The Deal (London Suits 0.50)

17

Avery

My eyes connected with Ethan’s, and my heart stuttered at his expression, full of hope and determination. What was he doing?

“This won’t take long. Delia will be sending this all out in an email—” He glanced over at Delia, and she gave him a quick nod in confirmation, a pleased smile on her face. “—but I wanted to inform you all in person. There are going to be a few changes in the office.” He looked around the room at his assembled members of staff, and then his gaze returned to mine.

“I’m taking a step back.” At the gasps from several of my colleagues, he held up a hand. “Let me finish. All this means is that I will be reducing my workload, significantly, to give myself time to have a life outside of work.” His eyes bored into me, a tiny smile appearing on his lips. “Luke has agreed to take on a higher-level role, so I will be shifting some of my responsibilities to him, and a few of you will be asked to take on some additional tasks. I’ll meet with everyone affected separately, but rest assured, we will be advertising a new position to cover the shortfall. None of you will be asked to take on more than you can handle. I’m hoping to get an advert up and running in the next day or so, and we will begin interviews in the next couple of weeks.” His face turned serious, and he took a step towards me.

I swear I stopped breathing. I shook my head desperately, hoping he’d get the message.

He shot me a look that was full of understanding and inclined his head towards his office door. I slipped out of my seat, needing to know what he had to say. In private. He motioned me to wait for a moment with a subtle finger gesture, then raised his voice. “Thank you all for taking the time to listen. As I mentioned before, Delia will send email confirmation of everything I’ve mentioned, and I’ll meet with the individuals directly affected by my announcement.” He turned on his heel to head back to his office.

As the door closed behind him, Luke gave me a pointed glance. “Go on, then.”

I waited for a moment, allowing the office chatter to die down to normal levels, then walked over to Ethan’s closed office door, and knocked.

“Come in,” he called, and I turned the handle, my heart racing. I entered his office, closing the door behind me.

“Ethan, what’s this all about?”

“Avery,” he breathed, standing. “I have one last thing to say before I let you get back to work. I hurt somebody with my obsession with work. Somebody, who, in a short space of time, has become very important to me.” He rounded his desk, coming to stand in front of me, close enough that I could reach out and touch him but giving me space to breathe. “I apologise. I want you to know just how sorry I am. I made you feel like you come second to Barrett London.” His voice grew softer, and he reached out to clasp one of my shaking hands in his. “You hit me like a whirlwind. I wasn’t expecting you, us, any of it. It took me by surprise, and I know I handled things terribly. I want you to know how much you mean to me, and I want to spend all my newly free time with the woman I’m falling for.”

He released my hand as I stared at him, unable to form words. “Don’t say anything now. Take some time to decide if this is what you want.” Turning on his heel, he strode across his office, back towards his desk.

“Ethan,” I whispered, my voice sounding scratchy and disjointed. “Ethan.”

He paused mid-stride and turned around.

I was launching myself at him before I even knew what I was doing.

I leapt into his arms, and he caught me.

I forgot where we were.

Nothing else mattered.

Only him.

Kissing his handsome face over and over, I wrapped my arms and legs around him, clinging to him, and all the while he held me tightly.

He walked us around his desk and lowered us into his chair. I straddled him, keeping my arms around his neck, not wanting to let go of him, not even for a second.

“Do you forgive me?” He murmured his question against my lips, and I nodded.

“All I wanted was for you to make time for me. I know how much your company means to you, and the fact you’re willing to take a step back and relinquish control…Eth, that’s huge, especially for you.”

“You’re worth it. I would have done whatever I could to make it up to you.”

I looked into his eyes, my emotions overwhelming me. “You’ve gone above and beyond anything I could have expected.”

“Avery…” He swallowed thickly.

His lips descended on mine.

Sometime later, as I was adjusting my clothes and attempting to fix my hair using the selfie camera on my phone, Ethan came up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist. “I have something for you.” He gently gripped my wrist and placed an envelope in my hand.

I lowered my phone, placing it on Ethan’s desk, intrigued.