Impulse (Billionaire Secrets 5)

“This place is unbelievable,” Onslow said. “Do you own the actual building, son?”

“In a way,” Simon said. “Dover owns the building, and since I am Dover in a way...”

Onslow grinned, his eyes landing on Heather. “It’s good to see you again, Heather.”

“It’s good to see you, too.” She hoped her smile looked genuine, because even though she had agreed to give Simon’s father a chance an uneasy feeling was already tugging at her stomach. “Ready for the tour?”

“You bet.” Onslow followed them into an elevator, and then they walked out until they made it to Simon’s expansive office.

“Can I get you a coffee?” she asked Simon’s dad as they entered the office.

“I’d love some coffee,” Onslow said. “Thank you.”

She walked over to the coffee vending machine that was by the large table in Simon’s office. “What would you like? A latte? Cappuccino?”

“Uh... I don’t know all those fancy words,” Onslow said. “How about a regular coffee?”

“Coming right up,” she said as she busied herself at the vending machine. “What about you, Simon? An espresso, like usual?”

“Yes please, Heather,” Simon replied. “Thank you.”

When she made their drinks, she set them out on the meeting table where Simon and Onslow had taken a seat across from each other. Taking a seat beside Simon, she reached for the cup of hot tea she had made for herself and took a delicate sip.

“How’s the coffee, Onslow?” she asked.

Onslow took a sip of his drink and smiled. “Terrific. Thank you.”

She smiled. “It’s almost lunch time, so after the tour we’ll be able to treat you to a Dover lunch.”

“I read a few years ago that Dover practically serves gourmet meals,” Onslow said. “I’m looking forward to trying one of the company’s famous lunches.”

Heather frowned, realizing that something about his words was nagging at her. “Onslow, I thought you said you hadn’t read anything about Simon until that online piece you read last week.”

“Uh...” Simon’s father paused, his eyes darting around. “I guess the old noggin isn’t what it used to be. Can’t keep my stories straight sometimes. I’m sure I read some things about Simon in the past. Come to think of it, I remember reading an article about the first million dollars Simon ever made.” Onslow puffed out his chest. “I always knew you could make something of yourself, son.”

“Did you? Because I remember some of the things you said to Simon when he was a boy.” She knew she had promised to give Onslow a chance, but she hadn’t promised to pretend she couldn’t see through some of the inconsistent things he was saying. “You used to belittle his intelligence. Once, you told him that his mind was a waste and nobody would hire him to use it.”

“Heather, please.” Simon placed his hand on hers. “You promised.”

She squeezed her eyes shut, suddenly filled with regret. Not regret that she had confronted his father. Regret that Simon didn’t seem to want to face the truth. “I did promise. But how can you two have a relationship if you start by lying about the past?”

“Lie is a pretty strong word,” Simon chided.

“Okay.” Heather took a deep breath to steady herself. “I didn’t mean lie. I meant mischaracterize. How can you two have any hope of bu

ilding a solid relationship if you mischaracterize the past? Onslow, you didn’t appreciate Simon’s gifts when he was younger. You made him feel guilty for being smart. Made him feel guilty about accomplishing more than his parents. And I’m sorry, but that just isn’t right.”

A tense silence fell and she nursed the warm cup of tea in her hands. Damn, she really had made a mess of things. But she couldn’t stand to see Onslow paper over the truth.

Onslow sighed. “You’ve got a point.”

“No,” Simon insisted. “Dad, I apologize for Heather’s remark. She promised to give you a chance, but I can see now that promises don’t really matter all that much to her.”

“This is me giving him a chance,” she snapped. “I swore I’d give him a chance and I meant it. I’ll accept him, warts and all. But don’t ask me to accept a pretend version of him or your past. I’m ready to accept the real him. All your father has to be willing to do is come clean and face how he mistreated you in the past. Otherwise, Simon, you’ll realize that neither of us can accept him if he isn’t honest and upfront about who he really was.”

“And what about your past, Heather?” Onslow’s eyes narrowed. “I’m not perfect, and I’m sure you aren’t either.”

“What does that mean?” she demanded as she felt her face flush with something akin to anger.