One Week Later

Her first week at Dover, Inc. went even more smoothly than she could have ever hoped.

That should have put her mind at ease, but as she navigated her car to the front of her son’s school the annoyance she had tried to push aside all morning was starting to build.

At the sound of her son unbuckling his seatbelt in the backseat, she turned around and forced a smile. “Okay! Are you ready to have a good day, sweetie?”

Finnley didn’t return her smile. Instead, her six-year-old son stared forlornly out the back window.

Seeing her son in so much pain tore at her heart. Damn her ex-husband for disappointing their son again. Gary had sworn up and down that he would take Finn to school in the mornings, but he hadn’t shown up this morning and gave no explanation. She had bombarded him with texts and called him numerous times without a single reply from him. Her marriage ending was one thing. But that wasn’t an excuse to disappoint their son over and over like this.

Heather let out a soft breath. “Let me walk you up.”

She got out of the car, let Finnley out, and walked with him to class. When she gave him a goodbye hug he held on tighter than he usually did, but still didn’t say anything. His father’s absence today obviously hurt him deeply.

With Finnley safely in class, she got back behind the wheel of her car and headed to work. As much as she wanted to wring her ex-husband’s neck for letting their son down, she had to focus on work. This first week had gone by without much incident, and despite her mess of a personal life she needed her professional life to be a success. Even if that meant continuing this charade with her boss.

~~*~~

ONCE SHE ARRIVED AT her office, Heather immediately started checking work emails on her computer. Simon had sent her a copy of his upcoming speech, so she opened it up to start reading it. The phone beside her computer started ringing. It was Simon.

A tingle slid down her spine. Before she could even bother processing her body’s reaction to the prospect of talking to her boss, she answered the phone.

“Good morning,” she said, hoping he didn’t pick up on the breathlessness in her voice.

“Hey. I just sent you an email of the speech.” Simon’s deep baritone came through the other end of the call.

“I’m reading it right now,” she said.

“Excellent. Sorry I took so long to send it, but I was up all last night revising,” he said. “Listen, I’ve got an impromptu meeting with one of our engineers.”

“Oh, I didn’t know,” she murmured. “Let me come into your office and I can sit in on it. Take some notes—”

“No need,” he interrupted. “It’s nothing major. In the meantime, I’d like you to talk to our media relations officer, Linda. The original gal you were supposed to be working for. Feel free to ask her as many questions as you’d like. She can help get you up to speed on everything.”

“Will do.”

“Right,” he said, sounding distracted. “Also, go over the speech with her. Jot down her opinions on it and we’ll discuss it later today.”

“Okay. Will do.”

With that, he hung up.

For some reason, Heather found herself disappointed. Wishing he hadn’t been so professional. What had she expected? That her handsome, stupendously wealthy boss would declare that he had the hots for her?

She buried her head in her hands and groaned. If she wanted to prove herself within three months, she had to get past her attraction to Simon. Their relationship was not only long over, but she had to keep up the pretense that she didn’t know him. That she was a completely different person from the Heather he had partially credited his success to.

Her first week had gone well. There wasn’t anything she hadn’t been able to handle. Other than this silly crush on her boss.

Sighing, she started to dial Linda Schaffer’s office. The best way to shake off this crush of hers was to do what she always did in times of crisis: Lose herself in work. She wasn’t a workaholic like Simon was, but work was great for taking her mind off stress.

Damn. Her thoughts had drifted back to Simon again.

After a few rings Linda answered, and Heather informed her that she would be heading down to her office soon.

Heather stepped into Linda’s messy office fifteen minutes later.

Linda waved her in and gestured to the chair beside her desk. Her silver hair was tied back in a messy ponytail and she had a no-nonsense look on her face. From their brief encounter on Monday, Heather had gotten the distinct impression that Linda was firm but fair.

Heather sank down into the chair and retrieved her new company phone from her handbag.

“Sorry about the mess,” Linda said. “I still haven’t hired an assistant to file things away, so the place is in chaos.”

“What about the other people you interviewed earlier in the week?” Heather asked. “I’m working with Simon now, but there were two other candidates.”

“You were the best candidate. The other two didn’t have experience at the executive level, so it looks like Simon stole you from me.” Linda smiled. “But never mind. I’m sure I’ll find a PA soon. You’ve got some questions for me?”

“Yes.” Heather bit her tongue, realizing that the first thing she wanted to ask was about Simon. What she knew about him came from childhood memories and scant media reports. Linda worked closely with him, and Heather’s curiosity about her boss only got worse with each passing day.

“Well, go ahead,” Linda prompted. “I’ve been at Dover since the beginning. I was here even before Simon invested in the place. About ten years.”

“Simon seems...pretty wrapped up in work,” Heather said.

“You could say that.” Linda chuckled. “Or you could say that he’s married to the job.”

“What kind of boss is he?” Heather asked.

“You’ve been here for several days now,” Linda pointed out. “What kind of boss do you think he is? Your impression of him is the most important thing, you know?”

“He’s demanding,” Heather said. “But not pushy. He just expects things to be a certain way. He’s obviously a perfectionist.”

“What CEO isn’t?” Linda smiled again. “He’s nothing you can’t handle. You look like you’re probably nice, but I sense that you’re tough in your own way.”

“I suppose I am. After the year I’ve had, I guess I’d have to be.” Heather grimaced. There was that bitterness in her voice again.

“Oh?” Linda arched an eyebrow. “What kind of year have you had?”

Cheeks warming with embarrassment, Heather replied, “It’s nothing. Forget I said anything-”

“Simon isn’t interested in our personal lives,” Linda warned. “Work is work. Everything else stays out of the office. You got it?”

Heather nodded. “Yes. Absolutely. I didn’t mean to bring up personal stuff.”

Linda leaned forward. “Simon might not be interested, but go ahead. Tell me about your year.”

Heather paused. As stern as she seemed, Linda’s eyes were full of concern. “I got laid off,” she said. “Then I got divorced.”

Linda winced. “That’s rough. I’ve had three divorces.”

Heather’s eyes widened. “Really?”

“Sure. I’m on husband number four.” Linda grinned like she had just told the most hilarious joke. “It hurts now, but it’ll get easier with time. Besides, your ex was probably a bum. Am I right?”

Biting her lip, Heather shook her head. As angry as she still was with Gary about his absence this morning, she wasn’t going to badmouth her son’s father to a near stranger like this.

“Don’t tell me you’re still hung up on your ex,” Linda continued.

“Oh no. I’m not. Not with Simon around—” Heather really did bite her tongue. The sudden rush of even more embarrassment made her wish the marble floor would open and swallow her whole. Talking to Linda felt like talking to a friend, and she had just blurted out something that was supposed to be secret.

Linda blinked. “Simon? You...have feelings for Simon?”

Heather waved her hands frantically. “No. That’s not it at all. I just meant that working for Simon keeps me busy. Distracted from the divorce—” She shook her head. “That’s embarrassing. I totally didn’t mean it to come out that way.”

“So that’s why you blush every time I say his name,” Linda murmured.

What? Had she really done that? Forget the floor swallowing her. She wanted the whole building to crash down on her. Save her from her humiliation. And Linda’s stern gaze. “No. You have it all wrong,” Heather rushed on. “I’m not the least bit interested in Simon—”

“First his former PA betrays him, and his new PA has a crush.” Linda tsked. “It could be worse, but he isn’t going to like this—”

“You’re not actually thinking of telling him anything, are you?” Pure panic made her quiver with terror. Surely Linda wouldn’t go blabbing to Simon.

“Oh, calm down,” Linda said. “You wouldn’t be the first young woman to have a crush on him. Just keep it yourself, okay?”

“I don’t have a crush on him,” Heather insisted, knowing deep down what a lie that was. “Really I don’t.”

“Your secret’s safe with me,” Linda said, ignoring her pleas. “Besides, he won’t give you a second glance. He’s too wrapped up in work to notice anyone.”

“Oh. So, he doesn’t have a girlfriend?”

Linda arched an eyebrow. “I thought you said you weren’t interested.”

“I’m not,” Heather said.

“He’s single,” Linda said. “It seems to be a perpetual habit with him. Most of his relationships don’t last long. Hell, he doesn’t even have friends.”

Heather chewed on her bottom lip. That sounded so lonely. Add all that to his strained relationship with his parents and Heather’s heart ached for him all over again. All that wealth and it seemed he had nobody to share it with. “That’s sad.”

“Don’t bother trying to get close to him,” Linda said. “It’ll only lead to heartbreak. And that’s if all you’re looking for is friendship with him. Simon doesn’t do relationships. Of any kind.”

That much had changed since high school. Sure, he hadn’t been very popular before high school, but after girls started noticing him when he was a sophomore his social life completely changed. Suddenly he had popular friends, girls fawning over him. Plus, his relationship with her had blossomed into a full-blown romance. What had happened to make him so solitary again?

“I completely understand,” Heather said. “Everything has to be professional.”

“Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, what else do you want to know?” Linda asked.

Grateful to get away from the awkward topic of Simon, Heather started asking Linda more professional questions. After she got a ton of useful information from her, Heather started to go over Simon’s speech with Linda.

After about an hour in Linda’s office Heather was done, so she headed back to her office to work on sending out reminder emails about the upcoming Dover, Inc. conference. With that task done, she got down to filing and color-coding documents that her predecessor had neglected.

At the sound of her cell phone ringing she answered eagerly, a secret part of her hoping to hear Simon’s voice.

“Hello?”

She tried to suppress a groan at the sound of her ex-husband’s voice, but it was futile. “Gary? Where have you been?”

“Look, babe, I got sidetracked,” Gary said smoothly.

Heather hated it when he called her ‘babe’. “Sidetracked by what? Or, should I say, who?”

“Oh, come on. Don’t be like that. Tiffani needed me, and I figured you’d just take Finn to school like you usually do anyway.” Gary had a new girlfriend and, though Heather sure as hell wasn’t jealous, she hated that Gary used his new relationship as yet another excuse to not spend time with their son. She didn’t expect her ex to live like a monk, but his new girlfriend really was the worst.

“You didn’t think to call to warn me? Or to at least talk to your son?” She started gnashing her teeth in annoyance.

“Babe, you’re always so hung up on rules,” he said. “You’ve got to live a little. Stop taking everything so seriously. Finnley’s okay, isn’t he?”

“No, he’s not okay,” she snapped and then closed her eyes, rubbing her temple. She lowered her voice. “Our breakup has really hurt him, Gary. I’m trying to make this transition as smooth as possible. I need Finn to know that both his parents still love him and will be there for him no matter what. What am I supposed to tell him when you won’t even call to let me know you won’t be coming?”

Gary sighed loudly. “Oh, Heather. Always so overdramatic. I’m sure Finn’s okay. He’s a boy, for shit’s sake.”

Her ex was always so dismissive of her and her concerns. Always made her feel like she was too serious. Too tightly wound. She fought against the insecurity he often managed to pull out of her, and she sat up straighter in her swivel chair. “You can make things okay by picking him up this afternoon,” she said.

“Can’t,” he replied. “That’s why I called. I’m going to be with Tiffani all day and—”

“So, what am I supposed to tell our son?” she demanded, hating that she was getting angry again.

“You’ll figure it out like you always do. Later, babe.” Gary hung up before she could get another word out.

Resting the urge to call him back and let him have it, Heather forced out a loud sigh. There was no use getting into it with Gary on the phone. If she wanted to protect her son, she was going to have to hash things out face to face with her ex and their respective lawyers. Right now, she had primary custody, while Gary had visitation. But with the way things were going, Gary wasn’t even trying to see Finn. That had to change.

Before she could compose herself, Simon stuck his head into her office.

Despite her swirling emotions, her heart fluttered at the sight of him. Just seeing his handsome face made her suddenly giddy.

Simon stared at her gravely, making her heart sink like a stone. “I’ve just been on the phone with Linda. And she’s told me your big secret.”