AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“No,” I said.
“No?”
I nodded and he stared back at me, surprised.
I enjoyed the moment until he opened his mouth again. “I’ll pay you for the two weeks you worked as my assistant.”
“You should have paid me for those two weeks in the first place.”
“I will now. I’ll tell Frank in HR to pay you,” he said. Then, putting his hands on his hips, he asked, “How did he not pick up on the same social security number that was already on file?”
Oh boy. “I may have told him I’d lost my card and was waiting for my new number to come in.”
He shook his head. “Lying comes quite easily to you, doesn’t it?”
“Not usually,” I admitted. “But I needed the money.”
I still did. We didn’t have enough saved up yet for Marco’s first semester, but I had one more idea of how we’d pay for it without lying for Colton. I would look into it tomorrow. I wasn’t desperate yet.
“I’m sorry, Colton. But my answer is still no.”
I braced myself for the angry outburst, the name-calling, the sulking I usually received from Chris when I denied him what he wanted. But Colton stayed pensive. He stopped pacing and sat next to me on the couch.
“Why did you do it, Frances?” he asked, staring straight ahead, his elbows on his knees, his chin resting on his folded hands.
“We needed money to pay for Marco’s—”
“No. Not that. Why did you sleep with me?”
That question was more difficult to answer. But I would give him the truth. “I’ve wanted to sleep with you from the moment I first saw you.”
He smiled. “Me too. I wanted to rip that notebook from your hands and lay you on my desk.”
“That wasn’t the first time I saw you. I’ve had a crush on you for years, Colton. Despite the entire office hating you, I never did.”
“The entire office hates me?” he asked, swinging his face to look at me. “Even the mailroom?”
I scoffed. “You must know that you’re arrogant, rude, and short with them.”
His furrowed brow and his incredulous face should have made me laugh, but it angered me instead. “You don’t see your employees for who they are, only what they can do for you. I worked at your company for years, Colton. I stood on the twelfth floor next to Erika as you walked to the elevators hundreds of times and yet you didn’t care who I was until I stood in your office, resume in hand, and a spot to fill in your busy day.”
He pressed his lips together and nodded. “You’re right. But that doesn’t change the fact that you lied. My arrogance may have opened the door but you walked right in.”
“I did,” I said, without hesitation. “But you also never gave me a chance to explain when everything blew up in your office.”
His jaw clenched and he turned his body on the couch to look at me. His eyes fell to my lips. I recognized the look. It made my stomach clench, my body wanting what my heart refused to say. He opened his mouth to speak, but quickly shut it.
I waited for him to ask me if I was still attracted to him. I prayed that he wouldn’t because the answer was still yes. But what did it matter? There was so much deception between us, even though my feelings for him were real. How could he ever trust me? And would I spend years trying to make it up to him? It didn’t sound like a healthy relationship to me. It was best that Colton and I moved on from this entire ordeal.
“You will be fine with the Morgans,” I said. “When you put your mind to it, you can be as charming as Luke and as shrewd as Ryan.”
His cheeks twitched in a semblance of a smile. His eyes crinkled at the sides. Then he stood and put his hand out to help me up from the couch. “I wish things had gone down differently, Frances. I think we could have been good together.”
“Me too, Colton.” Me too.
I walked him to the door, and when he turned, extending his hand, I gave up. I threw myself into his arms, and he held me tightly against him. “Goodbye, Colton. And good luck.”
“Goodbye, Frances.”
