The Rule Book (Rule Breakers #1)(79)

“No. You’re not,” he agreed.

Okay, I wasn’t quite expecting that. A little voice in the back of my mind hoped that he would ask me back, just so I could have the chance to say no. “Right. Well, I’m going to go back and spend time with my mom.” I hitched my finger toward her room down the hall.

He touched my arm before I could walk away. “Lainey, I’m just so sorry.”

“I forgive you, Brogan, but I don’t know if we can come back from this. Not after what happened.” At least Brogan’s dad would be prosecuted for his actions, along with Zelda. Maybe he was the one that had paid the medical bills. It made sense. He’d screwed me over and wanted to make things right. “Although you can tell your dad that it was nice he finally grew a conscience.”

Brogan shook his head, his brows pinched together. “What are you talking about?”

“Paying my mom’s medical bills.” Who knew someone so corrupt could actually grow a pair?

He cleared his throat and scuffed his foot along the linoleum floor. “He didn’t pay your bills.”

“But…” How could I not see it before? Of course. It all made sense now. The reason he showed up to the hospital, the apology. It was Brogan.

He nodded. “Yeah.”

“Why?”

“I love you, Lainey. I saw what you gave up. You did that for me, and I will be forever grateful. I don’t want to live my life by a damn rule book anymore. I want you and only you.”

I didn’t know how to respond to his words. They filled my heart and tore it to shreds at the same time. “I can’t let you pay for that. It’s too much. Once I get the money, I will pay you back.”

“Not happening,” he said.

Hot tears burned at the back of my throat. He’d just given me the biggest gift I could never accept. Financial freedom meant everything, but I couldn’t let him take the burden. “It might take a while, but I promise to return every penny.”

“Consider it a bonus for helping find a corporate spy. Who knows how much worse it would have gotten if you hadn’t told me.”

“I can’t. It feels weird. Like you gave me money for hurting me.” I looked him in the eye. I wanted him to see what he’d done.

“No. That isn’t it at all, Lainey. Really. I mean, I do feel guilty for what I did. But I paid your mom’s hospital bills because my family wronged you. What my dad did—there aren’t words.” He shoved a hand through his hair. “You and your mom are good people. You’re what’s right with the world. Me paying the bill was saying thank-you for showing me that. If you pay me back—I don’t want your money.”

“I don’t know,” I said. This was all too much to process.

He huffed out a sigh, and I could tell he was starting to lose his patience. “How about this. I have another proposition.” His eyes searched mine. “I’m taking over a new social media company in Seattle, helping them rebuild their infrastructure. I can’t oversee them all the time, since I will still be dealing with the mess at Starr Media. I need someone I can trust. I’d like to extend the invitation of employment. We could say that the medical bills were an early signing bonus.”

A job. Where I wouldn’t have to walk dogs or fetch coffee. One without grinchy Jackson and a carnivorous elevator. A real marketing job. I looked at him, still skeptical. “Why not put Jackson on the job?”

“He’s going to stay with me at Starr.”

I nodded. This would be huge. I wouldn’t get an opportunity like this for years to come with other companies, not with the current state of the market. “What would the position be?”

“Marketing manager. You could put those MBA skills to good use at the company.”

Inner Lainey was dropping it like it was hot. Lainey that Brogan could see remained cold and aloof. “I’d need some time to think about it.”

His frown told me he’d expected a different answer.

He put his hands on my shoulders, and those chocolate brown eyes pierced straight through my soul. “Please, Lainey,” he pleaded. “I miss you so much. I made a mistake, but hell, I’m human. Is there any way you’ll forgive me? Please just consider taking the job.”

I frowned. “I’ll think about it,” I said again. As I turned to walk away, my chest ached. It hurt to breathe.

“Your mom is right, you know.” His voice was quiet, but it carried in the empty hallway.

I swallowed past the lump in my throat and turned to face him. “How so?”

“I couldn’t even dream of finding someone like you in this lifetime or the next. You’re smart, and kind, and everything I could ever ask for in a partner—both in and out of the boardroom. You showed me what love is, and no matter what you decide, I will be forever grateful for that Lainey. It hurts like hell that I broke your trust, because you are my heart. I can’t live without you.”

My wall crumbled into dust. He was everything I could ever want in a man. He didn’t complete me, because hell, I was complete to begin with, but he was the perfect complement, one that I’d be hard pressed to find in someone else.

I let out an exaggerated sigh and put my hands on my hips. “What are the starting wages?”

His expression turned hopeful. “What?”