It felt invasive to watch her sleep.

Pulling back from her as slowly as he could, Simon got out of bed. She stirred but didn’t wake up.

He grabbed his clothes and walked into the bathroom to clean up and get dressed. With that out of the way, he stepped back out and assessed the room. Simon had no idea if this was Heather’s room or his. The best thing to do was get to the bottom of this to avoid another mix-up. Not that he regretted ending up in a room with Heather.

Making love to her had been incredible, but the best thing about them getting stuck in a room was that he had finally gotten the chance to apologize properly. She deserved to know how much he regretted those ugly things he had said to her.

When his eyes landed on her sleeping form, he smiled. Her auburn hair was still damp, fanning around her. He’d never seen her look so peaceful.

Silently he reached for the blanket on the bed, pulled it back, and covered Heather with it. Still asleep, she let out a soft, satisfied sigh.

Feeling restless, he grabbed his cell phone to check his messages and headed out to the front desk. After fifteen minutes of talking to the receptionist and one of the hotel managers, Simon managed to get some answers about the room mix-up and got a new room key to the vacant room across from Heather.

Once he took his duffel bag to his new room, he headed back into Heather’s room to check up on her. If he was being honest, he was doing more than checking up on her. His heart couldn’t stand to be away from her for too long. With each passing minute, he missed her more and more. A week ago, this kind of yearning would be absurd to him, but he knew that he loved her now and his feelings for her made sense.

He walked into the bedroom to find her stretching and yawning.

“You’re awake,” he said softly.

She blinked and pulled the blanket tightly around her. “How long have I been asleep?”

“About an hour,” he replied.

“I guess now that I’m up you want to talk.”

The truth was, he didn’t. Not now anyway. When he had apologized to her, he had stopped just short of confessing that he was in love with her. Because he had no idea how she would take it. Would she feel the same way? Or would she throw it back in his face?

On top of his anxiety about how that kind of declaration would make her feel, there were the ethics involved. She might have moved to a different department, but she was still his employee. As her boss, he had to be careful about revealing something that earth-shattering to her.

“You should get some rest,” he said. “It’s been a long day and you’re probably tired.”

“Where are you going to sleep tonight?” she asked sleepily.

He couldn’t tell if she was just curious or if she was trying to invite him to spend the night. “In the room across the hall. One of the hotel managers explained that we probably got a staff key by accident.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Staff keys can open all the rooms, right?”

He nodded. “That’s how we both got into the same room. Our keys could pretty much open any room in the hotel.”

“But what about the room number?”

“This is room 37,” he said.

“It said 38 when I walked in.” She must have noticed the skepticism on his face because her eyes narrowed. “I swear it did. I’m not lying.”

“I know you’re not lying,” he said slowly. “Maybe you made a mistake. I mean, you’ve had a long day. The exhaustion might have made you read the wrong number. Combine that with the mix-up with our room keys and it was probably an accident waiting to happen.”

“It seems like a very convenient accident,” she said with a frown.

“Meaning?”

“Meaning we’re not very well-behaved when we’re alone. Which you know very well,” she said.

“You still think I did this?”

A smile tugged at her lips. “I wouldn’t blame you if you did.”

“Heather, I didn’t do this.”

“I’m not mad,” she said.

“I’m not going to be able to convince you, so how about you talk to the manager yourself?” he suggested. “You’ll see that I’m not lying.”

“Whatever you say, Simon.”

Her tone was infuriating him, but he didn’t push the subject. The room mix-up hadn’t made her angry and, best of all, it had helped to reunite them. He couldn’t have planned it better if he’d tried. Right now, the best thing to do was let her reach out to him. Let her set the pace for whatever was going to happen.

Simon didn’t want to push her so much that it scared her off again. If that meant he wouldn’t reveal the depth of his feelings just yet, he would have to find a way to live with it.

“Can you stay the night?” she asked, her cheeks turning pink. “We don’t have to do anything, it’s just that I sleep easier when you’re around.”

“Sure.” He smiled and kicked off his shoes, glad to hear that she wanted him around. With his shoes off, he climbed into bed and gathered her in his arms.

She smiled up at him, her hazel eyes lighting up. Her lips found his and she kissed him gently. Tenderly. It didn’t have the heat of their earlier, passionate kiss. This was a kiss that revealed her comfort with him.

It was then that he realized that Heather felt safe with him. Safe enough to reveal a secret side of her that few others knew existed. That gave him hope that maybe they really could have a future together after all.

When she pulled away from him, she sighed happily. “I doubt we’ll have much time for something like this tomorrow or the day after.”

“We’ve got a full schedule for tomorrow,” he said in agreement. “Let’s enjoy each other’s company tonight.”

“When we get back home to Seattle we can finally talk,” she said. “About us. About where we stand.”

She made it sound so easy, but his insides were already in knots. This talk meant that he was going to have to bare his soul to her. And Simon wasn’t sure he was brave enough to tell her he loved her and put his heart in her hands.

~~*~~

THE NEXT COUPLE OF days were a blur of contract signings and coming up with a campaign strategy for Blue Naught. Some of the marketing ideas were Linda’s, but Simon watched in awe as Heather came up with ideas on her own. She might not be his assistant anymore, but he still swelled with pride when she laid out her ideas.

Finally, on the last day, they grabbed their bags and took a taxi to the airport.

Hours later they were back in Seattle, and Simon found his electric car in the airport parking lot.

“I’ve got a meeting this afternoon at Dover,” he informed Heather. “If you need to come into the office today I can give you a ride.”

“I have to meet with Linda to talk about the trip.” She sighed. “I can’t wait to get some rest this weekend, because I’m exhausted.”

“Same here.” He helped her into the passenger seat and got into the driver’s seat beside her.

“Simon...” She paused as he started the car and drove out of the parking lot. “I know we haven’t gotten the chance to seriously talk about us, but when we go in to Dover this afternoon we have to be professional.”

“I know.”

“No, I mean, when we left we weren’t on the best terms,” she pointed out. “People knew that we had a tense relationship. If we go back looking all friendly, it’ll look suspicious.”

“Aren’t we friends?”

“Of course, we are, but we have reputations to protect. I assume you assured the board that we wouldn’t rekindle our relationship.”

He had tried to assure the board of that, but he recalled how that meeting had ended. With him revealing that he loved Heather and telling them all to go to hell. They couldn’t fire him over that, but it probably hadn’t helped Heather’s case with a scandal hanging over her head. She still hadn’t proven that she was innocent, and the board knowing that he loved her meant that the executives had serious leverage over him. Executives like Everett could use his love for her against him to punish her.

His grip on the wheel tightened and he cleared his throat. “Board members are very stubborn.”

“What does that mean?” she asked.

It meant he couldn’t tell her what he’d said at that board meeting without revealing that he was in love with her. He was hesitant to tell her that for many reasons, but he sure as hell didn’t want to declare his love for her in his car on their way to work. Romance might not be his strong suit, but when it came to Heather he was determined to do this right.

“It means I’m not sure how they’ll feel about our trip,” he said. “Especially since we haven’t cleared your name yet.”

“We?” Her tone was icy. “Simon, we aren’t proving anything. I’m working to clear my name. Me and my lawyer. Stay out of this.”

“In addition to your lawyer, Linda is also helping. So are Dover’s IT guys, who are trawling through internet forums to find the hacker,” he said. “Hell, I’ve been upgrading my security system at my apartment and I got my lawyer to question my building’s super. A lot of people are already helping to clear your name whether you like it or not.”

She sighed. “I appreciate everything you’re trying to do. But don’t do anything specifically for me. Treat this like you would with any other employee. Make decisions based on what’s best for Dover.”

Days ago, when he realized that he loved her, he had made a vow to himself. A vow to put Heather before Dover. He meant to make good on that vow even if Heather begged him not to. From now on she came first. Always. She just didn’t know it yet.

~~*~~

TWO HOURS LATER, HE concluded his meeting with members of Dover’s cyber security team. With the shadow of the hacking still looming over them, the company had to take major precautions and revamp its cyber security.

He scrolled through the messages on his phone and found one from Heather. She wanted him to come down to the media relations department to have a quick meeting with Linda. Pocketing his phone, he headed out of his office and made his way downstairs.

“You made it.” Linda looked up as he stepped into her office. She was sitting in a plush chair beside Heather, the two of them leafing through a binder Linda was holding.

Heather looked up at him, and he couldn’t help himself. He smiled at her. They’d only been apart for two hours, but to him it had felt like an eternity. Seeing her beautiful face again warmed his heart. Took the weight off his shoulders.

Linda glanced from him to Heather. “Did you enjoy your trip to California?”

“It was fine,” Heather said stiffly.

Suddenly, he remembered that she had suggested they act like there were still tensions between them. Smiling at her had probably not been a good idea on his part. “Yes. Fine.”

“Don’t tell me you two had a fight,” Linda said.

“There was a room mix-up,” Heather said bitterly. “I suspect Simon did it on purpose.”

“I did not—”

“Oh, crap.” Linda shook her head. “This is all my fault.”

Heather frowned. “How on earth is it your fault?”

“I’m the one who screwed up your rooms,” Linda replied. “Only it wasn’t a screw-up. I got some of the hotel staff to switch the room numbers and give you a master card. I figured if you two ended up in the same room you’d reconcile and—”

“What?” Heather’s voice rose an octave. “Why would you think something like that?”

“Didn’t Simon tell you?”

Heather shot him a glance, confusion flashing in her eyes.

Linda gave him a pleading look, as if she needed him to save her from her revelation. “Oh... well... I meant...” Linda’s face went bright red and she swallowed hard. “Nothing. Forget I said anything. I obviously made a mistake.”

“Obviously,” he said through gritted teeth. Linda had been at that disastrous board meeting. Which meant she had heard him declare his love for Heather. Linda had been the one to get them alone together in that room. If Linda revealed why she had done that, it meant he was going to have to reveal his feelings for Heather. And he wasn’t ready for that. Not ready at all.

His heart slammed in his chest as Heather stared at him expectantly.

“What does Linda mean?” Heather asked. “Simon, what did you want to tell me?”