Freedom (Billionaire Secrets 2)

“Let me do the talking during the meeting,” he said, trying to reassure her. He couldn’t let the stress of the situation show. Heather needed him to project certainty and confidence, even though he was bristling at the thought of his own board combing through his private life.

“This is as much my fault as it is yours,” she said.

Simon placed his hands on her shoulders and looked down at her. “I’m the one in charge. This is on me.”

“What if they force you to step down?” She shut her eyes. “I couldn’t bear it.”

He smiled, refusing to let out the chuckle behind it. That would never happen—he owned the company. They couldn’t ask him to step down. But he appreciated her apprehension for him. “I’m more concerned about you,” he said instead. “Whatever happens in there, I’m going to save your job.”

Heather opened her eyes. “I’m still up for evaluation.”

“Right,” he said with a nod. “And I got a board member to do your three-month evaluation, remember? You’re safe for another month at least, and if I have to force them to keep you working after that, I’ll force them.”

Typically, he’d be the one in charge of evaluating her first three months on the job, but after they’d had sex he’d made sure he put that task in someone else’s hands. That had been the ethical thing to do, and he was determined to make sure she didn’t pay for his screw-ups. Heather had been working for him for less than three months, but already he knew she was the best assistant he’d ever had. She deserved to work at Dover.

She sighed, pushing her glasses up her nose. “I’ve made such a mess of things.”

“No, you haven’t,” he assured her. “This is something I have to fix, not you.”

“I should’ve let you just tell the board about what we had done,” she said miserably. “You wanted to tell them, but I begged you not to. Now I’ve made you look like you can’t be trusted. Like you’ve been trying to hide the truth.”

He shoved his hands into his pockets and forced out a deep sigh. The truth was so much more complicated than she realized.

The one woman he wanted was the one woman he couldn’t have. Things had gotten so out of control so fast. How had this innocent, nerdy woman managed to upend his life so completely?

Heather was the most unassuming woman he’d ever met. She liked to stay out of trouble. And even though she had come out of her shell since he’d known her in high school, she was still very much a wallflower.

This morning, like all mornings, her auburn hair was pulled up into a severe bun. The freckles on her face made her look even younger than she was. More innocent. But Simon knew that beneath that innocent, reserved exterior was something else entirely.

Everything about her surprised him. Fascinated him. No matter how hard he had tried over the past four weeks, he couldn’t get his assistant out of his head.

“I had wanted to tell the board about us,” he admitted. It was company protocol to reveal any kind of romantic relationship between Dover colleagues to the board. Dover Inc. took ethics very seriously and so did he. But Heather had begged him to keep their relationship a secret, and after it fizzled out he hadn’t seen any reason to reveal the truth to the board.

For the past month he had been convinced that nobody would ever find out. They’d put the past behind them, and Heather had acted like nothing had happened between them. It hurt to go along with the charade, but he had done it.

“I had wanted to,” he repeated, “but—”

A knock on the door made Heather jump back, startled.

“Come in,” he called out.

One of the company’s executive assistants waltzed in, her phone in hand. “Simon? The board is having an impromptu meeting this morning and they’d like to see you—”

“We know,” he said tersely.

The executive assistant blinked. “Oh. Right. Well, you’re to follow me. Along with your assistant.”

He nodded. “Fine. Let’s get this over with.”

They filed out of his office and made their way down the hall, towards one of the conference rooms.