Dare to Love (Dare to Love 1)
Ian: I need to speak to you.
She blinked, certain she was misreading. He’d avoided her since her return to work. She hadn’t bumped into him in the hall nor had he sought her out. He hadn’t called to check on her either. He’d just cut ties, and damned if that didn’t hurt. After the longest month of her life, he was asking for her now?
She knew he couldn’t want anything job related. She didn’t work under him.
Her pulse began to race as she typed back.
Riley: Just leaving for the day. Will stop by on my way out.
Ian: I’ll be waiting.
Her nerves kicked in as she powered down her computer and grabbed her purse, shutting the light off as she walked out of her office.
After five, support staff was gone for the day, and she knocked on his door, letting herself in.
He rose as soon as she stepped inside. “Lock the door,” he said by way of greeting.
She automatically did as he asked, closing them in his office. Alone. Beneath her collar, she began to perspire from sheer nerves because she knew, no matter why he’d called her in here, they’d be having it out.
Possibly for good.
As usual for this time of day, his jacket was off, hung on a hook on his door, his tie was undone, and the top buttons on his dress shirt open. He looked scruffy and hot, but as sexy as he appeared, he also looked tired, dark circles shadowing his eyes, and she wondered if he’d lost as much sleep as she had since they’d been apart.
“How are you?” he asked, his searing gaze raking her over.
“Fine. Apparently I have a hard head.” She knocked on her skull with her knuckles.
He didn’t laugh. “Don’t joke about what that bastard did to you.”
“Well, I’m not going to cry about it.” She’d done enough of that over Ian and her father both. After a lifetime of abuse, she still shed a tear over the kind of parent she had and the way he treated her.
“You look good,” Ian said, sounding relieved. “I was worried.”
“Bullshit.” The words were out before she could think, taking her by surprise.
He reared back, staring at her.
“What? You want me to think you actually care? Is that why you walked out on me at the hospital and I haven’t heard from you since?”
From the minute she’d entered this office, she’d felt her emotions brewing below the surface. She wasn’t surprised they were coming out now. She’d spent so much time first berating herself for violating Ian’s trust and then missing the good times they’d shared, she hadn’t allowed her anger at him to truly surface. But as she stood here now, it was alive and vibrating within her.
“Go on,” he said in a deceptively calm voice.
She flexed her fingers and decided to take her therapist’s advice. Of course, she’d only had two sessions, but they’d been plenty productive. The first lesson? Let yourself feel. The second? Express those feelings before they eat you alive.
What was the worst thing that could happen? Ian had already abandoned her. She strode up to his desk, bracing her arms on the wooden top.
“My father slapped me. My head slammed against a brick wall. And you didn’t come in to see if I was okay.”
His eyes darkened, and his cheeks burned with what she’d like to think was embarrassment.
“The doctor came out with an update on your condition,” he said.
“Oh. That makes it all better,” she said, her temper rising.
“I never said it did.”
His placid demeanor drove her insane. “I know I screwed up by not coming to you about my father’s threats, but I had my reasons. I wanted the chance to explain them to you, but you wouldn’t give me the chance.”