Something was wrong with him. He was more than likely ill. That was the only conclusion that made sense for the ache that had seized him since the weekend. Being away from Heather for a handful of days was like suffering from the world’s worst withdrawal, with Heather being his drug of choice.

It was now Thursday, and though he had gotten emails and messages from her they had been totally professional without even a hint of impropriety. Which was fine, considering how hard he worked to uphold a professional culture at Dover. But that hadn’t stopped him from missing her terribly. Each day without her felt longer and more tedious than the last until today, when he decided that he couldn’t take it anymore. He had promised to take things slow, not grind them to a complete halt.

Love, he was finding, was a hell of a lot closer to madness than he had ever realized. Which was why he was quitting work early—or, in his case, on time—to rush downstairs to catch Heather before she left for the day. After days of being away from her, courage was taking over from his hesitation. Maybe now was the time to tell her how he felt about her. Tell her he loved her so that she could make her final decision.

He wasn’t going to pressure her into something serious if she wasn’t ready, but their future looked much brighter than it had several weeks ago. With the electricians coming forward to admit they had been duped, Heather looked a lot more innocent. Which meant maybe there was a chance to start a real relationship. Or, at least, a chance for him to let her know how far he was ready to go for her.

Right now, he was putting his jacket on and heading out of his office. He craned his neck, got a glimpse of the crowded elevator as its doors slid open. There was always the option of taking his rarely-used private elevator, but he needed to work the anxious energy out of him if he hoped to tell Heather the truth without making a complete fool of himself. With his mind made up, he decided to take the stairs.

Taking the stairs two at a time Simon dashed downstairs, barely breaking a sweat thanks to the effects of his morning workout routine.

As he walked over to her office to surprise her, his gaze landed on her office door. The door swung open and a tall, muscular blond guy walked out with Heather.

Simon stopped in his tracks and frowned. He recognized the man. A Dover employee. Highly respected in the accounts department. Drew something or other.

With a scowl, Simon watched as Drew leaned over to hug Heather. When they pulled away from each other, Heather smiled and waved goodbye to Drew as he walked away, heading towards Simon.

Simon forced himself to nod at Drew as he swaggered by. A painful pressure shoved down on his chest as he watched Drew disappear.

The way Heather had looked at Drew...

What emotion had been lighting up her hazel eyes? It was hard to describe the light that flashed in them. Those eyes. So full of admiration. Almost worshipful.

Clearing his throat Simon walked over to Heather, his apprehension hard to shake. “Heather. How are you?”

“Oh.” Her face fell when he approached. “Fine. What are you doing here, Simon?”

He flinched inwardly. Did she not want him here? His heart was hammering wildly at the sight of her, but his excitement at seeing her was being tempered by a dread rising in him that he couldn’t quite explain. “I thought I’d walk you to your car. Maybe makes plans for the weekend if you want.”

“Let me just grab my handbag,” she said before ducking back into her office.

Moments later she reappeared, her bang slung over her shoulder. She gave him a furtive glance, agitation radiating off her.

“Is everything okay?” he asked. “You seem distracted. If I’ve come at a bad time—”

“No, it’s not that,” she insisted sharply. “It’s nothing. It’s been a long few days.”

“I can imagine,” he said. “The electricians kind of dropped a bombshell on us over the weekend. Have you told your lawyer about what they revealed? That someone at Dover put them up to taking photos and taking my security system offline?”

She nodded. “Yes. I’ve told him.”

“Does he have some kind of plan?” he pressed. Since she refused to accept help from one of his more expensive lawyers, the least he could do was find out what her lawyer’s plan was. Maybe he’d be able to give her some useful advice.

“He thinks it’s enough to cast doubt against Gary saying I’m an unfit mother.” She forced out a heavy sigh, suddenly looking so fragile that she might break right then and there.

“None of the things your ex-husband says are true,” he said forcefully. “You’re not unfit. Don’t believe a word he says.”

“I try not to.”

“I’ve seen how hard you work to protect Finn,” he said. “Gary should be thanking you for how well you’re raising his child.”

“I just hope the judge will see that at the custody trial,” she said. “Anyway, I got a bit distracted today since Drew dropped by.”

Simon shoved his hands into his pockets and propped himself up against a wall. “What kind of work is the media relations department doing with accounts?” He kept his tone even, wanting the question to sound as innocuous as possible.

She bit her lip and averted her gaze. “It’s nothing really.” Her hands tightened around the strap of her handbag, the grip so tight her knuckles turned white.

Some distant alarm sounded in the back of his mind. Heather was holding something back from him. Something important.

The urge to demand answers was almost too strong, but he remembered how badly things went when he accused her of the hacking. After she had almost completely shut him out of her life, he had sworn to trust her going forward. It was a promise he intended to keep, even as his guts churned at the way she couldn’t even look him in the eye.

“I didn’t know you were friends with Drew,” he said.

“I’m not,” she stammered. “Things are kind of complicated between me and Drew.” Her face flushed bright red.

Was that embarrassment staining her cheeks?

Right now, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he had caught Heather doing something wrong. Something she had to keep secret.

His insides twisted painfully as the truth started to come into focus. She was seeing Drew.

They hadn’t actually agreed to be exclusive, but Simon had been loyal to her from the moment she had first kissed him that day backstage. It was well within her right to date other people, but that still stung like a betrayal.

The thought of being with another woman hadn’t even occurred to him. For most of his life, women came and went. None of them were permanent. Forever wasn’t something he had ever considered. But as he had fallen in love with Heather, forever was the only thing worth pursuing with her. Yet here she was, dating someone else.

“Any reason things are complicated?” he asked in spite of the pain lancing through him.

She frowned. “I really wish I could be upfront with you about this, but right now I’d rather not say.”

There it was. The truth. Like a punch to the gut that knocked all the air out of him. “I see.”

“Do you still want to walk me downstairs?” She shifted uncomfortably on her feet, the space between them crackling with unspoken tension.

It was as if the secret parts of themselves they only showed one another were now locked away. Hidden behind an impenetrable wall that only the truth could unlock. The truth that they were both hiding from each other. He was hiding his love for her, and she was hiding another lover.

Was this what they had become to each other? Strangers? Cowards?

Somewhere things had gone wrong. Or maybe they had always been wrong. Maybe if he had declared his love to her earlier, he might have already been able to claim her as his. To love her the way she deserved to be loved. He had kept everyone in his life at arm’s length. He supposed getting the same treatment was only fitting. A strange sort of karma.

“No,” he said as the shooting pain of misery clawed through his heart. “I just remembered that I left something in my office and I have to go back and retrieve it. No sense in keeping you waiting.”

After a pause she said, “Okay. I guess I’ll see you later. Maybe we can have lunch together tomorrow?”

“Maybe,” he said blandly, her words barely penetrating his swirling, panicked thoughts.

By the time he snapped out of the fog at the sheer panic of losing her, Heather had disappeared. Leaving him behind to suffer alone through the unparalleled misery of a broken heart.

~~*~~

HEATHER HAD ALWAYS loved evenings after work. Work was wonderful but getting to pick up Finn was the highlight of her day. And today was extra special because she was having her parents over for one of their regular dinners together.

While she focused on seasoning the chicken at the kitchen counter, her father was busy chopping vegetables for a salad at another counter. Behind Heather, her mother was fixing a quick snack for Finn to eat to hold him over until dinner was served.

After a long day, she welcomed spending time with her parents and her son. Especially since lying to Simon earlier today had taken such an emotional toll.

Drew had dropped by her office to give her some more documents that might help with the investigation. He had been good enough to keep her updated on his efforts, but that just meant that her secrets were piling up. That was why she had avoided Simon all week. If she didn’t have to see him, she wouldn’t have to lie to him about working with Drew.

But then Simon had showed up and she had been a stammering, stuttering mess. Of course, her attempt at keeping the secret of Drew’s involvement with the investigation had been a disaster. She had never been a good liar, especially if that meant lying to the people she cared about.

A loud banging on the front door made her jump in surprise. She frowned. They weren’t expecting anyone. “I’ll go see who it is.”

After she quickly wiped her hands, she rushed to the front door and opened it.

Simon was standing at the threshold. His dark hair was deliciously tousled like he’d been running, and he had the grimmest expression on his handsome face.

She gasped in surprise at finding him at her door. “Simon? What are you doing here? Is everything all right?”

“Are you dating Drew?” he demanded.

Her mouth fell open. That was the last thing she’d expected him to say. “What on earth?”

“I’m not angry if you’ve been seeing him,” he said gently. “I just need to know the truth.”

“The truth...” Her breathing hitched as she contemplated actually lying to his face. It was clear that the evasive tactics she had used earlier at work weren’t going to fly. Not by that anguished look on his face.

Simon was hurting so much she could almost feel it. He wasn’t angry. Just dealing with a pain that had been familiar to her for years. For years she had carried that heart-rending anguish over their breakup inside her heart. Now he looked like he was in pain.

But how could that be? She knew he had strong feelings for her, but surely not as intense as her feelings had been for him back when they were in high school. Simon was a cool, calm, measured man. It wasn’t like him to have such depths of feeling. Such passion.

When she didn’t respond he turned away from her, breathing heavily. “I know it’s none of my business. We haven’t decided to be exclusive, but I’ve been faithful to you this whole time.” He turned back to her, his jaw clenched like he was struggling to hold what was left of his emotions in check.

“If it’s none of your business, why do you want to know?” she asked, stalling for time.

“Wouldn’t you want to know?” he demanded, his voice tormented. “This isn’t childish jealousy, Heather. I can’t stand to see you with another man. I literally cannot stand it.” He paused, his torment turning into a something far more commanding. “Don’t date Drew. Stop seeing him.”

“We’re not officially together, Simon—”

“I love you, dammit.” He raked his hands through his dark hair and pulled away from her.

“No, I meant you and I aren’t officially together,” she said breathlessly, unable to keep the secret anymore. “Drew means nothing to me. He’s helping me with the investigation, nothing more.”

Her heart started to pound so wildly in her chest it was a miracle she couldn’t hear it. Had Simon just said that he loved her?

Hope flashed in his eyes. “You’re not seeing Drew?”

“Did you just...did you just say that you love me?” She took a step towards him, her entire body tingling with an electric heat she had never felt before.

“Of course, I love you.” His chest was heaving as his breathing grew heavier. “I love you so much I can’t stand to be away from you. I don’t know how I survived ten years away from you, because right now I don’t think I could last ten minutes without you, Heather.”

A strange sensation pricked the back of her eyes. And, try as she might, she couldn’t get rid of the lump forming in her throat. “Drew is just a colleague. There’s nothing romantic going on between us at all. I barely know him.”

He stared at her. “So why did you lie to me when I asked you about him earlier?”

“I didn’t lie exactly. I just kept the truth to myself because I was told not to tell you what was going on.” She sighed. “I guess I’ve screwed that up now.”

“He’s helping you with the investigation?” Simon frowned. “I mean, I knew we’d need an accountant’s help eventually, but we don’t have enough to go on yet.”

She held up her hands. “We do.” As quickly as she could, Heather filled in him on the details about Drew. The second payment to the electricians, the fact that the list of suspects had narrowed, Drew’s investigation into the executive account. All of it.

“So, you’re saying Linda is a suspect, too?” he asked.

“She is, but I don’t think she did it,” Heather said. “I know she didn’t,” she added firmly.

His eyebrow lifted skeptically.

“Simon, please try to trust her,” she pleaded. “Linda has been there for you all this time. And she’s helped me so much ever since I started working at Dover.”

“I want to trust her,” he said with a heavy sigh. “I just... everything’s so fucked up.”

“Then trust her.”

“It’s hard to trust,” he said.

She nodded. “I know it is. But trust doesn’t make you weak or foolish. I’m not saying you should trust Linda just because you like her. Trust her because she’d done everything to try to be transparent. She’s the one who told me she was on the suspect list, and she really didn’t have to do that. She didn’t have to fill me in on what Drew found. Trust her because she’s been putting her job on the line to prove how trustworthy she is.”

“You’re right.” He seemed lost as he stood on her porch.

“Do you want to come in?” she asked. “We’re having a family dinner, but you’re more than welcome to join us.”

“You’re okay with Finn meeting me?”

“Well—”

Before she could complete her thoughts, a car came careening into her driveway.

Simon turned to look at the car and he suddenly gripped her arm tightly. “Heather, don’t argue with me. Go inside right now. I recognize that car. It’s the police.”