Heather grabbed her lunch tray and scurried off.
Several minutes later he grabbed a seat at an empty table by the window. He probably should have gotten his food to go, but seeing Heather made him want to stay. He didn’t dare look up to search for her. Torturing himself wasn’t going to fix this. Ignoring the agony in his heart he forced his sandwich down, barely tasting any of it. It took fifteen minutes, timed directly on his phone. Long enough to look relaxed and in control. As he reached for his tray, Heather’s small frame came into view.
She swallowed hard. “Simon. Do you have a minute?”
He stared at her for a moment too long, stunned that she had come over to him. “I have a very important meeting to get to.” Blowing her off was the last thing he wanted to do, but he was about to meet with a lawyer to figure out how to protect the ideas that had been hacked.
“Oh, sorry.” Her shoulders sagged. “Never mind.”
“Wait.” His fingers curled around her thin, delicate wrist. “I’m on my way to my car. Is five minutes enough to talk?”
“Yes.” She straightened quickly. “I think that would be long enough.”
After he set his tray aside, he walked with her towards the lobby.
“What did you want to talk about?” He wasn’t going to bother getting his hopes up. No doubt she wanted to talk business. This was not some personal issue.
“Linda told me that the electricians who upgraded your apartment were also hired to do work at VLA.”
He shrugged. “I chose those particular electricians because their specialty is working with tech. It’s not that unusual for them to have worked with VLA”
“I figured as much, but...” Her voice trailed off.
“But?” At the main entrance he used his Dover ID to get out and kept walking towards the parking lot.
“You’re the smartest person I know,” she said. “If you don’t think this is suspicious then it probably isn’t.”
“I never said that it wasn’t suspicious.” He stopped in front of his car. “I just don’t think we can jump to any conclusions based on this one connection.”
She lowered her eyes. “Well, do you remember if someone recommended the electricians to you?”
He wracked his brain, trying to remember. “It might have been my old assistant, Xander.”
“Do you think your old assistant has something to do with this?” she asked. “I mean, he got caught selling Dover secrets. Maybe he had something to do with the hack.”
“It’s possible.”
“You sound skeptical,” she said.
He leaned against his car and crossed his arms. “It’s good to be skeptical sometimes. Which is advice I should have taken before I accused you without evidence.”
“But you believe me without evidence now,” she pointed out.
“I do.”
“Why?”
Probably because, deep down, his heart could never let him truly believe the worst of her. For all his reliance on intellect and skepticism, when it came to Heather he was guided by his feelings more than anything else. His gut told him she was innocent. After she had defended herself, it was impossible for him to suspect her. It went against everything he stood for to make a decision like that based on his response to her, but nothing concerning Heather had ever been logical.
He wanted her. Probably always would. He didn’t believe in love, but he was as close to it as a man like him could get. It should have shocked him that he was putting so much trust in her, but it didn’t. Right now, it just felt... right.
When it came to Heather cold, hard facts meant nothing. The only truth that mattered was the truth in his heart. She was all that mattered. If he had to choose between his life’s work at Dover and being with Heather, he would choose Heather. Without hesitation.
“I trust you, Heather,” he said finally. “Isn’t that enough?”
“I know what you’re trying to do. It’s too little too late,” she bit out.
His heart sank, but right now he had to focus on helping her. If she was willing to come to him for help now, that meant she was either in dire straits or a tiny part of her was starting to forgive him. That wasn’t a guarantee that she would ever give him another chance, but it was the only shred of hope he could hold on to.