“Heather.” Simon’s eyes narrowed on her. “In my office.”

Her heart started pounding like crazy. She had only just stepped into her small office to begin making early morning phone calls to confirm staff attendance at a meeting later today.

“What’s this about?” she asked, her voice shaking.

But it was too late. Simon had already turned around and vanished from sight.

She set her handbag on her desk and inhaled a deep breath. After last night, her nerves were fried. And having to meet Simon in his office—presumably alone—was the last thing she wanted to do.

Heather headed into Simon’s office, trying her best to ignore her sweaty palms and racing heart. Yesterday was a mistake they had both agreed to get over. Put aside for the greater good. Her reputation. His career. Those were the things that mattered right now. Not whether Simon had spent all night thinking about her like she had been thinking about him.

He pulled out two chairs in front of his desk and gestured for her to sit across from him. “Have a seat. I’ve got some news. Things to discuss.”

Swallowing hard, she forced herself to shut the door behind her and walk over to him without showing the panic that was rising in her. She sat down and crossed her legs, trying to look professional and project a confidence she didn’t feel.

“What news?” she asked.

He sat down and leaned back in his chair. Simon was so tall that even when he leaned back his legs were practically brushing against hers. “First of all, I hope the driver got your son to school on time.”

Her stomach fluttered. Her boss was sitting to close to her that it made her body respond before she could even think. “Yes,” she said. “Thank you for sending the driver this morning. It was very kind of you.” After I was such a bitch last night. She didn’t bother saying that part out loud.

“No problem. It was my pleasure,” he said.

Her cheeks warmed when he said the word pleasure, so she tore her gaze away from him to stare at her hands. What was wrong with her? If she didn’t get it together quickly she was liable to make a complete fool of herself. “You wanted to discuss some news?”

“Right.” He crossed his arms. “I have a couple of things to go over with you. First things first: this is delicate, but I’ll be informing one of the board members about yesterday’s...events.”

Her mouth went dry. “What?”

He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “It’s Dover policy. If colleagues do something...sexual in nature, they have to report it.”

“Report it?” She practically choked on her words. “You mean like, every single time staff at Dover sleeps together they have to give some kind of detailed report?”

“Well, no. Not every single time. Didn’t you read the handbook? It was very clear,” Simon replied. “We just have to report any kind of romantic relationship—”

“We’re not in a relationship,” she said, cutting him off.

Simon blinked. “No. We’re definitely not.” He sighed. “But we were intimate, and that has to be reported. You’re not expected to give details. Just something that says that we were intimate together.”

“No. Absolutely not.” She hated to sound so terse, but she refused to have that kind of information getting out.

“It’s company policy,” Simon explained. “We run a very ethical company here, Heather. We even have an ethics office.”

She glared at him. “You seriously think I’m going to sign off on someone at Dover knowing I screwed my boss?”

He winced. “You make it sound so mercenary. As if there weren’t any emotions involved.”

“There weren’t,” she said, knowing full well what a lie that was.

What she and Simon had shared together wasn’t just physical. She knew that. Which was why they had to put it behind them completely. Letting Simon back into her heart would be disastrous. He had broken her heart once, and with a recent divorce barely behind her letting feelings get in the way of rebuilding her life would only torpedo her plans. She needed a clean break from what they had done yesterday. 

“I see.” His jaw clenched, and his blue eyes narrowed. “I guess I read too much into it.”

“I let my emotions from the speech get the best of me,” she said. “And I suspect you finally getting confirmation that I was hiding my identity got the best of you, too. We had a good time. It doesn’t have to be anything more than that.”

“There’s still the matter of telling one of the board members what happened,” he pointed out.

“Please, Simon, don’t do this. Working together is complicated enough as it is.” She hated having to beg, however, appealing to Simon’s old feelings for her was the only strategy she had left. The only way she knew how to protect her career. “I can’t have this getting out. It would destroy my reputation.”

“I don’t want to cause you any distress,” he said. “That’s the last thing I want to do. But this is for our protection. If we report this, your evaluation will get taken out of my hands. Someone else will decide if your three-month contract should be renewed. That means your job won’t be influenced by anything we’ve done together. You’ll get a fair and impartial evaluation.”

“Can’t you just have someone else evaluate me without explaining exactly why?” she asked desperately.

Simon frowned. “I don’t know... I guess I could act like I need help evaluating you.”

She nodded vigorously. “Yes. Exactly. You’d be doing the ethical thing by asking someone else to evaluate me, while keeping what we did a secret. Can you that for me, Simon? Keep this between us?”

He gazed at her, a pained expression evident on his chiseled features. “I suppose. But this probably complicates my next piece of news.”

“Oh? What is it?”

Simon sighed heavily, as if the weight of the world was resting on his shoulders. “There’s another conference coming up that I have to attend. Only it’s out of town, and you and I will be the only people from Dover attending.”

~~*~~

SIMON WATCHED HER ENTIRE body stiffen.

“We should tell the board member what we did,” he said firmly. Heather was clearly uncomfortable with this new development, and maybe drafting a report about their encounter in his hotel room would fix things.

“No,” she said. “We really shouldn’t. I don’t have a problem going to an out of town conference with you. I’m just worried about how to take care of my son when I’m out of town. How long is the conference?”

“Two days,” he said. “I don’t usually attend this particular conference, but since it coincides with the roll- out of this new generation of Dover products, it seemed like a good idea to show up. Drum up a little extra press.”

She bit her lip. “I’ll go to the conference with you. But only if you swear not to tell anyone what we did.”

“I won’t tell the board.”

“Not just the board,” she said. “No one can know. Not your friends. Not your family. Not even your therapist.”

Simon arched an eyebrow. “I have no friends. My family has practically disowned me. And I’ve got no use for therapists.”

She blinked, and the expression on her face softened. “Your family disowned you?”

His stomach tightened. The drama with his parents was the last thing he wanted to talk about. He had buried that pain so long ago that he refused to talk about it with anyone. Even Heather.

Simon surged to his feet and walked over to his desk. “We don’t have time to get into that.”

“I guess I’m not the only one with secrets,” she said softly.

He paused to look down at her. Really look at her. Drink her in. Heather was staring back at him, a light burning in her hazel eyes. There was something between concern and suspicion in her gaze. Concern for him. Suspicion over what he might do with their secret. Simon had never seen anything like it, and it unnerved him.

It was like she was looking right into his soul, which wasn’t the kind of thing that happened often. Women didn’t get close enough to even know he had a family. But Heather knew.

It was strange to have been proven right. To have his suspicions that she was the girl from his childhood confirmed. Yet, now that he knew the truth, he didn’t feel vindicated at all. All he felt was that he was getting dangerously close to the razor’s edge. As if pushing just a little would mean scandal and destruction for them both. That thought shouldn’t have thrilled him, but it did.

Heather might have been prim and proper, but every moment he spent with her excited him like nothing else ever had. His pulse was racing, and he was finding it very hard to breathe. Because, in this moment, he had the sinking feeling that he hadn’t scratched the surface with Heather. Hadn’t come close to prying all her secrets out of her.

“I won’t tell anyone what we did,” he murmured. “But I don’t regret it.”

“I find that very hard to believe,” she said.

“Why?” he asked, taken aback.

She shrugged. “You don’t let anyone get close to you anymore. I remember you were a loner before high school, but when you got to high school you started to bloom. Especially toward all the girls who threw themselves at you.”

“I never wanted that attention,” he insisted.

“When you become the school’s star athlete and end up being the valedictorian, it’s impossible for people not to notice,” she said with a faint smile. “And all the girls certainly noticed you.”

“Is that why you don’t want to see where this could go?” he asked gently. “Because you think you’ll have to compete with other women?”

“You’re one of the richest men in the world—”

“I’ve never been unfaithful to a woman,” he said firmly. “When I’m with a woman I give my complete attention to her.”

“And how often do you end up with a woman anyway?” She titled her head to study him. “The media doesn’t get much information about you, but that doesn’t stop the rumors entirely. Word is you have your trysts here and there, but nothing permanent. Nothing that lasts very long at all.”

“My work keeps me occupied.”

“I can’t compete with a job,” she said.

“I’m not asking you to,” he said. “But aren’t you curious about what we could be? After all these years, Heather, you’re the one girl I haven’t been able to stop thinking about.”

“I’m flattered, Simon. Really, I am. But it’s just a fantasy,” she said. “You’re only interested because you’re bored. I’m the one woman who’s an actual complication for you. You love solving puzzles. I’m just your latest puzzle. And once you solve it, you’ll be on to the next challenge.”

“Is that what you think of me? You think I’m that cold and detached?”

“Look around,” she said. “You said it yourself: you don’t have time for social obligations. You don’t have friends. Your entire life is devoted to your work. It’s the one constant in your life.”

“You’re saying that all I am is my work.”

“I’m not judging you,” she said. “In fact, I think you’re on to something. I tried having a family. And I screwed it up so badly that it’s broken now. I have to pick up the pieces of what’s left. So I don’t have time to be curious about what we might be. My heart can’t do this. Not after...”

“Not after your divorce?” he filled in for her.

“Right. Not after my divorce,” she said quickly.

Heather lowered her eyes, like she couldn’t stand to look at him another moment. Which he didn’t understand. If her heartache was because of the breakdown of her marriage, why had she kept him at such a distance? Especially last night with her family? He wasn’t her ex-husband. He wasn’t the one responsible for the state of her heart.

“As cold as you might find me, Heather, I don’t regret our time together in my hotel room. Truly I don’t.”

Her face turned pink, and he forced back a smile. No need to embarrass her further, no matter how lovely she looked when she blushed.

“I’m glad.” She stood up. “If this is all you wanted to talk about, I’ll be in my office making phone calls about today’s meeting.”

He gave her a curt nod. “That’s all for now. We’ll keep this to ourselves and I’ll get someone else to evaluate your three-month performance.”

“Thank you, Simon,” she said, her voice full of emotion. “I really appreciate it.”

“No problem,” he said.

Heather headed to the door and stepped out of his office.

The silence she left behind was a thunderous roar. Condemning him for being the stubborn, intransigent man that he was. The man Heather knew him to be. She had said as much.

If he was a different man, he would have taken Heather in his arms and kissed her. Kissed her because now he knew that, before she had come back into his life, something really had been missing. It had taken him so long to figure it out, but the walls he had built up made him feel a deep sense of loneliness.

But he wasn’t a different man. Heather had been right about him. He was who he was. And that was never going to change.