Dejected and miserable, Heather reached for her cell phone, the urge to text her mother overwhelming. She couldn’t tell her mother the truth, but at least there was someone to reach out to.
Already her eyes were burning with tears. It was so foolish to be jealous of a woman she barely knew. It wasn’t Kylie’s fault that Simon was single, handsome, sexy, and intense. And it wasn’t Kylie’s fault that her ex-husband had made her feel undesirable and insecure.
She mentally kicked herself. All she had done with Simon was have sex. It hadn’t been serious. But that fact couldn’t stop the ache in her heart.
Chapter 17
“Jeez, Simon, have you moved into your office?”
He looked up from his laptop sometime after five. “Hey, Linda.” He checked his watch. It was actually seven. Damn, where had the time gone?
“You don’t look so good.” His media relations officer paused, then stepped up to his desk. “Actually, I mean, you’re less handsome than usual. You still look better than ninety-nine percent of the population, but you look less like you.”
“Is that your way of telling me I should go home?” He rubbed some of the exhaustion from his eyes. It had been a long day. Made longer by the distance that kept growing between him and Heather.
“Nobody can tell you anything,” Linda said with a scoff. “Except for your assistant, who is probably the only person around here who you sometimes listen to. I hear you had a discussion with an investor at the conference?”
“Yes, I had a meeting with Santo Mattis. He’s interested in partnering with Dover. But that meeting was mostly Heather’s doing, to tell the truth,” he murmured. “She’s very good at her job.”
“So, why are you still here on a Friday night?” Linda asked pointedly.
“Because work is my life,” he admitted.
“That’s awfully lonely,” Linda said. “You’re young. You should be out having the time of your life.”
“I’m not the only one who works overtime,” he said.
“Well, I’m about to head out. Which means you’re the last one here,” she said. “Aren’t you tired of being the last one to go home?”
“You know me,” he replied. “Nothing makes me tired.”
“You’re not a machine, Simon.” Linda sighed.
It was as close to friendly advice as he was ever going to get, but there was no point in listening to Linda. Not if she didn’t know the real reason why he kept staying at work later and later. He was working harder than ever to keep his mind off Heather.
Which had been even harder to do today because he was sure he’d offended her. His former employee, Kylie, was back in town, and she’d come to visit. It had probably made Heather think Kylie was after her job. Which wasn’t the case at all. He might have been hesitant to even want something serious with Heather after the secrets she had kept from him, but he trusted that she was a good worker.
Right now they needed a cooling-off period, and the best way to make sure they cooled off was for him to put some distance between them.
“I’ll stay for another fifteen minutes and then head out,” he said. “How about that?”
“Okay, boss.” Linda smiled and then turned around to head out. She glanced over at the file cabinet across the office and said, “Nice sweater. Pink really is your color.”
Simon stared after her, bewildered. When she headed out of his office he walked over to the file cabinet, curious about Linda’s odd statement.
Right there on the cabinet was Heather’s familiar pink sweater. She’s been wearing it for most of the day. He groaned when memories of how she looked in it came flooding back. It had been a tight fit, the soft fabric accentuating her breasts.
He picked up the sweater, ready to leave it in her office, but there was something in the pocket. Curious, he reached for it and retrieved her ID. She would need it to get back into work on Monday. For security reasons Dover had very strict policies about employee IDs, and she’d probably be frantic all weekend without it.
It was probably best to drop off the ID and sweater at her place, so he grabbed his phone and dialed her. The phone rang without an answer. With relief, he hung up and sent her a text.