Chapter 52

Cami

It had been an uneventful day, at least, it had until I walked out of my office to find Mitch standing in the hallway. His face lit up when he saw me.

“You have no idea how much I’ve missed seeing your beautiful face,” he told me. “I heard they caught the guy responsible for your fall.”

“How did you hear about that?” I asked.

“I’ve been calling the police to follow-up on the case,” he replied. “When you fell on those stairs, it scared the hell out of me. The police also suspected me for a short time, and so did you.”

His explanation made sense, but it still didn’t explain why Mitch was waiting for me outside my office at eight in the evening. “Why are you here?”

Mitch frowned at my curt tone. “Are you angry at me?”

I let out a frustrated sigh. “You can’t just show up at my office.”

“Why?” he asked. “You know I didn’t put that oil on the stairs. I’m not your enemy. Maybe I shouldn’t have shown up, but after your last email, I got to thinking about how much I miss you. I miss us. Can we grab a cup of coffee?”

I hadn’t had any communications with Mitch since he’d lost it over me calling the police on him, and I wasn’t sure how that conversation could have made him miss me. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea. I’m with Xander now, and I get the impression you’re still hoping for more than friendship with me.”

“He’ll be gone for months,” Mitch argued. “We both know he’ll cheat on you when he’s on the road. It’s just what his type does.”

“His type?” I asked. “What exactly is that supposed to mean?”

“Don’t play dumb.” His condescending tone made me want to smack him. “He’s a rock star. Women throw themselves at him, and he’s not known for pushing those women away. If you stay with that guy, you’ll end up with a disease and a broken heart. You don’t want that kind of lifestyle.”

“I’m not even sure where to begin with telling you how wrong you are,” I muttered. “First, Xander isn’t like that. Second, you don’t know me, Mitch. The whole time we were together, I was trying to be someone else to make you happy. It wasn’t fair to either of us.”

“Why are you saying this?” He looked bewildered. “We can be happy together. Asking you for information about your patient was wrong. I get that. Sometimes, I get carried away with my career ambitions, but that’s part of the reason I’m so successful. You’re perfect for me. Let me show you how perfect we are for each other.”

When he stepped closer, I could smell the alcohol on his breath.

“Don’t touch me,” I snapped, swatting away his hand when he reached for me. “I’ve tried being nice, but you refuse to accept that things are over. I blocked your number, I don’t respond to your emails, and I’ve asked you to leave me alone. If you don’t stop harassing me, I’m going to get a restraining order.”

“What are you talking about? Why are you suddenly talking about restraining orders? Are you playing games with me? Since when don’t you respond to my emails?”

“Have you lost your mind?” I asked.

“Me?” he asked. “You’ve practically been begging me to come after you, and now that I’m here, you’re pushing me away. You made it obvious that fear I’d put the oil on the stairs was the only thing holding you back. What the hell kind of game are you playing?”

The elevator doors at the end of the hall opened, and I was relieved when a security guard stepped out. “Is there a problem?”

“I’m just trying to leave. Can you walk me out?”

“I’m not going to kidnap you on the way down,” Mitch scoffed. “What’s really going on, Cami?” He gestured down the hall. “Is this act all so you’ll look good on video for Xander Marsh?”

Looking down the hall, I noticed there were a few people with phones out to record my conversation with Mitch. I took some deep breaths to get my temper under control.

“I don’t care if Xander sees you harassing me,” I replied.

Mitch let out a humorless bark of laughter. “Harassing you? Is that what you want to tell all these people?”

“It’s the truth,” I insisted.

“It’s a lie,” he spat out before turning his full attention to the people watching. “We’ve been emailing for two weeks. Two weeks, I’ve been listening to her talk about how she’s not sure she should stay with Xander Marsh.” His attention shifted back to me. “I wonder what the tabloids will pay for a story like this.” On those words, he stalked toward the elevator.

Mitch had lost his mind.