“My desk,” he said. “Everything in this goddamn building is mine.”
She flinched at the cold expression on his face. “I didn’t intend for you to find out like this.”
“Is this true?” he demanded, waving the letter. “Or have you reconsidered?”
She knew an out when she heard one. It would be so easy to cave in the face of his anger. What was a few months, after all? She could finish her contract. If she did, they could tear up that letter and go back to where they’d been ten minutes ago. She could help him finish the work on his coffee desk.
She could go home with him tonight.
“It’s true.” The words burned her throat, but she forced them out. She couldn’t move backward, not when she’d finally started taking steps toward the life she wanted.
“You’ve got six months left on your contract.”
“I want out of them.”
“I’m reasonably sure you have no grounds to ask that.”
“Come on,” she said, taking a step forward. “Would you really force me to be here when I clearly don’t want to be?”
Those were definitely the wrong words. His eyes went from icy to arctic.
“I didn’t mean that the way it sounded,” she said.
“Oh no?” He balled her letter up in his hands and tossed it across the room. “Because it sounded like you couldn’t wait to get away from me.”
“From the job,” she said. “Not you.”
“It’s one and the same.”
“No, it isn’t.” She stepped forward, holding out one beseeching hand. “I told you about the life I dreamed of. I can’t have that here. I’m on call every minute of every day, doing tasks that are way beyond the limits of what should be asked of me. I planned a wedding for God’s sake.” He said nothing, so she continued. “Where I’m going I can be home at six every day. I won’t have to work through my weekends or rush into the office at the crack of dawn. Work won’t be my whole life anymore.”
When his silence lengthened, she hoped he was starting to hear the reason of her words. That hope was dashed when he opened his mouth. “You said ‘where I’m going.’”
Had she?
She took a step back, knowing this wouldn’t end well.
“You already have another job lined up.”
“They want me to start by the end of the month,” she said, her voice small. “I can still work through my two weeks’ notice.”
A derisive laugh escaped him. “How lucky for me.”
“I know losing an assistant right now isn’t ideal, but I’ve already started interviewing my replacement. I’ve got a few résumés for you to look at.”
Ignoring the dangerous glint in his eye, she pushed on. “I’ll make sure we get through the wedding, and I’ll brief my replacement on the Sterling deal. I’m sure whoever steps into the role will be everything you need them to be. Hell, they’ll be better than me in no time, you’ll see.”
He advanced on her. “Is this why you kissed me?”
The words took her breath away. “Let’s keep this focused on the office,” she said. “I promise it will be a smooth transition if you release me from my contract.”
“Did you sleep with me because you knew you were leaving?”
“Darian—”
“Did you agree to be friends with benefits because it could only last a month?”
“Please, don’t do this.”
“Answer me!” The shout rang through the office, reverberating off the walls.
“Yes.”
He closed his eyes at the word. It was all she could do not to cross to his side and wrap her arms around him. This was not how she wanted this conversation to go. It was supposed to have been handled calmly, when she had a replacement set up and was ready to introduce him to them.
He wasn’t supposed to get hurt.
“Get out.”
A phantom dagger stabbed into her chest. “We have to talk about this.”
He paced away from her. “Consider your contract void. There’s no need to work through your notice.”
“Darian.”
He turned back to her, looking every inch the business shark she’d seen tear his way through corporate circles. The pain had been wiped from his eyes, leaving only an expressionless facade behind. Worse, he stared at her as if she were an insignificant bug he wanted to eradicate from his life.
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but you got what you needed,” he said, his voice lashing her. “Not only did you terminate your contract early but you also got laid in the process. Congrats.”