first.

Taking her hand, I guided her into the room and moved to turn down the bed, I patted the mattress for her to get in and covered her with the comforter the moment she crawled under the sheets. I made quick work out of stripping down to my boxers and climbed in with her.

We both lay on our sides, facing one another, not touching, talking, or closing our eyes. My hands itched to gather her close, but I knew her tolerance of my presence was hanging by a thread.

Her throat worked as she swallowed. “This is too much.”

I let out a slow, unsteady breath. “I know.” It was too much. Too many feelings. Too much pressure between us.

“I can run you a bath,” I offered, the words low but steady, as if speaking them aloud could keep me anchored. “After…we can talk, or sit in silence. Just—” I broke off, pressing my thumb gently along her jaw. “Just let me stay with you tonight.”

She might have thought she was the only one fraying at the edges, but watching her take hit after hit from Julian while keeping her chin high had left me raw, too.

“Okay. I’d like if you stayed.”

Gathering her to me, I settled her against my chest, her head fitting under my chin as if it had always belonged there. Our breathing fell into rhythm, slow and even, like the world had finally gone quiet around us.

I wasn’t the type to hand over trust easily. But with Charlotte lying beside me, her skin warm against mine, I wanted to forget every reason I’d built those walls in the first place.

It wasn’t just the physical pull anymore though that alone was enough to undo me. It was the way she carried herself with strength that didn’t need proving, the way her guard slipped when she thought no one was watching. Every contradiction of her, the sharp wit and hidden vulnerabilities I’d been privileged enough to see. It was drawing me in.

And the realization hit hard. For the first time in my life, I knew what it was like to fall for someone. Fully, perhaps stupidly, completely. But naming it, even to myself, felt dangerous. As if saying it out loud might shatter whatever fragile, unspoken thing was holding us together.

So I swallowed down the thought, forced a steadiness I didn’t feel, and reached for the one thing that had been weighing on me all night.

“I owe you an apology for blindsiding you tonight and showing up at dinner. I had no idea⁠—”

“How could you when I didn’t tell you? I should’ve been honest about my reasons for not inviting you.”

“Is it always that bad?”

“No, it was much worse tonight.”

“Because I was there.” It wasn’t a question. I cursed under my breath wishing there was a way I could hit the undo button. “Have you never brought anyone else to these dinners?”

“Wendall went with me the first time, and Julian was on good behavior.”

“We need to tell⁠—”

“No one. If there is one thing I’ll ask you to promise, it’s that you won’t say a word to anyone about tonight. Not about dinner and not about here in the room. Nothing.”

“What did Julian say to you? Before we left?”

She sighed. “He told me if I wanted to secure the position of CEO, I could do it on my knees.”

This time I didn’t bother to keep my curse under my breath. “You shouldn’t have to fucking put up with that. You should go to the owners and⁠—”

“And what? Tell them to fire their one-hundred-and-fifty-million-dollar-a-year top client? A week before my final interview?”

Fuck.