I'd asked Corey to offer a huge sum of money to Wayne Holt, the man who'd abandoned Heather and his child and was now living on the streets of New York. He managed to get a night or two in motels every now and then and was a general mess. As someone who made more money in a day than most people did in a decade or more, my heart went out to those in need. But I couldn't feel any sympathy for Holt if I tried. That almost made me feel guilty for being as hostile as I was toward him. A part of me had wished he wouldn't accept the cash that Corey had arranged for him without letting mine or his own name come into the picture. Though, I also wished that he would. I had a mixed set of emotions when Corey gave me a call on Saturday night, only a day after I'd discussed the matter with him.

He'd had someone tell Holt that he wouldn't be allowed to contact Heather if he accepted the money. Those were the conditions, and to make sure that he'd hold up to the promise, I'd made it so that he wouldn't receive all of the fifty grand up front. He would receive it bit by bit over the course of a year and be cut off if he made contact again.

Was I right to do that? I really wasn't sure. I was, however, sure about the fact that it was a test and Wayne Holt had failed it miserably. I was also certain that Heather might not agree with my method, but she would be relieved to know that she was able to see his true colors before she put herself in a vulnerable position again, and this time, with her son in the picture.

He was a pathetic excuse for a man who didn't deserve to be anywhere near a woman like Heather. I was prepared for the fact that she may not forgive me for what I did, but I did what I had to in order to ensure that she knew what she was getting into.

I didn't sleep all night, and I imagined that Heather probably wasn't getting any sleep either. I rubbed the other side of the bed, missing her terribly and wishing that things hadn't gone south for us both, especially after the engagement party.

The mental image of her being alone in the park and waiting for Wayne to show up kind of shattered my heart, while also enraging me a bit. I couldn't bear to see that woman in pain, because of myself or someone else. That didn't mean I was regretful for what I'd chosen to do. It only meant that I'd at least spared her a bigger heartache in the future by letting Wayne use her to get himself back on his feet.

I knew I couldn't let her go through with it alone, so I waited for the sun to rise and called her sister. Jessica and I had talked a few times before I'd met her at the apartment the other day. Well, it wasn't much of a meeting then because she'd snuck out the second she realized that Heather and I needed privacy to talk. She was welcoming on the phone call, even cheerful. I told her that I knew the meeting was taking place in Manhattan and all I needed her to tell me was the time.

She was quiet for a few seconds and I heard her take a deep breath before saying, "Two p.m."

I thought that was the end of our conversation. She'd given me her blessing and approval in a way, but she had more to say.

"Please make sure she's okay," Jessica continued. "Heather acts all tough. And I know that you have to kind of be that way when another life is dependent on you, but she's fragile on the inside."

"I know," I said, telling her that she didn't have anything to worry about as long as I was around. "I'll be there for her."

I didn't go to the office that day. It must have been my first full day off in several months. Things were quite insane on the business front as well, so I was forced to push away my thoughts about what was going to happen that afternoon and get some serious work done. At least I had something to be joyful about in that aspect of my life.

My team had managed to bag Sheikh Azeera as a client, and it was only a matter of time before I was able to speak to him and make matters official. I found my fingers tapping my phone screen because of the way I was dying to give Dad a call to gloat like he always did.

But I'd be damned if I stooped to his level and started acting like a complete jackass. I pushed my phone aside and let it go, then drafted an email to Jessica. I wanted her to bring all the board members together for an emergency meeting that evening. There wasn't anything urgent about what I had to say, but I could barely wait to see the reactions on people's faces when I told them that I was quitting.

* * *

After being stuck in traffic for much longer than I'd expected to, I finally reached Central Park. I was only a few minutes late when I arrived, but looking for Heather took me another twenty minutes or so. I didn't want to call her, to have her wonder why I was reaching out all of a sudden at this time. So, I kept searching until I saw her standing by a bench and sliding her bag over her shoulder.

Heather was ready to leave, and she most definitely did not look happy. The distressed expression on her face made her look even more loveable than she already was. I wanted to pull her into me, but instead, I settled on letting her notice me before I approached her. She stiffened and looked toward the ground, then rubbed the back of her neck. She was nervous.

"Hey," I said when I was standing in front of her.

"What are you doing here?" she asked. "Who told you?"

"Jessica," I replied. "I called her this morning."

That silence was louder than any kind of noise could have been. Maybe she was glad that I'd shown up, or maybe she was mad at me for prying.

"I'm sorry," I blurted out.

She narrowed her eyes at me. "It's fine. I actually wanted to talk to you about the way I reacted at the party. I should have been more—"

I held her by the shoulders, and she paused, looking straight at me.

"I'm sorry, Heather. Wayne is not going to show up."

She pushed my arms down and stepped back. "What did you say?"

"Wayne. He was never going to show up today."

"How do you know?"

I could have sworn I heard the sound of her speeding heartbeat over the miscellaneous sounds of children playing in the park.

I pushed her down by her shoulders and she didn't stop glaring at me for a second.

"I can explain," I told her, and she listened intently. I'd already thought about how I would break it to her and there was no way out instead of just simply stating, "I offered Wayne money to stay away from you, to never contact you again."

Heather swallowed and a frown appeared on her face. She was hurt, but she wasn't mad.

Her hand reached for mine, and I squeezed it instantly, then kissed it.

"I'm sorry," I whispered. A tear fell to her cheek, and she wiped it immediately and sniffed, pulling her hand away from mine.

She cleared her throat, and I didn't continue with telling her what I knew about Wayne until she asked.

I couldn't say that she was shocked that the guy had lied.

"He told me he was here on a break," she said, grimacing and shaking her head. "Of course, he's broke and homeless. Why else would he want a relationship with his son?"

She then looked at me with red eyes. "How stupid was I to think that he could ever become a decent human being?”

I pulled her into me, and she rested her cheek on my chest.

"You were not stupid. You were just vulnerable."

I couldn't help but apologize once more for what I did behind her back. She already knew that I'd hired someone to dig up information on Wayne, but I never told her what I was planning to do with it.

"I'm sorry for not keeping you in the loop. I should have told you what I was going to do with the information.”

She straightened her back, then shrugged. "Your intentions were good, Brad. And besides, when would you have told me? We weren't exactly talking.”

I tightened my lips and nodded, thinking about what she said when I'd just arrived.

"You wanted to talk to me about something?"

She smiled, her eyes beaming at me.

"You've apologized enough times. Now it’s my turn."

I pressed my finger against her lips. "Shh. Let's get the apologies out of the way already."

She half-smiled and wrapped her arms around my neck, leaning into me. Her cheeks were still red, but it could have also been the cool breeze at work.

"My friends keep calling you my boyfriend," she said.

"Do you think I'm your boyfriend?" I asked.

She blushed and her cheeks turned redder.

"You're adorable, Heather."

Her smile disappeared and she looked at me with deep emotion in her eyes.

"How about we start over? Not as friends but as two people who want to explore each other?"

"Oh, exploring sounds fantastic." I winked.

She playfully punched my chest.

"I'm serious."

I wrapped my arms around her waist and scooted her closer. "I want to take you out on a date. A real date."

"Our first date." She smiled, then nodded. "I'd like that very much, Mr. Coleman."

"But there's another thing that I need to catch you up on before I plan the most exquisite date for you."

She shook her head like she didn't approve of what I was saying. "Catch me up all you want, but Brad, I don't want anything fancy. Promise me that we'll just do something nice and cozy. Just the three of us."

My heart skipped a beat when she said ‘the three of us’.

I rubbed my thumb against her cheek and placed a kiss on her lips, a kiss that surprisingly got much deeper than either of us had intended for it to.

"Okay, we need to get out of here before we cause a scene." She cleared her throat and stood.

But I didn't care. I grabbed her by the waist and kissed her again.

"I can't get enough of you, Heather," I muttered.

"You don't have to," she said.

I pulled my phone out and asked my driver to bring the car to the spot that we'd agreed on.

“Come on. Let's go home."