I barreled into Avery’s office the next day, teetering on my heels. He glanced up from his desk. I pulled the door most of the way closed after me, crossing to him.

“Hello, Charlotte,” he said. The stiffness in his tone surprised me.

“Hey, I… Oh. I thought you were alone.” I noticed too late that his uncle was in the other chair.

“I was leaving,” Armand said, shifting from his chair. He shot me an unreadable look as he left. I watched him go, then shut the door.

“I’ve hardly seen you all morning,” Avery said when I turned back. “Payton OK?”

And like that, the weirdness evaporated. I shook it off.

“Yeah. She’s out of the hospital. They told her to take it easy today, though.”

“Good. You left something at my place last night.” Avery tugged a scrap of lace out of his breast pocket.

“I thought they might calm your nerves. Like a sexy security blanket before your meeting today.”

His mouth twitched at the corner. “Thanks.”

Last night had been the first time I’d fallen asleep at his place. Waking up with Avery in the morning had left a funny feeling in my chest. Like this was where we were supposed to be.

I hadn’t asked about the party because I wanted to give him time. And deep down I knew this was going to work out.

“How are you feeling about your meeting?”

“In six hours, this day will be done, and I’m getting you alone at my place with a bottle of champagne,” Avery pronounced.

“You want to drink bubbly?”

“I’m going to pour it on you and lick it off.”

His dark blue jacket matched his eyes, the shirt and tie a few shades lighter. Ones I’d picked out myself.

The smile pulled at my mouth without permission. I shook off the Avery-induced haze and reminded myself why I was here.

Excitement bubbled up. “I have some good news too. I was going to try and save it until after your meeting, but…I can’t.”

“What is it?”

“I got a job.”

His face cracked into a grin. “What? That’s fantastic. Where’s the lucky company?”

“Here.”

The smile faded. “I don’t understand.”

“Mallory’s hiring for someone in comms. She knows I don’t have the background, but the way the gala went down convinced her I could be the right person. I wouldn’t even have to move floors.”

Part of me wanted to close the distance between us, but the expression on his face wasn’t any version of the warm and fuzzy from last night. This morning.

“And you want to apply.” His voice was cautious. Level.

“I already did apply.” The smile on my face faded. “Come on. Say something.”

Avery blew out a breath, tapping a finger on the desk. “Is this a joke?”

Hurt stabbed through me. “No, it’s not a joke. I can do that job. I’ve been doing it.”

“It’s not about whether you can do the job. You don’t want to stay here.”

“I didn’t think so either, but it would be kind of perfect. I mean, we’d still get to see each other, and—”

“It’s not a good idea.”

The edge in his voice had me bristling. “Why not? You told me to figure out what I wanted.”

None of this was going the way I’d pictured it. He was supposed to be happy about it. We’d have a way to come out, and it wouldn’t be strange that we were dating.

“Avery. You wouldn’t be my boss. We could be open about the fact that we’re dating.”

The dark shadow crossing his face filled me with worry. “It’s not that easy.”

“Why not?”

“People will think you got the job because of me.”

“That’s sexist. And I don’t care what people think.” My voice trailed off as I studied him. “But you do.”

“What are you talking about.”

“I mean you’re going in for your promotion and you don’t want to have to tell everyone you’re dating your assistant. The way you were when your uncle was here…you have no intention of telling him.”

“Charlotte…”

I rounded the desk. “I know you have a dinner planned on Saturday. To celebrate. Kenna told me about it, and I thought you didn’t tell me because you didn’t want to jinx it. But that’s not it, is it?”

The look on his face broke my heart.

“I want to be with you.”

“Tonight. Naked. With champagne. But not tomorrow, dressed up, with people who matter. Not the woman who doesn’t know what she’s going to do for work in another week. The one who gets free shoes and keeps her savings in the freezer.”

Avery reached up to rub a hand over his face. “This is exactly what I wanted to avoid. The power struggle.”

“It’s not a struggle, it’s a conversation. Not getting your way doesn’t mean we have to fight.” I swallowed the shock of his reaction and replaced it with ice. “Besides, I already applied for the job.”

Avery’s nostril’s flared. “Charlotte. I don’t do well with ultimatums.”

“It’s not an ultimatum. I wanted to let you know. I thought you’d be happy.”

He crossed to the door, his hand resting on the handle.

“This promotion’s everything I’ve worked for. Coming out with ‘I’ve been screwing my assistant for weeks’ isn’t the best way to acknowledge it. Especially after our last CEO was dismissed for leaking confidential information. Now we’ll discuss this later.”

Anger and hurt warred inside me until I couldn’t tell where one started and the other stopped. Because this came first for him. It always would, I realized. Some of us might have a shot at balancing priorities, but if he saw me as a threat to his work…it was no better than the day he’d fired me.

“I’m not your assistant anymore, Avery. And you’re not my boss.”

“We’ll discuss this later.” The finality in his tone rocked through me, even before he opened the door. It was his this is my decision voice. The one he used with people who dared to mess up his day.

I stared at him. The man I cared about. The one I’d been falling for longer than I was willing to admit.

“You know what? Let’s not.”

I stomped through the door and slammed it after me.

“Charlie, where are you going?” Rose called, rising from her seat and sticking her head over her cubicle.

I stalked to the photocopier room and grabbed a box, returning to my desk.

“He’s all yours,” I told a startled Rose as I piled things into my box. “I’m done with this. All of it.”

She trailed me to the elevator, holding the door as I piled on with my things. Trevor was tucked precariously inside the top edge of the box.

“What happened?”

I hit the button. “Men are entirely predictable. That’s what happened.”

I stalked out of the elevator and down the hall to HR, stopping in front of the desk.

“Here’s my employee ID.” I set it on the counter. The man on the other side looked at me in confusion.

Something vibrated in my pocket.

“Oh, and this.” I slammed my corporate phone down. The text notifications from Avery lit up the screen, but I silenced them.

I looted through my box, pulling out one last item.

“This. This is definitely yours.” The stapler clattered on the desk top.