You Had Me At Christmas: A Holiday Anthology(52)

Kate closed her mouth, uncertain of what she’d been about to say. Surely she wasn’t worried he would die. He was a strong, healthy man in his forties. It would be ridiculous to be so maudlin.

“Left,” Sally said. “The word you are looking for is left.”

Kate put her hand over her mouth, because she knew her jaw was gaping. “Oh my God,” she whispered. “Am I really doing that? Am I afraid every man is going to be like my father?”

Sally moved closer, but she didn’t try to touch her. Kate would have flinched if she had. Her entire body felt oversensitized.

“I’m no shrink, but it makes sense doesn’t it? The first impression you had of a man in your life was your father. Leaving you and your mother. You told me the story. Trust me, we’ve spent enough time drinking margaritas together at happy hour for me to have picked up on your deal. You’ve had a few shallow relationships in your life, but nothing solid. Instead you put all your energy into this company.”

Kate drew back like she’d been struck. “You mean this company that pays your salary. Makes it possible for your husband to go back to school to get his doctorate.”

Sally held up her hands. “Hey, I’m not saying this as any kind of criticism. I know what you’ve built, Kate, and hell yes I appreciate it because it pays the bills. I’m only saying that I’ve watched you for years, keeping men at arm’s length, and it’s not because you weren’t attracted to them, it’s because you were wary of them. This guy somehow got further than most, but because you’re afraid you cut and ran. Did you even tell him why?”

Kate shook her head. “No. I got up in the middle of the night and left him.”

“You need to call him. Better yet, you need to go see him. Explain why you’re afraid. Give him a chance to overcome that.”

“I can’t!” Kate snapped. “I was horrible to him. He tried to text me and I… I didn’t answer. Then he said he would come looking for me because he was worried… I told him goodbye and that was it. Then I blocked him on my phone and deleted his number.”

“Wow,” Sally said. “You must have really liked him to be so thorough in your bridge burning.”

As if she had walked miles, Kate dropped onto the couch on the far wall of her office. She thought of all the times she’d slept on this couch when work would keep her busy well past midnight. It had been easier to pass out at the office than to bother going home.

This company. Her most long-term lover. As long as she was in control of it, it would never leave her. Never disappoint her.

“I really liked him,” she whispered, letting herself hear the words.

“Hey, you can fix this…”

Sally stopped and turned her head. Kate could hear it too. There was some type of commotion happening outside. Kate got off the couch and left her office. She could clearly hear her receptionist raising her voice to someone.

“Sir, you can’t come into this office without a visitor pass. I need you to leave.”

“That’s not happening. Look, just tell me which way her office is.”

Kate gasped and looked at Sally. “It’s him.”

Sally’s eyes grew wide and she mouthed a silent O.M.G.

“I will not, and if you don’t exit this building, I’m calling the police.”

“Fine, tell them I said hi. There’s one in particular who might remember me.”

Then he turned the corner into long hallway that ended at Kate’s office, and Kate sucked in her breath. He was wearing his black leather coat and a pair of jeans that had seen better days, and for some reason she found the combination incredibly sexy.

She wanted to run into his arms and at the same time she wanted to run back to her office and lock the door. Yep, that was one heck of a contradiction. No matter what the outcome of today was, she probably should start thinking about therapy.

“Holy crap, he’s hot,” Sally muttered next to her.

Kate turned to her friend. “Can you please go talk to Mary?”

“Right. No cops.”

John walked up to her and Kate could feel everyone’s eyes on them. What a show for the boss to be putting on display.

“How did you find me?” she asked when he was close enough.

“LinkedIn. You said you were an entrepreneur. You said you had an assistant. I knew you lived in South Jersey. I took a chance. It only took a couple hours to find your picture. The company’s name was listed. Once I had that, the address was easy.”

He’d searched for her. For hours. Granted it had been online, but there was still a little thrill there.

“Huh. I’m not sure what I’m supposed to say.”

“For one, how about I’m sorry.”

Kate heard someone gasp. “Can we do this in my office?”

“Right. Forgot. Boss lady. You lead the way.”

Kate turned and he followed her down the hall. Once inside her office she closed the door, but she could almost imagine her employees would find ways to casually walk past her office so they could see what was happening inside.

“I’m sorry,” she said quickly. It seemed to deflate him. Like maybe he’d been expecting her to put up more of a fight.

“Did I do something wrong? Did I cross some line I didn’t know was there? Geez Kate, did you even enjoy yourself?”