Freedom (Billionaire Secrets 2)

It was hard to blame him if he had lost trust in her. After all, the scandal was partially her fault. Plus, she had lied to him at the start of their working relationship right after his previous assistant had betrayed the company.

She bit her lip. The best thing she could do to ease whatever his doubts might be was to throw herself into her work even more. Show him how committed she was to Dover no matter how shaky things were right now. Then he’d see that they could put the scandal behind them.

If he trusted her, she’d have a better chance of staying on at Dover. And with Gary coming after Finn, she was going to need a stable job if she wanted to prove that she was a good mother.

They steered the conversation back to Dover and company issues. Heather oversaw most of the communications Simon received, but he gave her the go-ahead to sort things out with him and the media department if things got dicey. For now, the press hadn’t been able to reach Simon. After years of fending them off, she knew that he’d figured out a way to keep the media at arm’s length.

Still, rifling through his trash was a new low for the press, and she made sure to take that lesson home with her in order to protect Finn.

“Does that about wrap things up?” he asked suddenly.

She glanced at her watch and realized the time. “I believe so. I’m sorry, did you have plans?” Expecting someone? She held her hand up. “Sorry. That’s none of my business.” Blushing, she quickly stuffed the remaining papers on the table into her briefcase and headed toward the door. “If there’s anything we missed, I’ll see if I can pdf it over to you or it can wait till Monday.” Simon followed her to the door. She knew she was near the verge of babbling but realized she didn’t want to know if someone was coming to his apartment. He had every right to be dating or seeing someone. She... sigh... She just didn’t want to know. “Thanks for taking care of all this. And for going out of your way to try to protect me. I’m sorry for all the trouble I’ve caused.”

Simon smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “It takes two, Heather. And one of us knew better.”

She paused as she stepped through the doorway into the hall. She turned and opened her mouth to say goodbye one last time; instead, she pressed her face right into his chest.

He stepped back quickly.

“I’m sorry,” she managed, “I didn’t realize you were following me out.” Was she going to spend a lifetime apologizing to him? She kept her head down, hoping he wouldn’t see her blushing. He smelled beyond good and felt incredibly solid against her. She was tempted to press up against him again.

“Do you want me to walk you down to your car?”

She straightened as she realized she was the one fooling herself. He wasn’t interested in her. He’d made that clear. “It’s fine. I’ll see you Monday.” She glanced up quickly, trying to meet his gaze, but couldn’t hold it. She turned and hurried to the elevator, pressing the button more times than she needed to. The doors slid open immediately and she stepped inside, fanning herself and wondering why she suddenly felt so warm.

HEATHER MADE SURE TO lay low throughout the weekend. It was better to stay home and spend time with Finn anyway. She had always treasured every moment with her son, but now she treasured them even more.

She woke up bright and early Monday morning to drive Finn to school. It didn’t matter if the media was hungry—she wasn’t going to give up her morning routine with her son. After dropping him off, she drove to work.

Stepping into Dover’s lobby made her stomach flutter. Everyone in the lobby turned to stare at her as she walked in. She hadn’t been inside Dover’s offices since the story broke, and she had no idea what to expect from her coworkers. They had probably spent the morning gossiping about her and Simon.

Doing her best to ignore the stares and whispers she made her way up to her office, making sure she kept her head held high the entire time.

She spotted Simon walking towards her office. “Good morning.”

“We have a problem,” he said.

“More reporters?” she asked.

“Worse.” He handed the cell phone in his hands over to her.