Chapter 3: The Meeting I Couldn't Avoid

By Wednesday, the entire office had developed the same expression.

Tired eyes. Tight shoulders. Empty coffee cups.

Adrian's mandatory overtime had turned the company into a very well-dressed prison.

At ten forty-five that night, I was still staring at a spreadsheet that had stopped making sense three hours earlier.

The numbers blurred together until every column looked like a personal insult.

Lily rolled her chair toward my desk and dropped her forehead onto the edge of it.

"I no longer remember what sunlight looks like," she mumbled.

"It's bright. Apparently."

"Do you think the CEO feeds on employee exhaustion?"

"Possibly."

"Then why do you look guilty every time someone complains about him?"

I slowly turned my chair toward her.

"I don't."

"You do."

"That's just my natural face."

"Your natural face looks like it broke a billionaire's heart?"

I kicked the wheel of her chair.

She rolled backward with a quiet laugh.

My phone buzzed beside my keyboard.

I didn't need to check the screen to know who it was.

Adrian had been unusually quiet all day, which meant he was either busy or waiting for me to message first.

I picked up the phone beneath the desk.

"Still awake?" he had written.

I glanced toward the glass wall of the executive office.

He was sitting behind his desk, jacket removed, sleeves rolled to his elbows. His attention appeared fixed on the laptop in front of him.

Appeared.

A second later, his phone lit up in his hand.

I looked down again.

"Yes," I replied.

"Working late?"

The irony nearly made me laugh out loud.

"Unfortunately."

"Your boss sounds unreasonable."

I stared at the message.

Was he joking?

"He's a nightmare," I typed.

Across the office, Adrian leaned back in his chair.

Then my phone buzzed.

"That bad?"

"Worse. Cold. Demanding. No respect for human sleep."

I watched him press his lips together, clearly trying not to smile.

My stomach dropped.

Could he see me?

I immediately lowered my head and pretended to study the spreadsheet.

"Maybe he has a lot on his mind," Adrian replied.

"Then he should see a therapist instead of punishing an entire company."

This time, I heard something from inside his office.

A laugh.

It was quiet, but unmistakable.

Lily lifted her head.

"Did he just laugh?"

"No."

"That was definitely a laugh."

"Maybe he's watching something."

"Adrian Carter doesn't watch things. He reviews them."

My phone buzzed again.

"You always make me feel better."

The amusement disappeared from my face.

I read the message twice.

Guilt settled heavily in my chest.

For all my complaints, Adrian had never been cruel to me online. He listened. He remembered. He made time for me even when his schedule was impossible.

And I was lying to him every day.

"I'm glad," I finally replied.

"Then meet me."

My fingers froze above the screen.

There it was again.

No warning. No gentle lead-in.

Just the one request that could destroy everything.

"Adrian..."

"One coffee."

"It's complicated."

"It doesn't have to be."

"You don't understand."

"Then explain it to me."

I couldn't.

I looked toward his office again.

This time, he wasn't looking at his laptop.

He was staring through the glass at the dark city beyond the windows, his expression unreadable.

"Are you married?" he asked.

My eyes widened.

"What? No!"

"Engaged?"

"No."

"Dating someone else?"

"You're supposed to be the person I'm dating."

"Supposed to be?"

I closed my eyes.

Excellent wording, Emma.

"You know what I mean."

"I don't, actually."

Before I could answer, a shadow fell across my desk.

I locked my phone so quickly it nearly slipped from my hand.

Adrian stood beside me.

Up close, he looked more tired than intimidating. The knot of his tie had loosened, and a faint crease sat between his eyebrows.

"Miss Hayes," he said.

"Mr. Carter."

"Have you finished the Morrison report?"

"Almost."

He looked at the screen.

"You've entered the same figure twice."

I followed his gaze.

He was right.

"I'll correct it."

"You're tired."

"Everyone is tired."

The words escaped before I could stop them.

Lily suddenly became extremely interested in her monitor.

Adrian looked at me for a long moment.

I waited for the lecture.

Instead, he asked, "How long have you been here today?"

"Since eight thirty."

His expression tightened slightly.

"Finish the current section and go home."

I blinked.

"What about the rest?"

"Tomorrow."

"But the email said mandatory overtime."

"I'm aware. I wrote it."

"Right."

The corner of his mouth moved.

Not quite a smile, but close.

"Go home, Miss Hayes."

He walked away before I could answer.

The second his office door closed, Lily spun toward me.

"He let you leave."

"He said finish the section first."

"That's basically a marriage proposal in Adrian Carter language."

"Stop."

"He noticed you were tired."

"He has eyes."

"He also has two hundred employees. Apparently, his eyes only work on you."

I ignored her and corrected the duplicate figure.

Ten minutes later, I packed my bag.

As I stepped into the elevator, my phone buzzed again.

"Sorry. Work interruption."

I stared at the screen, then toward the closing doors.

He had messaged me less than a minute after sending me home.

"Your boss again?" I replied.

"Yes. She looked exhausted."

My breath caught.

She.

He was talking about me.

"Maybe you should stop keeping your employees there until midnight," I wrote.

"Maybe you're right."

The elevator descended.

Then another message arrived.

"Saturday. Two o'clock. One coffee. Public place. You choose where."

I leaned against the mirrored wall.

"And if I say no?"

"I'll keep asking."

"That's harassment."

"Persistent courtship."

"Same thing with better branding."

"Saturday?"

I should have refused.

I should have blocked him, changed my name, moved to another country, and started a quiet new life selling flowers.

Instead, I typed, "I'll think about it."

His reply came immediately.

"That's not a no."

"Don't get excited."

"Too late."

When I reached the lobby, rain was pouring outside.

I stood under the awning, wondering how my life had become this ridiculous.

Then a black car stopped in front of me.

The rear window lowered.

Adrian was sitting inside.

"Miss Hayes," he called. "Get in. I'll have the driver take you home."

I stared at him.

My phone buzzed in my hand at the exact same moment.

"It's raining," online Adrian had written. "Make sure you get home safely."

I looked from the message to the man in the car.

For one dangerous second, I almost laughed.

"Is something funny?" he asked.

"No, sir."

I climbed into the car and sat as far away from him as possible.

The doors locked.

Adrian gave the driver my neighborhood after I quietly told him the address.

Then he glanced at my phone.

"Someone important?"

My heart slammed against my ribs.

"Just a friend."

"A close friend?"

"Something like that."

He nodded, but his jaw tightened.

I turned toward the rain-streaked window to hide my expression.

Apparently, my online boyfriend was jealous of himself.

And somehow, that wasn't even the biggest problem anymore.

Because Saturday was only three days away.

And unless I found a miracle before then, Adrian Carter was finally going to meet the girlfriend who had been sitting beside him all along.