The sound of screeching tires made Heather Hall race to her front door. On the way she peered out the window in the living room, trying to see what the hell was going on outside. When she spotted Simon’s car pulling up her driveway, her anxiety gave way to raw anger.

She flung the door open and rushed out. It didn’t matter that she was barefoot. Simon Diesel was the last person she wanted to see right now. “What on earth are you doing?”

Simon stepped out of his car. All six-foot-something of his large frame made her momentarily stop in her tracks. Even in her anger, his sex appeal took her breath away. He had that mix of confident intellect and effortless masculinity that made her heart race. And those smoldering blue eyes didn’t hurt either.

Right now he was focusing his turbulent gaze on her, a storm gathering in those extraordinary eyes. “Heather, listen to me—”

“No, you listen,” she snapped, getting in his face. “Who do you think you are? I know it’s not as fancy as the neighborhood you live in, but people live here. Kids live here. You can’t come racing your car through here like some maniac.”

He held his hands up, his brow furrowing. “I’m sorry.”

His apology did nothing to cool her temper. After the way he had left things between them at her Dover office mere hours ago, she was in no mood for his attempt at an apology. “Glad you got that out of the way. You can leave now.”

“I’m sorry I accused you,” he said. “I had no right to accuse you without evidence.”

“Oh, but you seemed to think you had plenty of evidence,” she shot back. “I’m a liar after all. I started our working relationship with a lie, so why wouldn’t I be a spy and a hacker on top of it? I’m pathetic and untrustworthy, remember?”

“Will you just listen to me?” He started to walk up and down her driveway, pacing with a determined stride. Damn, his legs were so long, and from experience she knew how muscular they were from all the swimming that he did to stay in shape.

Ugh. Not even half a day had gone by since he’d insulted her in her own office, yet here she was, practically drooling over him. The hold that he had over her was so excruciatingly delicious she felt like she was in high school all over again. Pining over the high school golden boy who had become one of the richest men in the country.

“What do you want?” she demanded.

“You’re not the only person who knows about the servers in my apartment building.” He didn’t stop his pacing. It should have annoyed her, but it was a habit of his when the gears of his mind started going. That pacing was the price of his genius, but the way his pants hugged his ass when he walked away from her didn’t exactly feel a heavy price at all.

She swallowed hard. If she had any hope of surviving this mess she absolutely, positively could not let Simon have such a hold on her. Letting him go completely was her only option.

“If you want me to leave I’ll go, but I really think you need to hear this,” he continued.

Curiosity was overriding her caution. “Who else knows about the servers?”

When he was just inches away from her, he stopped his pacing. Stopped and stared down at her. The last time he had looked down his nose at her like this had been hours ago in her office. His stare had been much harder then. Much more arrogant.

“The electricians who came to upgrade my apartment last week,” he said. “And the building super who let them in.”

She blinked. Of course. The electricians had gotten access to the entire luxury apartment building, which meant she was no longer the only person who knew that Simon kept his servers in the place. Heather had been so stunned at Simon’s accusations that she hadn’t been able to think clearly enough to remember about the electricians.

“Have you talked to the electricians or your super yet?” she asked.

“Not yet,” he responded. “I came down here as soon as I realized they had access to the building.”

“You mean you came down as soon as you realized you accused me unfairly,” she pointed out.

Frustration flickered in his eyes. He probably wasn’t used to subordinates standing up to him like this, but when he’d first hired her he had assured her that he was the kind of man who listened to his employees.

Plus, after she had given him a piece of her mind and stormed out of Dover, she doubted that she was even still his employee. Never mind the fact that she was innocent of spying and hacking. The things she had said to him would have landed her in hot water even if Simon realized his mistake.

“This isn’t easy for me,” he said.

“You think it’s easy for me?” she asked. “To be accused of such horrible things? How can I show my face at Dover if that’s what you and the rest of the staff think of me?” She didn’t even want to remind him of the harsh things he had said to her. His accusations had cut deep enough, but he had mocked her feelings for him. Had flung her insecurities about her doomed marriage right back at her. She had shared her fears about her relationship with her ex-husband with him and he had used that knowledge against her. It didn’t matter if he had believed she had betrayed him. Their bond should have been enough for him to trust her. Enough for him to know that his words had all but destroyed her.

Now he was trying to ease his own guilt and she wasn’t going to stand for it.

“No, I don’t think this is easy for you,” he said. “I’ve put you in this impossible position. I’ve questioned your integrity and you have every right to be angry. But don’t let this affect your career. Don’t let your rightful anger ruin what you’ve worked so hard to build.”

“Everett already suspects me,” she reminded him. Everett Eastman was a senior board member, and if he thought she was guilty it was likely that the rest of the board would also think she was guilty. “Do you really think I’ll be able to go back to work if the board thinks I hacked into your home computer system and spied on you for a rival company?”

“Not if you give up,” he said. “Don’t quit. Let them be the ones to let you go. Make them force you out—don’t make it easy for them. You can show your face at Dover because there’s a chance that you’re innocent.”

“A chance?” Her eyes narrowed. “I am innocent.”

“Deep down I know that,” he said. “But I don’t have definitive proof that exonerates you. I suspect my building super and the electricians, but you’re still on the list of suspects.”

“So you think I did this?” Anger made her body go rigid.

“No,” he forced out. “I don’t. But the board is going to need solid evidence. So I have to prove who the real spy is.”

“You just want to ease your guilt. You don’t actually want to help me. It’s obvious that you think I’m so pathetic that your pity made you come here.” She hated pity. It made her feel small and helpless. She’d rather he believed she was a spy, because at least he had seen her as capable. Now he was back to thinking of her as merely pathetic and useless. Heather bristled at the thought.

“You’re angry,” he said. “I don’t blame you for that. All I ask is that you let me help you. Let me figure out who the real spy is so that I can clear your name.”

“Why do you believe me anyway?” she asked, unwilling to give in now that he could finally see his error. On her way home she had imagined him apologizing to her just like he was now. She had fantasized about him groveling, but now that it was happening she was too outraged to take any satisfaction from it. His words had been too cruel.

“I believe you because when I made those accusations, you came clean,” he said. “You told me the truth about VLA wanting you to spy for them even though it was a huge risk for you. I know you signed a non-disclosure agreement with them. Your background check already confirmed that.”

“Telling you the truth exposes me to a lawsuit,” she said. “I signed a non-disclosure agreement, so VLA could sue me for revealing their shady tactics.” Her former employers were extremely powerful, and very few people ever dared to cross a corporate giant as big as VLA Technologies.

He nodded. “When you told me the truth, I honestly didn’t know that they had approached you about spying.”

“But you refused to believe me even after I confessed,” she said. “You didn’t want to hear a word I said.”

“That’s on me,” he said. “My trust issues got in the way of good sense. I had no right to take that out on you. It’s my job to protect Dover employees, and I didn’t listen to what you had to say.”

It couldn’t have been easy to admit that his trust issues had clouded his judgment. No. She had to harden her heart. The pain of his accusations was almost unbearable, and she couldn’t afford to lose her heart to him again. Not if he refused to trust her after everything they’d been through together. Even though he had broken her heart once, she had been willing to give him another chance. She’d extended her trust to him when he hadn’t done the same for her.

Besides, her son needed her to be strong enough to protect him, and that meant letting go of Simon for good. She was far too vulnerable to her feelings for Simon, and it was costing her everything. If she ended up getting arrested because of Simon, she would lose her son. The only thing worse than losing Simon was losing Finn. Finn was her whole life. Without him, life was meaningless.

“I can’t work for someone who doesn’t trust me,” she said. “When I stopped trusting the executives at VLA, it was impossible for me to take pride in my work. There’s no way I can work with you ever again.”

“Heather, please, don’t do this,” he said. “Don’t give up on us.”

“Us?” Indignation made her square her shoulders. “There is no us. You threw that away when you decided to accuse me. When you decided that I was a liar and a manipulator. I’m not perfect by any means. I lied at the beginning of our working relationship, but all those personal things you said about me—” Her voice hitched, and she lowered her gaze.

Tears pricked the back of her eyes, but she wasn’t about to let him see her in distress. She refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing her so vulnerable to her feelings for him.

“I have no right to ask you if there’s still a chance for us—”

“You’re right, you have no right. And there isn’t,” she said sharply, cutting him off. “I have no idea if I even still have a job, but I do know there’s no chance of us having a relationship.” She needed the money she made at Dover, but her heart had been ripped to shreds today. Simon had been the cause. All these years after he had first broken up with her, he had managed to smash her heart all over again.

“So, what are you going to do to get money?” he asked. “You have your son to think about.”

“My family is none of your business,” she snapped. “I have some extra money from my grandfather, and there’s still some of my severance pay from VLA.” Apprehension flooded her, because she didn’t feel as confident in her finances as she was letting on. With her ex-husband trying to get full custody of her son, her legal bills were mounting. The truth was, she needed a steady income. Not that she planned on admitting that to Simon. He would only think she was even more pathetic.

“You still have to come back to Dover,” he said. “To tie up loose ends.”

She regarded him warily. He was probably trying to use any excuse to get her back into Dover headquarters. He’d have an easier time convincing her to stay on if she was at the place she loved working. “If the board thinks I’m a spy, they’re not going to want me anywhere near Dover.”

“They will if you meet them and tell them what you told me,” he said. “You might be able to convince them to give you a chance.”

“Why bother? They’ve probably made up their minds the way you did.”

“Heather, if the board believes you’re guilty they won’t hesitate to hand you over to the police,” he told her. “On my way over here I managed to get the cops on this case to back off from you. But that won’t last long.”

Her blood froze. “What? Why didn’t you tell me I had to worry about the police?”

“I assumed you knew that.” He frowned. “Besides, you didn’t seem interested in hearing me out.”

“You weren’t interested in hearing me out either,” she said. “Not when it mattered. Not when I needed you the most.”

The tears threatened to fall. She whirled around, keeping her back to him. If she was going to cry, she wasn’t going to let him actually see her tears.

If the police got involved, she might lose her son. No court could accept her keeping custody of Finn is she ended up in jail for this. Her ex-husband would be able to take Finn away from her, and no matter how much she tried to shield her son from his neglect the truth was, Gary was an absent father. Even when they had been married he had failed to step up. She’d never actually admitted that to herself and it frightened her. If Finn ended up with Gary, his childhood would be shattered.

Simon’s strong hands gripped her shoulders and she felt his warm breath caress the sensitive skin on the back of her neck. More than anything, she wanted to lean against his body and take comfort in his arms. But if she did that, she would lose everything. She had been so blinded by her feelings for him that she had failed to protect herself. And now her son was in danger because of it.

“I can’t make you see how sorry I am,” he said. “Just don’t make any sudden decisions in anger. At least come back to Dover and talk to the board.”

She bit her lip, weighing her options in her mind. Not only did she stand to lose her job and her income, but she could also end up going to jail for something she didn’t do. Heather hated to admit it, but Simon was right. Her best chance was to talk to the board and convince them of her innocence. That might keep her out of jail.

But the thought of fighting to stay as Simon’s assistant made her heart heavy. She needed money to protect Finn, but how was she going to bear seeing Simon every day after this?

Heather sucked in a breath and stepped out of his grasp. “I’ll talk to the board tomorrow. Don’t bother trying to help me, Simon, because I don’t need you anymore. I plan on clearing my name without your help.”