“Talk to me, Heather. Tell me the truth,” he commanded once he caught his breath. Simon might have pulled away to end the kiss, but his arms were still wrapped tightly around her.

Heather was trembling against him. She seemed so fragile. So breakable. Right now, she looked like a deer caught in the headlights. Her hazel eyes went wide with panic. “I...” Her voice trailed off.

He kept his gaze on her face. Noticed that she wasn’t wearing her glasses today. She’d probably put her contacts in like she often did for important occasions. That had been her habit back when they were teenagers. And he was almost certain that the woman he was holding onto so tightly now really was his long ago high school sweetheart. The girl who’d made the life he’d created for himself possible.

“It is you, isn’t it?” Pressing her might only make things more awkward, but he wasn’t about to let this go. He was going to pry the truth from her perfect lips even if it killed him.

Her mouth opened but no words came out. Those lush lips were already distracting him. They were swollen from their kiss. A kiss she had started, but he hadn’t wanted to end. Why had he? Idiot! Returning that kiss had been dangerous, but with the way she made his heart pound it would’ve been a dangerous mistake to not kiss her back. Because he had to know. Had to know why this woman was so familiar to him. So familiar and yet still such a mystery. Denying that kiss would have been like a starving man refusing to eat.

Heather lifted her hands up to his chest and pushed him back. “We shouldn’t discuss this right now.”

He let go of her, let her slip away from him. Let her turn her back to him while the heavy velvet curtains swallowed them up. Nobody could see them like this, but there was a chance they could be overheard. Even over the sound of the applause and Linda giving a speech thanking everyone.

As he gazed at her, Simon realized that he didn’t care if anyone heard them. Right now, he was so desperate for the truth he was willing to risk a scandal. The press discovering them together like this could ruin his chance of Dover’s new product ever getting off the ground. Destroy everything he had worked so hard to build. But he needed to know if he was going crazy or if Heather really had lied to his face.

“There are a lot of things we shouldn’t do,” he reminded her. Like sharing a mind-blowing kiss backstage while half the company and a hell of a lot of the world’s press were mere yards away from them.

“So, you know why this is a bad time,” she said.

He had to strain to hear her over the sound of Linda’s voice booming into a microphone.

“There is no good time,” he said. “I want the truth. And you’re going to give it to me. Right now.”

“Simon?” Linda’s voice distracted. It was much closer now and her mic was turned off. Which meant his media relations officer had made her way backstage.

Clenching his fists in frustration, he hissed, “What do you want?”

“The press wants to do a Q and A with you,” Linda replied. “I know it wasn’t part of today’s plans, but you need to. Duty calls. It’s good coverage.”

He shut his eyes. Damn it. Baring his soul to the press was the last thing he wanted to do. He hated dealing with reporters. Hated the way they twisted his words and went digging into his life because he refused to play their game. Refused to give them what they wanted.

Simon’s eyes snapped open, and he found that Heather had spun around to face him, her eyes still wide. She opened her mouth speak, but he held his fingers to her lips, trying to quiet her. All that trouble to get her to talk to him, and now the only way to protect her was to keep her silent.

They were both still hidden by the velvet curtain. But with Linda backstage, Simon had to protect his assistant. Had to shield her from any kind of gossip or innuendo that would hurt her. The only way to do that was to get his media relations officer away from Heather.

His hand slid down to cup her face, forcing her to look deep into his eyes. “This conversation isn’t over,” he told her in a low voice.

Heather bit her lip, but said nothing.

“Simon?” Linda repeated.

“Fine,” he bit out harshly. “I’ll do it.”

“Where are you?” Linda asked. “I can hear you, but I can’t see you.”

Cursing under his breath, Simon made sure to shield Heather from view with his body. He grabbed the velvet fabric surrounding them, and held it in front of his assistant while he stepped away from her.

“Oh, there you are,” Linda murmured.

As quickly as he could, he started to guide Linda away from the curtains. Together they walked back onstage, leaving Heather behind.

~~*~~

THE Q AND A WAS TORTURE. Almost every question made him grind his teeth. Whenever they got even remotely personal, Simon did his best to steer the conversation back to work. Not that any of the reporters seemed to take the hint.

“So, since we’re winding down the questions,” a blogger from one of Seattle’s tech blogs started, “do you mind if I ask if you’re dating? Readers, listeners, shoot, the whole world wants to know. Is Simon Diesel seeing anyone?”

“I do mind,” he muttered.

Linda cleared her throat loudly from the seat across from him. They were still seated onstage, Simon sitting uncomfortably under the lights. Cameras flashing. Hundreds of pairs of eyes on him while he was peppered with inane questions.

The entire time he had been answering questions onstage, he had wondered what Heather was doing. Where she was. Was she still waiting backstage for him, or had she fled?

Damn, he could still taste her on his lips. Still feel the weight of her warm body in his arms. Did the kiss make her special to him? She had always been an extraordinary person. So kind. So encouraging. So driven and selfless. But what was she to him?

“I think what Simon means is that he likes to keep his personal life and his professional life separate,” Linda said smoothly. “It’s his business you’re interested in, not his business.”

The blogger grinned. “So, what you’re saying is that he has a personal life?”

Simon reminded himself that he was enduring this to protect Heather. No matter how badly he wanted to stalk off the stage, he had to get through this.

“I’m saying that my personal life is irrelevant,” he said pointedly. “What matters is the work we do at Dover.”

“But you said in your speech that nobody makes it on their own,” the blogger pressed. “If it takes help to get where you are, don’t you think the public has the right to know who might be by your side, helping to get you there?”

This was the price he was paying for opening up in his speech. He didn’t regret thanking Heather, but giving even a small scrap of himself seemed to make the public feel entitled to him. Resentment boiled his blood. “The public has the right to be curious,” he said, choosing his words carefully. “But my private life is off limits. As always.”

Linda focused her attention on another journalist and Simon slumped back in his chair. Well, his version of slumping was still sitting very upright. The perfection of a business with power.

Everything about dealing with the press was excruciating. For his entire career he had kept the world at a distance. And in the span of less than two weeks he had reversed course with his speech. All because of Heather. All because his assistant seemed to know the real him, and didn’t see anything wrong with letting the world see who he really was.

Altering the speech had meant inviting the world into his private life, but he had wanted to thank Heather. Speak to her without causing any embarrassment with a confrontation for the truth. The speech had said all the things he had wanted to tell her, but hadn’t been able to.

That made him start to analyze the things that had gone unsaid between them. Why hadn’t he gotten in touch with Heather in their years apart? Was he that closed off?

Thankfully, Linda managed to shut down more questions, and the Q and A ended minutes later. Simon rushed backstage to find Heather.

When he spotted her, the expression on her face was unreadable.

“We need to talk,” he said.

“Right now?” She frowned. “With the conference done, work is over for the day. Unless you’re asking me to work overtime.”

“You’re not going to blow me off,” he said, annoyed she could play it so cool. And the hint about overtime, was that meant to imply something else? Somehow he doubted it. “We’re having this conversation. Now.”

“Are you going to fire me if I don’t?” she asked.

He glanced over his shoulder. Linda was headed backstage. If he was going to get the truth out of his assistant, he was going to have to do it now.

“Of course not,” he said firmly. “I can’t fire you for refusing to hash this out. The truth is, after what we did today I don’t think it would be ethical for me to have a say in your continued employment at Dover.” Simon gave her a meaningful look, hoping she’d understand without having to say anything that might be overheard.

She sighed. “Where can we talk?”

He placed his hand on the small of her back, and started to lead her towards the door that led out of the hotel conference room. “Upstairs. I have a permanent room at the hotel, so we can talk in private there. But we have to hurry. I don’t want the press to see and get the wrong idea.” What was the wrong idea? That he wanted her up in his hotel room? Did he have ulterior motives? No! Of course not. He just wanted to talk, and it was the only private moment they could have. If she left now, he wasn’t sure they’d ever talk about it again.

With a nod she silently let him lead her away, and they reached his hotel suite minutes later.

“Nice view,” Heather said as she stared out the huge windows at the cityscape before them.

The view had been one of the perks of this place. Simon didn’t care all that much about luxury, but having a permanent room at Highcastle made his work easier. Sometimes it helped to have a place of his own. A place where he could work and think in peace. Away from the chaos of the office. Away from the media’s insatiable appetite for stories on the private lives of the wealthy.

He knew how fortunate he was to be able to afford such a lavish suite. Having a permanent place to stay at a luxury hotel was a privilege most people could only dream of. But if the price for his wealth was giving up his privacy, that was a price he wasn’t willing to pay for any reason.

“It is a nice view.” He walked across the plush carpet to the minibar. “Do you want a drink?”

Usually, he avoided alcohol. He didn’t like his mind being altered. But being around Heather already made him feel drunk anyway. It was impossible to think straight around her, and that unnerved the hell out of him. Besides, if he planned on getting to the bottom of this, a stiff drink sure as hell couldn’t hurt.

“No, thank you,” she said softly.

Simon grabbed a bottle of whiskey and poured out a glass. He downed the glass in one gulp, the liquid burning as it went down. It tasted like engine oil, but his resolve had already been strengthened. It was time to get the truth out of Heather. Even if that meant destroying their working relationship.

Setting his glass aside, he turned around to face her. “I know this can’t be easy for you.”

She crossed her arms and met his gaze. “Nothing is ever easy. Not anymore.”

Simon raised his eyebrow. Her words were so cryptic. Despite that angelic face and her desire to keep the truth from him, he sensed something potent simmering underneath.

It didn’t matter how prim her manner. How conservatively she dressed. Something raged beneath her calm exterior. He had tasted that much in her kiss. There was passion inside his assistant. The same passion that the girl from his youth had shown him. That was how he had known it was the Heather he had grown up with. Nobody kissed like she did. Without restraint.

There had been no good reason to take her into his arms and return her kiss. But it was like he was completely at her mercy. A woman making him this out of control was dangerous for his career. And yet, he wanted this danger with her. Welcomed it.

“Life will always be difficult. And lying makes life even more difficult,” he said coldly.

Her eyes flashed, but her only answer was stone-faced silence.

So, she was going to insist on making this even more difficult than it had to be. Heather might not know it yet, but one way or another he was going to get the truth out of her.

He wouldn’t let her out of this room until she confessed.