"Do you have a minute?"

Damon glanced up at the sound of Delilah's voice. The innocence on her face caused him to stiffen. She was up to something. What the fuck happened to the girl he grew up with? Bridget was always the one getting into shit and causing problems for everyone around her. She'd come between him and Delilah so many times over their teenage years that Damon finally relented and asked the bitch out. It had been a wild ride, and his profession of love was more from not understand at all what love looked like. His mother and father being the guide left a little to be desired.

"Only a minute." He stood from the makeshift desk the client had set up for him.

She walked in and sat down in the chair across the desk from him, leaning back and crossing her legs as a seductive look moved across her face.

"I honestly think if we worked on the report a little more that we could sell more services to Mr. Talling. We have that new adviser group opening up soon. Why not utilize it?" She brushed her hands down her thighs, but Damon made sure to keep his eyes locked onto her pretty face.

"What services are you referring to specifically?" He sat back down and leaned back, clasping his hands over his stomach.

"If we offer them a just-in-time inventory system from Pollock in Dallas, I could get us a kickback from them, and we could offer to consult on the project. I know the system Pollock put together backward and forward. I helped to consult on the project when they built it a few years back." She smiled. "It's a great product. They'll benefit from it and we will too."

"You know as well as I do that we're not legally able to recommend a system that we're going to get a kickback from. There's no way I would put the firm in that position. I'm honestly wondering why you thought I would." He pressed his fingers to his lips, knowing that he had enough to fire her. Maybe she wanted to be released. No, that wasn't her end game. Not by the look on her face.

"You chose Bridget over me when we were kids, Damon. You'd probably still choose her again. Why?" Her expression tightened. Fuck if Matt wasn't right. "It has to be because she's ballsy because she lives on the edge."

"It was a mistake." He stood and walked to the window. "You've been making a lot of mistakes yourself lately. What happened to the sweet girl I grew up with?"

"Lots of things." She stood up and moved to stand beside him. "You being one of them."

He glanced down at her as she reached over to touch him. "Don't. I'm engaged and very much in love with the woman wearing my ring."

"What?" She jerked back like he'd slapped her. "Since when?"

"I don't share my private life at work much, Delilah." He turned to face her. "I'm not sure why my father thought this was a good idea. I know your resume is heavy in the areas we needed most, but this thing between you and me doesn't exist. It's a toxic memory for you, obviously. I can't let it continue. It's not fair to you, and I can't ignore the way you've behaved lately. This shit you just tried to pull was too much."

"Is this about Bethany? Your sister caused this, didn't she?"

"She's my fiancée, not my sister." He crossed his arms over his chest. "You caused this. Pack up and take an earlier flight back. We can meet next week to talk about your exit strategy for leaving the firm, and don't plan on using us as a reference."

"You can't be serious." She narrowed her eyes, making her as ugly on the outside as she was on the inside. How he hadn't noticed it before was beyond him.

"Close the door on your way out." He walked around her and sat down at his desk.

"Damon. It was just a suggestion."

He glanced up. "You're fired. Collect your things and get Linda to put you on an earlier flight. We'll talk next week."

"Your father isn't going to let you do that." She walked to the door and stopped before walking out. "He knows how valuable I can be. You just wait."

"I'll hold my breath." He smiled and turned toward his computer, ignoring her as she huffed and slammed the door. She'd no doubt say a few things to the team about it, but it was all part of the show she'd put on. He would correct everyone's thinking before heading back to the hotel that night.

Some part of him wanted to invite Beth back to give Delilah hell for how she'd treated her, but he knew Beth well enough to know that she wasn't the type of woman to take an eye for an eye. Her demeanor and testimony at Krista's hearing the day before made that more than obvious. Had she grown up in the last few months, or had she always been that mature? He wasn't sure, but it made him even more proud that she belonged to him.

He picked up the phone, needing to check on Kendal before getting lost in his work for the next few hours. By the time he packed up, it would be well past midnight.

"Hey, buddy." Kendal's voice was more solid than he expected it to be.

"Hey. How are you?"

"I'm as good as can be expected."

"You alone?" Damon leaned back in his chair, knowing that the answer wasn't really any of his business. Oddly enough, it would have been comforting to hear that Dana was over there with Kendal.

"Yeah. Dana wanted to come over, but I'm just not sure where I am with all of that."

"Really? Why does this have to be so damn difficult? Do you care about her?"

"Clearly, asshole."

"Good. Then make an adjustment. You don't want your gravestone to read that you were an incredible and ethical accounting professor from UT, right?"

"No, Damon, but this isn't that simple. The school has strict rules. I'm not allowed to date a student. Period."

"Then wait until she's not a student. Just be friends with her until she's graduated. She's doing work at the hospital, so she has to be a resident, right?"

"Yeah. She's in her senior year."

"Good. Then be a close friend this year and when she graduates in May, take it to another level. If you care about her, you need to make sure you don't let her slip through your fingers. I'd never in a million years expected you to let someone hold you like you did today. All I'm saying is that she obviously means something."

"She does." He let out a soft sigh. "I'll think about it. I don't want her changing the path that she's on to suit me, which is what she wants to do. That's not fair to her."

"If she's falling in love with you, then she's being quite sensible in her thoughts. I'd do anything to be with Beth. That's what love does. You know this. Look at what you did for Ana, what you almost gave up."

"And that's the distinguishing factor right now. I care about Dana, and I like her a lot, but I'm not in love."

"And you shouldn't be. You've known her a few weeks?"

"Something like that." He cleared his throat. "My career is my passion. It's my identity. I almost died six years ago when that shit went down with Ana and the school threatened to let me go. You know how hard and how long I worked for this position. It's everything to me."

"Right, and until a woman means more than your job, you'll never be fulfilled. You're too much like me. Having a relationship with a good woman that loves a frequent romp in the sheets is what makes life worth living."

"I'll agree with that. I'm just not there yet, man. Until I get there, I have to follow what my heart's telling me to do, and right now, that's to keep my distance. I'll maintain a friendship with her as long as I can. I figure that won't last long though."

"Why is that?"

"Because I'm attracted to her. She's beautiful, and I've already slept with her. She's passionate and giving in the bedroom. I'm also totally into her because of the way she took care of my sister. She wasn't just that way with Mandy. She is that way with everyone on the floor. She's a great woman. Someone that deserves a great man."

"A man like you." Damon stood up and pressed his free hand to the desk.

"You're a little bias." Kendal snorted.

"Yeah, but it's truth."

"Thanks, man. Have a safe trip home, and thanks again for being here for me. There isn't anything I wouldn't do for you. You know that, right?"

"I do. I'll check in on you this week, but call if you need me."

"Will do."

Damon dropped the call and set the phone on his desk before lifting his arms toward the ceiling and stretching. A knock at the door caused him to drop his hands.

"Come in," he called out.

Ben stuck his head into the room. His blue eyes were wide with what had to be surprise.

"Um, boss?"

Damon chuckled and motioned for him to come in. "Did Delilah come down there and blow up?"

"Yep. Something like that." He crossed his arms over his chest and walked into the office. "She just told everyone down there that you were engaged to your sister."

Damon nodded. "And?"

"And I thought you wanted that kept secret."

"I did, but it would seem that our lovely senior manager wanted to throw one last punch." Damon shrugged and walked around the desk toward Ben. "It was a shitty thing to do, but she's a shitty person. I fired her, and that was the best retaliation she had against me. Shame."

"Do you want me to tell them that she was full of shit? They'll believe that she was lying. Hell, half of them can't stand her."

"No. I don't want to lead them to believe something that's not true. Beth is my fiancée and my step-sister. It's a dicked up situation, but I wouldn't deny that she belonged to me in front of anyone. We're not blood, and it's a little unconventional, but I love her with everything inside of me." He patted Ben on the back as he walked past him and took a sharp left turn down the hall. "She still down here?"

Ben caught up quickly. "No, sir. She grabbed her computer and got out of here."

"Good." Damon glanced over at him and offered a tight smile. "Contact our IT guys and have her access codes shut down. A woman scorned is always a bit dangerous."

"Hell yeah, they are." Ben opened the door to the staff conference room as Damon walked in.

"Guys, let me have your attention for just a minute." He paused as everyone turned their attention on him. There was far more weariness on the team’s face than condemnation. They were beyond worn out from working so much over the last few days. "I know Delilah just came in and said a few things that were less than appropriate in a working environment. She's headed home shortly and won't be joining us again, so please disregard her behavior here before she left. Her information was correct, but like most personal things in business, it's no one’s concern but my own. If you'd like to discuss any of it, come talk to me, otherwise, enjoy the rest of your weekend here in Florida and expect a nice bonus from the firm for your efforts."

A cheer went around the room, and the craziness was forgotten in lieu of something much better - money. It worked every time, and where it wasn't his intent to divert their energy with him sharing the information about the bonus, it sure as hell didn't help.

He winked at Ben as he walked out of the room and turned to head back to his office. A few more things and he was headed to the hotel to be where he should be - with his woman.