Rounding up all of Dover’s board members was never easy, even when they wanted to meet. But as Simon watched them gather in the large conference room the next morning, he got the distinct feeling that none of them wanted to be there. Heather looked like she wanted to be there the least of all. All the color had drained from her face and she was absently tapping her foot.

He sensed her anxiety, but he knew she’d only rebuff him if he tried to comfort her. His impulsive response after he found out his home system had been hacked had destroyed everything. What he wouldn’t do to go back and undo the things he had said to her in the heat of his anger.

The board members exchange annoyed looks, clearly agitated at having to deal with an issue they thought the police had already handled. It was obvious they had expected the police to have hauled Heather off to jail, but Simon had managed to keep the cops away. For now.

Simon cleared his throat loudly, which the board members all took as a signal to take their seats.

Heather glanced over at him, apprehension flashing in her hazel eyes.

The longer he let the silence go on, the more anxious she was likely to be. It was best to get this over with. She might not want his help but, if he could help her without her knowing, he’d do it. That was the least he could do after his mistakes.

“Shall we get this meeting started? I didn’t have time to print up an agenda, but there are some things we need to go over. Ms. Heather Hall has a right to heard.” He glanced around the room sternly, waiting for someone to speak up and say no. He almost dared them.

But nobody said a word. Lips were pressed into thin flat lines, but no one argued.

He then let Heather sit down to plead her case to the board. She laid out all the evidence she had about the electricians, and though she reached for a glass of water a few times he thought she handled the stressful situation like a pro.

Everett Eastman gave her a hard stare. That look alone could reduce even the strongest person to a bundle of nerves. “So, what exactly are you asking for, Ms. Hall?”  

She stared across the table at Everett, never averting her gaze. “I’m asking for basic fairness. Keep giving me the chance to prove my innocence. This meeting today is a good step in that direction.”

Everett arched an eyebrow, no doubt surprised that she hadn’t fallen apart under his withering gaze. Usually Heather was nothing but deferential to Everett, her shyness sometimes getting the best of her. But seeing her face him like this stunned Simon. There was something so formidable about her in this moment.

Yesterday she had seemed so rattled after he came to her house to apologize. She’d flat out rejected his apology, and he had seen how her eyes shone with unshed years. Yet now she looked so strong in front of all these board members that Simon could only stare at her in amazement.

“How exactly do you plan to plead your case?” Everett asked. “If we’re speaking in merely legal terms, I would understand why you’d mount such a rigorous defense. But this isn’t a court of law. Dover is your employer. We have serious grounds to not only fire you but also give the police any evidence they ask for.”

She swallowed hard. “I understand that you have obligations when it comes to the police, but Dover doesn’t have any solid proof that I did what you’re accusing me of doing. Not only that, you didn’t give me a warning or a fair hearing. I had to request this meeting on short notice. Nobody at Dover allowed me the chance to defend myself.”

A low hum of chatter filled the room and Everett held his hands up for silence.

“Does this mean you’re asking us to let you stay on at Dover?” Everett asked.

That made Heather look at Simon.

He fought the urge to say something and stand up for her. If he made it obvious that he was trying to help her, she would do something impulsive and make a decision she couldn’t undo.

“Yes,” she finally said. “I’m asking to be allowed to stay on at Dover while I work to prove my innocence.”

Someone muttered, “Innocent until proven guilty.”

“You are asking a great deal,” Everett said. “In a situation like this, the most generous outcome we’d likely come to is to suspend you. Without pay. We’re not even obligated to give you your final paycheck, considering the accusations against you.”

She took a sharp breath, but quickly composed herself. “I understand what you’re saying. I know I’m asking a lot, but I truly feel that I should have been given more of a chance. And if I’m given a chance now, I won’t let you down.”

Everett leaned back in his chair. “The board will convene over this. If you would be so kind as to step out of the room, Ms. Hall, the board can discuss this further. Then, after we’ve come to an agreement, we’ll inform you of our decision.”

Heather got to her feet and forced a smile. “I’ll wait outside while you discuss everything. Thank you so much for the opportunity.” Before Everett could respond she hurried out of the conference room, no doubt trying to escape before he changed his mind and outright fired her.

Everett turned to him. “Simon? What do you think?”

If he was going to help Heather, he knew he would have to choose his next words carefully. She might think she didn’t need his help, but she did. Simon was her only ally at Dover, and he intended to do whatever it took to protect her. He’d dropped the ball when he accused her. It was now time to do everything in his power to rectify that.

“She has a fair point,” Simon said. “The board didn’t file a formal complaint—which is my fault. I went in and accused her without any evidence, and no one has reported any bad behavior on her part.”

“So, you think she’s innocent now?” Everett frowned. “That’s not what you thought yesterday. Yesterday you were convinced of her guilt. What’s changed?”

“You heard her yourself,” Simon replied. “There are now other leads. Other suspects.”

“Yes, but she’s still the most convincing suspect we have for this crime,” one of the board members interrupted. “Wouldn’t it be foolish to keep her on if she turns out to be a spy?”

He realized he was losing the room. Appealing to reason or compassion wasn’t going to work. The board members only cared about themselves. Simon had no interest in corporate politics, but it was obvious that only self-preservation was going to sway them now. “It might end up being foolish to fire her.”

“How so?” Everett asked.

“Heather mentioned it herself earlier,” Simon replied. “She wasn’t given a chance to respond to the charges, and the police were immediately called. If it turns out that she is innocent, she’ll have the perfect grounds to sue us for wrongful termination.”

Everett paused. “Firing her might have far worse consequences than keeping her on.”

“But we can’t just let her stay on if there’s a cloud hanging over her,” another board member pointed out. “What would the rest of the staff think?”

“Some of them would resent it,” Simon admitted. “But the rest might approve of us trying to figure out the truth.”

“Simon, I’m going to have to ask you to step outside and wait while the rest of the board deliberates,” Everett said.

Simon narrowed his eyes, suspicious that Everett was trying to freeze him out of this. He couldn’t allow that to happen. “What? Why?”

“Because you’re too close to this,” Everett replied. “If your assistant does turn out to be the spy, she’ll have managed to pull it off through you. Look, I don’t want to bring up your private life, but we have to face facts. You’re too biased. Your input on your assistant’s continued employment at Dover would be far too unethical.”

Urgency made his heart hammer in his chest. Everything Everett said was true, but if Simon didn’t have a say in the board’s decision then he had no way of protecting Heather. “I can set aside my biases if that’s what it takes.”

“You can’t,” Everett said, his tone disapproving. “If you care about protecting Dover from a lawsuit like you say you do, the worst thing you can do is be a part of this decision-making process.”

His insides churned as the truth of Everett’s words hit him. As desperate as he was to protect Heather, there was no way he could help make this decision. After they’d first been intimate, he had made sure that he no longer had the power to evaluate Heather’s work and decide if she stayed beyond her initial three months. Which meant that deciding her fate now would be completely unfair.

It pained him to leave her vulnerable to the board, but his conscience would never allow him to do otherwise.

Simon got to his feet and nodded in Everett’s direction. “You’re right.”

“I know you’ve always tried to be fair,” Everett murmured. “We’ll keep that in mind while we deliberate.”

“Thank you,” he said with a grim nod.

He stepped out of the conference room and found Heather sitting in the waiting area nearby.

“Have they made a decision already?” Heather asked, her voice shrill with panic.

“No,” he said. “The board just wanted to make a decision without me. It appears it would be unethical for me to help them make a decision about your employment.”

She tilted her head and adjusted the glasses perched primly on her nose. “Why?”

“Because of our... situation.” He cleared his throat when her eyes went wide. “We had a personal relationship beyond our work at Dover, and that means I’m biased. I wouldn’t intend to be biased, but that doesn’t change anything.”

Color bloomed in her cheeks and she let out a shaky breath. “Right. That.”

The silence that followed was almost unbearable. There was so much he wanted to say to her, but she had made herself more than clear yesterday. She was obviously still angry, and he didn’t blame her. Part of him hoped that, if he gave her some space and a chance to cool off, she’d let him in again. Forgive him and give them another chance.

But the rational part of him knew that ship had sailed. He’d lost Heather because he had been so screwed up by his own issues that he’d piled them onto her. Projected every betrayal he’d ever endured onto the one person who had always been on his side.

The way she was sizing him up now—a mixture of bitterness and disappointment in her eyes—was all the proof he needed to know that they were truly over.

Needing to push through the silence he leaned against the conference room door, straining to hear something. He might not be able to make the decisions, but it paid to be prepared.

“Oh, trust me, I already tried that,” she said softly. “You can’t hear anything.”

He forced out a sigh and turned to face her. “I guess we have no choice but to sit here and wait.”   

She didn’t respond. The air of unease around her was palpable. Her vulnerability drew him to her in a way he barely understood.

When she caught him looking at her she lowered her eyes and shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She swallowed hard and then licked her lips, her pink tongue running over her lush lips distracting him. Every rational thought in his mind slipped away and all he had now was need. Raw, primal desire.

He had always noticed her wholesome beauty, but her fragile state was putting his mind in a haze of lust. There was something undeniably sexy about all her contradictions. In the board room, her strength had blazed so brightly he couldn’t take his eyes off her. Now that she was away from the board, the fire in her had gone out and she looked like she might break. He’d do anything to take her in his arms and comfort her. Have his way with her.

No. Damn it.

He had to focus on fixing this. Making it up to her after his terrible mistake. His desire for her had to be buried. Heather had ended things between them and somehow, he was going to have to face going on without her. He tried to ignore the fact that he didn’t know how.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t able to help you more in there,” he blurted out. He kicked himself mentally the moment he said the words. The last thing he wanted to do was bring up the fact that he was still trying to help her despite her refusal to accept his help.

She frowned. “It’s for the best, don’t you think?”

No, he didn’t think it was for the best. Heather was facing so many obstacles at once, and he had been the cause of so much of that. Her ex-husband was trying to take her son away from her, and the legal bills were going to be astronomical for someone like her. Weeks ago Simon had offered to pay for a good lawyer, but she had refused. Partially because she felt guilty about the fact that the last time he’d paid a lawyer to help her, details of their private lives had made headlines. But deep down, he suspected she’d refused his money because she had her pride.

That stubborn pride meant that all she had to rely on now was the income she made at Dover. Without her job, there was no way she’d be able to take care of her son and pay legal fees. As much as she might hate him for it, he was determined to protect her even if she never forgave him for it.

“The best outcome is for you to keep your job,” he said.

“You’ve done enough, Simon,” she said sharply. 

Arguing with her wasn’t going to solve anything. Not if she was committed to defying him. He held back a retort and sat down in the chair across from her. There was an empty chair beside her, but he wasn’t going to press his luck.

They waited in silence for more than an hour. Ordinarily, Simon didn’t mind long stretches of silence. In fact, he often welcomed them. But the silence between him and Heather was torture. An agony he’d give anything to end. They were sitting in the same room, but they might as well have been a thousand miles apart. He wished he could tell himself that it wasn’t his fault, but that was a lie.

When the door of the conference room opened Everett walked out, the expression on his face totally blank. “Ms. Hall? We’d like to speak with you further before we come to our decision.”

The air of fragility that had shadowed her melted away and she surged to her feet, making sure she looked Everett in the eye. As she headed back into the conference room with Everett, she didn’t throw Simon so much as a backward glance. The door shut behind them, the sound of it slamming like a judgment that reverberated around the waiting area.

More time crawled by. He killed time by calling Linda and filling her in what was going on. After he hung up, he glanced at his watch. After ten. Simon had a mountain of work to sort through, but he wouldn’t be able to concentrate while Heather’s fate was still up in the air.

Finally the door opened again, and Everett ducked out. “We’ve come to a decision.”

“You have?” Simon stood up, hoping his agitation didn’t show. “What have you decided?”

“We’ve decided to let Heather stay on. But under one condition.” Everett’s eyes narrowed in obvious rebuke. “She has to move to another department. Which means she’ll no longer be working for you.”