“That’s how you know I don’t suffer from false humility.” He got to his feet and lay down on the bed beside her.
Heather was still breathing hard in the wake of her orgasm, so he reached for her hand and held it to his chest. Right above his rapidly beating heart.
“Where did you learn to do that?” She let out another breathless laugh.
“Can’t give away all my secrets.” He turned his head to gaze at her.
Her face was flushed, red from the throes of her passion. Locks of her hair had escaped the bun, and it looked so sexy all tousled and messy like that. Is that what she would look like once she went back to Gary? Happy and sated and satisfied?
His jaw clenched. The thought of another man’s hands all over her filled him with a blinding rage he didn’t know he could possess. All these dangerous emotions that she stirred in him unnerved him. Made him realize just how out of control he was when he gave in to his baser urges with her.
This had to end. Without another word to her he climbed out of bed. He didn’t want her to see the turmoil that raged inside him, so he smiled at her.
Eyes lighting up, she returned his smile.
“Just give me a sec,” he said to her, and then he stepped into the adjacent bathroom, closing the door behind him.
When he got a glimpse of his reflection in the mirror, he averted his gaze. Seeing the look on his face after pleasuring her was the first and last thing he wanted to do. Because giving her pleasure had felt so damn good in the moment. Even now it felt good, and she hadn’t put a hand on him.
He turned on the tap, ready to splash some cold water on his face to wake himself up and get back to reality. This was the last time they could indulge in something illicit like this. Their affair was a chapter he planned on closing. Now and forever.
Chapter 16
“So this is goodbye.” She was standing on her front porch, gazing up at him.
He cleared his throat, internally hating the fact that this moment of truth had arrived. “Yes. This is goodbye.” Simon turned from her, ready to head back to his car and drive off.
The drive back to Seattle from the conference had been tortuously silent and awkward. There was no point in rehashing their affair now that it was ending.
Her hand touched his arm, stopping him. “You mean forever?”
When he turned back to look at her, he made sure to keep his face expressionless. He was too jaded a man to show her that letting her go was actually the last thing he wanted to do.
“Of course not,” he replied, keeping his tone light. “You’ll be back to work on Monday. Enjoy your weekend.”
“Simon, what we did—”
“That’s forgotten,” he reminded her sharply. “It’s time to put it behind us.”
“I never meant to hurt you.” Heather bit her lip, sadness flashing in her eyes. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For not reporting this,” she said. “I don’t think we’d be able to get past this if someone else knew.”
“No need to thank me,” he said. “You were right. I’m a private guy, and keeping it quiet is the best way to handle this.”
“So, this is over then,” she said.
This wasn’t the time to get caught up in sentiment. He pulled his arm away from her and sauntered over to his car. “Heather, it never truly began.”
MONDAY MORNING TRAFFIC was torture. Being stuck behind the wheel of his car, alone to contemplate his thoughts of Heather, wasn’t the way he wanted to start the week. Simon would rather not think about his assistant. He usually spent his weekends working, but he’d been so distracted thinking about her that almost nothing had gotten done.
His cell phone rang, and he glanced over at it. Heather.
Simon put the phone on speaker. “Yes?”
“Simon?” she answered breathlessly, the sound of her voice filling the car. Just hearing the husky tone of her voice was driving him crazy. “It’s me—”
“I know perfectly well who it is,” he said, cutting her off. No point in telling her how unmistakably sexy her voice was. “What is it?”
“We have a bit of a situation down here,” she replied.