“No. My lawyers had been bringing staff members in to give testimony over the past few days. They couldn’t say anything to anyone either. Not until the judge ruled. Which happened yesterday. Her claim was dismissed completely.”
He’d been involved in a horrible, unfair lawsuit! He hadn’t rejected her! He hadn’t…
He hadn’t bothered to even text her to tell her that he was alive.
Pushing her relief aside, she nodded calmly, keeping her eyes above his chest. “That’s good. I’m glad. Ruth wasn’t a good person.”
“Selena…”
“I have to get to work.”
“I couldn’t contact you! I wanted to. But my lawyers warned me against saying anything.”
She stopped him. “I understand, Reid. And you don’t owe me anything. We had no understanding. You don’t report to me. It’s the other way around. You’re my boss.” She glanced behind him at the beautiful guest house and shrugged. “And my landlord. But…”
“No!” he growled, moving closer and taking her upper arms in his hands. “We might not have defined our relationship but you’re a hell of a lot more to me than just an employee. And yes, I know that I shouldn’t touch you because you are an employee, but…” he moved closer, “I can’t seem to stay away from you, Selena. Even after the nightmare of the past week, I can’t stay away. I thought about you every minute while listening to that evil woman’s accusations. But every time I wanted to contact you, my lawyer stopped me, telling me that no one could know about this lawsuit yet. If any word got out to the media, there would be hell. The media wouldn’t want the truth! You know damn well that they’d prefer Ruth’s version of the story because it’s more exciting!”
Yes, that was true. But it didn’t address the issue hanging between them. “Reid, you don’t owe me any explanation.”
“I don’t…!” he released her, throwing his hands in the air. He stepped back as he ran his hands through his hair, mussing up what was already a bit messy since he’d just woken up. When he turned back to her, her stomach tightened with that determined look to his features. “I’m not letting you go, Selena. There’s something between us. You don’t trust me, and I get that. I didn’t call and I should have, even though my lawyers warned me not to. I should have called just to tell you I was okay.”
“You don’t…”
He lifted his hand and she pressed her lips together. “Selena, if you tell me one more time that I don’t owe you anything, I’m going to…” he stopped, and readjusted his topic. “I owe you an explanation. And I owed you a phone call. We’re…” Once again, he stopped.
Selena waited, wondering what he might say.
“We’re lovers, Selena. And I know that means something to you so don’t even try to deny it.”
She opened her mouth, wanting to say he was wrong. She wanted to be a sophisticated woman who could have sex with a man and walk away with a smile the next day. But that wasn’t who she was. She wanted the commitment. She wanted the long-term relationship. She wanted…Reid. She wanted the love and marriage and lots of kids. Cat needed a dog to snuggle with at night and needed someone else to leave…dead presents for!
“I’m fine,” she lied. And with those words, she died a little inside.
Reid watched her carefully, looking for signs that she was lying. His gut told him that she wanted all of the same things that he did. But…
There!
“Selena!” he groaned, pulling her into his arms. She was stiff for only a moment, then he felt her melt against him and he buried his nose in her flower-scented hair. “I need more than just a nice time between the sheets.”
He felt her shudder and then her hands crept around his waist. Feeling her fingers against his bare skin was heaven and hell. He loved her touch, the way she smoothed out all of the roughness of the past several days. But her touch was also a bit of hell because he knew that he had to get into the office. He’d had only two hours of sleep last night after leaving his lawyer’s office. Andrea was a legal shark and he admired her ability to win. But they’d been up until the wee hours of the night strategizing, coming up with a way to keep Ruth from coming at them from another direction. Around three o’clock in the morning, Andrea and her team had come up with ten different legal filings aimed to stop Ruth from speaking out and creating a publicity nightmare. Ruth might have lost her wrongful termination case against Rembrandt Cosmetics, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t sully the company’s name in the media with her accusations.