I sank lower into the warm, bubbly water with tears streaming down my face. Upon arriving home, I had headed straight to the bathroom, thinking that a long soak in the tub with my favorite anti-stress bath bomb would help after the long, horrible day.

Unfortunately, the fragrant bath did its job. With my muscles relaxed and the rich, minty scent invading my senses, all of the defenses I had put in place over the last several hours melted away. What was left was not relaxation and contentment, but a full realization of what happened, and how unbearable my life had become.

“I’m such a fucking idiot.” I sank below the surface of the water, trying to drown my depressive thoughts. It was no use. When I came up for air, I was no closer to finding peace, but inching ever nearer to a full-blown panic attack.

I’d lost everything.

Everything.

Grabbing several tissues from a box on the floor, I blew my nose and dotted my eyes. Never before had I done anything so stupid. I must be losing my mind.

What if the spot on my lung was serious? Thanks to my emotional outburst, I had no job and no health insurance. There was no way I could pay for any type of therapy I might need. Sure, I could apply for some type of government assistance, but how long would that process take? I wasn’t sure where to even begin. I might be dead before I figured out which forms needed to be sent in.

Sure, making coffee or tea or whatever beverage those executives wanted was a soul-sucking experience, as was listening to the constant gossip and attacks on my character. But I’d still be getting paid, and I could have looked for other positions while receiving the health care I so desperately needed.

Now I had nothing, and only had myself to blame for it.

To make matters worse, I still had feelings for Cameron. When he had tossed me to the curb the other night, I thought I could shut off my heart as efficiently as he had shut me out of his life. Seeing him there, in that conference room, I realized that I was fooling myself. The chemistry was still there between us. I knew it. He knew it. Despite his horrible behavior, I still had feelings for him. The man was always there in my thoughts. The memory of his lips on my skin was a constant presence, and made it difficult to think of anything else.

After a good, long cry, I pulled myself out of the bath and got ready for bed. Sleep wouldn’t come, however, and as I lay in bed I kept replaying my impulsive outburst over and over in my head, trying to think of how things could have gone differently.

After several hours of ruminating, I decided that I needed to stop regretting the past and try to figure out my future. Both my physical and mental health depended on it.

Giving up on sleep, I slipped on my long, fuzzy bathrobe and went to the kitchen to make myself some coffee. If I was so awake, the least I could do was check the job posting websites. Perhaps there was a position at a much smaller company I could take to help pay my ever-growing bills.

Several minutes later, I sat at the kitchen counter, warming my hands with my mug of steaming caffeine and waiting for my laptop to boot up. Just as a blue screen popped up to inform me of software updates, the doorbell rang.

Frowning, I glanced at the clock. It was three in the morning.

Sliding away from the counter, I made my way over to the front door and looked through the keyhole.

It was him. My heartbeat started to race instantly.

He still wore the same suit I had seen him in earlier, but his hair was disheveled. He had this sexy just-got-out-of-bed look that suited him. He looked both hot and haunted, and I couldn’t help but feel concern as I opened the apartment door.

“Cameron, what are you doing?”

“Sadie,” he said. “Thank God you’re okay.”

“Of course, I’m okay.” I put my hand against his chest as he moved to enter my apartment. “Why are you here?”

He pushed his fingers through his hair in frustration. “I just had to see you. I had to make sure you were all right.”

I folded my arms and lifted my chin. “I’m doing fine, thank you very much.”

A lie, but I still had some pride left.

“Sadie, I’ve ben thinking about what you said earlier…” He glanced around the empty hall. “Can I come in?”

“I don’t think so.” If I let him into my apartment, it would be all too easy to let him back into my life. He was as persuasive as he was handsome, and I knew that it wouldn’t take much for him to break my heart all over again.

“Just let me into your apartment for a moment,” he said, inching closer. “I want to make sure you are all right.”

I frowned and held my ground. “You don’t need to go into my apartment to do that. As you can see, I’m perfectly fine.”

He leaned his forearm against the doorframe. “Are you?”

“Of course.”

“You have bags underneath your eyes.”

“So do you.”

“Touché.” He smiled. When he spoke next, his voice was lower and more seductive. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about what you said. And I know that I hurt you.”

“You did hurt me, and I know that if I let you into this apartment, you’ll just end up hurting me again.” When he tried to interrupt, I held up my hand, stopping his words. “I know your type, Cameron Wolff. You love to chase women and try to get them to fall in love with you. Then, once you get what you want, you become bored with the relationship and toss them aside like trash.”

He straightened away from the door. “What are you talking about? I don’t do that at all.”

“Oh yeah? Well, why did you dump me the other night, after we had that incredible evening? I thought we had a good thing together, but when you drove me home form the hospital, everything changed. You changed.”

“I know.” He shifted his stance. “My behavior was awful, but there’s an explanation. Just give me two minutes.”

I shook my head. “Forget it.”

“Two minutes, and if you don’t accept my apology, I’ll…I’ll go.”

I frowned. “You’ll really leave?”

He made an ‘X’ over his heart. “Promise.”

I stared at him for a long moment, considering. I supposed two minutes couldn’t hurt. It wasn’t as if I had anything else important going on. Perhaps, after his explanation, it would be easier to put both him and this entire horrible ordeal behind me.

Uncrossing my arms, I stepped back and motioned him inside. “Two minutes. I’m setting a timer.”

“Of course.” He hurried past me, as if he was worried I might change my mind.

“You’re not going to be staying that long,” I said as he moved over to the living room and removed his suit jacket.

He cleared his throat as I sat on the couch. “Look, I know what I did that night we went to the hospital wasn’t exactly…”

“Normal?”

“Normal,” he agreed. “But there was a reason for it.” He sat on the couch next to me. “Today, after you left, I had an epiphany.”

I raised my brows. “Oh really?”

“Yes. I realized that when you were speaking up and insulting me during the meeting, you were finally doing what I had asked.”

“I’m not sure I understand.”

“You lost your fear of what others thought of you. Instead of trying to please those stuffy executives, you decided to do what was right. You kept to the spirit of my brand and were daring and bold.”

My anger started to dissipate. “I did, didn’t I?”

“And in doing so, you made me realize that I had become the one thing that I despise most—a coward. And not just because I had agreed to all of those terrible ideas. There’s more.” He averted his gaze. “I never should have abandoned you after that hospital visit, but the truth of it is, the visit scared me.”

“It scared me, too.”

“No,” He turned back to me, and I was surprised to find so much pain in his eyes. “It scared me because it brought back too many memories from my youth.”

“You were in the hospital as a child?”

“Yes, but not for the reason you might think.” He took in a deep breath and let out a sigh before continuing. “When I was in high school, my mother came down with breast cancer.”

“Oh no. that’s horrible.”

He glanced down at his fingers in his lap. “It was horrible, and the worst part about it was that she had to go through all of it alone.”

“What do you mean?”

He leaned back on the couch and looked up at the ceiling, as if lost in some distant memory. “I mean that my scumbag father left her for a much younger woman after her diagnosis. My mother had been abandoned by my father, the person she had thought was the love of her life. Not only was she very sick, but had a teenager to care for. She was too ill to work. We had to rely on government assistance and the kindness of strangers to survive.”

“That’s awful.” I leaned in closer and put my hand on his thigh. “I had no idea.”

“Most of my teenage years were spent in a hospital, waiting for my mother to finish some type of cancer treatment. She tried her best to give me a normal life, but it was hard. She was so tired all of the time…I didn’t understand the sacrifices she had to make then, but I understand them now.” He squeezed his eyes shut, and I could see the guilt flash through his features. “She was amazing, a true fighter, right up until the very end.”

“I’m so sorry.”

He found my hand and squeezed it reassuringly. “I took her death hard. I still do. I loved her more than life itself, but cancer ripped her away from me. I felt so vulnerable and alone. I didn’t ever want to feel that way again.”

“That’s completely understandable.”

He opened his eyes and turned his head toward me. “When I finally got back on my feet, I vowed never to let myself become close to anyone like that again. I didn’t want to have to face losing them.” Sighing, he let go of my hand and leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees. “Then you came into my life. For the first time, I could feel myself becoming close to someone again. I could feel the connection forming between us. It scared me.”

I placed my hand on his back. “It scared me, too.”

“When that doctor said…” He pressed his lips together as some intense emotion crossed his features. “When the doctor told us about that spot on your lung, it brought everything back. I realized that I didn’t want to lose you. I couldn’t lose you. So, I did the only thing I could think of in the heat of the moment. I ran.”

“Oh, Cam.”

He straightened and turned to face me. “I told myself it was better this way. By breaking things off now, I didn’t risk getting my heart broken later. But dissolving our relationship didn’t save myself from pain. It intensified it.”

“I spent half the night wondering why you left me the way you did. I had no idea what you had to deal with.”

“It was no excuse for my behavior.”

“I know, but still. I wish you had told me.” I rubbed his back reassuringly.

“Sadie, when I saw you in that conference room, I realized what a fool I had been. I felt the strong connection between us. I know you felt it, too.”

“I did,” I admitted.

“In that moment, I realized that didn’t want to live a life without you.”

I removed my hand and placed it over my lips. “Cam, you can’t mean—”

“I don’t want my old demons to ruin my life.” He pushed a stray hair from my temple. “To ruin our lives.” He trailed his fingers down the side of my cheek and hooked his finger under my chin. “I care too much about you to leave you, Sadie. No matter what happens, from this moment forward, I’ll be by your side. No matter what we learn from those doctors, we’ll face the diagnosis together.”

Blinking back tears, I kissed him hard, knowing how much effort it took for him to be so honest with me. “You have no idea how much those words mean to me.”

“Not half as much as you mean to me.” He threaded his fingers through my hair and palmed the back of my head. “I want to be with you, Sadie. I want to spend the rest of my days with you.”