“I might have kept the truth from you, but I’d never manipulate you. I’m not some kind of compulsive liar.” Her head started swimming and she slumped back in her chair with a groan. The hangover was going to be brutal.
He crossed his arms and gave her a hard, intense stare. “So, why did you have condoms if you never planned on getting into bed with me again?”
“Those weren’t mine.” Even she knew how lame that sounded. It was the truth but it just sounded like an excuse. “Gary borrowed my duffel bag for a trip he went on. When he gave the bag back I found the condoms he left in there. Knowing him, he probably left them in there on purpose just to rub it in my face—”
“Hold on—Gary?” Simon frowned. “As in your brother Gary? The Heather I knew didn’t have a brother.”
Oh shit.
Her heart sank. Simon never missed details. His memory had always been sharp. He’d hear a name once and store it in his mind forever. She grimaced. “Gary isn’t my brother.”
“Of course, you lied about that, too.” Disappointment flashed in his blue eyes. “Of course you did. You never had a brother growing up. I guess I just filled in that gap by thinking you had a half-brother I never knew about or something. I was so willing to trust and believe in you that I started to lie to myself for you.”
“Simon, please—”
“Have you told me the truth about anything?” he demanded.
“I have.” She sighed. “It was wrong to make up a brother. I got nervous when he showed up at the office. I’ll tell you the truth now,” she said. He deserved that much. It wasn’t right to let him blame himself for their fling, when she had made such a colossal mess. “Gary is my ex-husband. He’s Finn’s father.”
Simon raised an eyebrow. “And you’re still sleeping with your husband, aren’t you? That’s why there were condoms in the bag.”
“What?” She bolted up. “No! No freakin’ way,” she said shrilly. “I’m not sleeping with Gary.”
“Maybe not, but something’s going on. I get it,” he said. “You still have feelings for your ex and you’re trying to let me down easy. You don’t have to do that, Heather.”
“Nothing is going on with Gary,” she insisted.
“Are you sure?” he asked, skepticism in his voice. “Are you seriously going to tell me those flowers you got at the office weren’t from your ex-husband?”
“You saw those?” The bar started to tilt. Shit, she was so drunk that the room was actually spinning. She pressed her palm to her forehead.
“I did. I saw the look on your face. You looked happy.”
She breathed out an exasperated sigh. “No, I wasn’t.”
“You were smiling,” he said. “I mean, I thought you were single when we slept together, otherwise I never would have done it. I don’t go after married women. But maybe your marriage isn’t as over as you think it is.”
“Gary did send the flowers. But I was laughing at how ridiculous it was for him to send flowers,” she said. “I wasn’t happy about getting those flowers, I was laughing at how ridiculous Gary was being. He’s an ass. Lousy father. And just an ass.”
“Please stop trying to deny it,” he said. He huffed, frustration clear on his face. “It’s obvious you think of me as a rebound. Or some kind of revenge sex to get him back. Whatever it is, I don’t regret it. I’m glad I got to reconnect with you. Even if it was only briefly.”
“So, you’re not going to fire me?” She shifted uncomfortably in the booth. What else was she supposed to say? He wasn’t going to believe anything anyway.
“That’s out of my hands, remember? It would be wrong for me to make a decision like that,” he said. “Your evaluation has been handed over to a board member. They’ll be checking on your progress and work so, as long as you keep being the model employee you’ve been, I’m sure things will go smoothly.”
“So, you like my work?” she asked.
“Of course. You’re a great employee. Your work during these past few hectic weeks has been stellar. I hope this indiscretion between us hasn’t made you doubt yourself.”