“Can’t. Won’t. Don’t want to.” Another hot tear rolled down my face. “So many walls.” I wiped my cheek. “Fine. No more sex.”
“No.” Hunter studied his hands. “No more, period. I crossed the line when I kissed you. I made you something else. And I can’t be in that position. I can’t stand the thought of someone else touching you. If you chose another…I wouldn’t be rational. The situation is completely black and white for me. I cannot be with you and maintain my composure. In any capacity.”
The pain in my heart bowed my whole body forward. Breathing became intense as I struggled not to sob with the tone in his voice. Because I knew that tone. I’d heard it before, most recently with Jonathan. It was the “I’m sorry” tone. The “let’s be friends” tone. Except Hunter didn’t want to be friends. He wanted to push me so far away he’d never think of me again.
Another hot tear made a trail down my cheek. “So…what happens now?”
“I’ll place you in another position next week. I’ll make up any difference in pay until you are elevated within your professional career to your current salary. I’ll arrange for a safe to be put in your apartment for your jewelry. I think that’s the only way.”
Stunned, I stared at him. I didn’t know what to say. I probably should’ve expected this, but since day one he always said he should give me up but wouldn’t. I guess I’d believed him. And now I was floored.
“I’m sorry, Livy,” he went on. “I can’t have the distraction. This is how it has to be.”
“Will you get another admin?” It was the first thing that came to my mind.
“Yes,” he said in a flat voice.
“One like you usually get? With a contract…”
“Yes.”
The pain twisted my gut. Sobs came up, choking me. “Is it because I’m lower on the social ladder than you?” My voice was small and wispy, but I had to know.
“Nothing my father said applies here, Olivia. He resented my mother because it was her money that dug him out of a failed business venture, but she was from the same social standing as he. Her father had humble beginnings, but by the time she was born, he was well into his millions. As for you, none of that matters. If that was the issue, I wouldn’t need to make these changes. I have enough money for three lifetimes of indulgent living. The problem is that I can’t have the attachment with you while still focusing on what’s most important. We’ve crossed a threshold, which was my fault, and now there is no way back.”
The tone and look of finality finally did me in. I’d hardly known Hunter Carlisle. It had been just a month. But I’d opened up in a way with him that I hadn’t with anyone else. I’d let him in, feeling safe, and last night, feeling loved.
I’d meant to get out of the car before breaking down, but I didn’t make it that far. I put my face in my hands and sobbed. I don’t really remember getting into my apartment, just that Hunter picked me up and carried me into my room. He gave me one last kiss, deep and sensual, before turning around and walking out.
Chapter Ten
I showed up to work on Monday with puffy eyes and a slump in my shoulders. I’d basically cried all weekend. I hadn’t called anyone, I hadn’t gone out, I’d barely eaten, and I’d been utterly miserable. I could call it the worst breakup I’d ever been through, but it wasn’t even a breakup. I’d have to be with the guy for him to break up with me.
I dropped my laptop on my desk and looked up for Hunter’s coffee as Brenda came down the hall with two cups in hand. She took one look at me and stopped dead. “What happened?”
“Guy trouble.” I shrugged in that miserable way brokenhearted women did. I probably didn’t even need to say anything, just give that shrug. Oh yeah, and look like absolute crap. Nailed on both counts.
“Ah. That’s the worst kind of hurt.” She put the coffee on the edge of my desk and surveyed me over her half-spectacles. “Breakup?”
“Something like that.” I picked up Hunter’s coffee.
“Did you kick the bastard in the balls? It doesn’t solve anything, but it sure helps the mood.”
I chuckled as my heart wrenched. “It would make me feel worse. Isn’t that a bitch? He’s being a scared little punk, but I can’t hold him accountable, because he’s doing what he promised he would do.” I shook my head miserably. “I should kick myself.”
“Why add injury to insult? Well, you just go in there and deliver that coffee. Interrupt his morning, if you want. He’ll bark obscenities at you and send you running. It’ll take your mind off things.”