grass.
Kit, however, didn’t seem to find anything wrong with the place and she certainly wouldn’t care what his opinion of it was either. That much was evident.
‘Are you just passing through, Alex, or is there a purpose to your visit?’
Her ponytail bounced as she knelt down in front of a Cape Cod chair, picked up a piece of coarse sandpaper and started sanding.
His stomach started to cramp. He felt ridiculous in his dark suit and tie out here in her garden. He dragged the tie from around his neck and shoved it into his jacket pocket. He undid his top button and ordered himself to take a deep breath. ‘There’s a reason.’
Her ponytail kept bobbing. She was sanding that chair al wrong. If she weren’t careful, she’d pul a muscle. He had to clench his hands to stop from reaching out, hauling her to her feet and turning her to face him.
He couldn’t touch her. He’d made so much progress and he had no intention of backsliding now.
He just wanted to make things right—do the right thing. Touching her would be a step in the wrong direction.
‘Then any time today would be good…’
His teeth clenched when she stil didn’t turn around. He unclenched them to say, ‘I’m waiting for you to spare me a moment of your attention.’
‘From memory, when you were offered my ful attention you didn’t want it.’
Just like that, the old tension wrapped around them. Her hand froze mid-sand as if she couldn’t believe she’d uttered the words.
He wanted to swear and swear and swear. He should’ve had a plan. He should’ve rehearsed what to say. He should’ve known better than to trust his instincts when he was anywhere in the vicinity of Kit Mercer.
‘You resigned!’ The words shot out of him like an accusation. Unrehearsed.
‘You always were quick on the uptake.’
Kit had always been sassy, but rarely sarcastic.
His hands clenched and this time he did swear.
‘Can’t we try and keep this civilised?’
Final y she turned and planted herself in the half-sanded chair. ‘Why?’
Al his frustration bubbled up, threatening to choke him. ‘Look, I didn’t force you to sleep with me, al right? We were consenting adults and you were as into it as I was. I know I didn’t live up to your expectations and I’m sorry. I wish to God it had never happened. But it’s done now and I can’t undo it.’
Her eyes hardened. ‘Fine!’
‘What else can I do, other than apologise?’
‘Leave?’
The word kicked him in the centre of his gut and he knew then that this woman had left her mark on him for life. He also knew that if he was to save his sanity he had to rip her out of his life completely.
But he should be the one to suffer. Not her.
But he should be the one to suffer. Not her.
‘I can’t accept your resignation, Kit.’
An angry flush stained her cheeks. Her eyes glittered. ‘That’s your problem, Alex, not mine.’
‘You loved your job!’
‘So?’
‘And you were bril iant at it.’
She blinked.
‘Come back to Hal am Enterprises and I wil double your salary.’
‘No.’
‘I’l triple it.’ He planted his feet. ‘Kit, you’re too valuable an employee to give up on without a fight.’
She stared up at him and he could’ve sworn her bottom lip wobbled. ‘Alex—’
‘Look, come back. You don’t need to relocate and change your whole way of life. If working with me is so difficult for you, I’l relocate instead to our Brisbane office. I wil leave Donald in charge of operations in Sydney, I’l triple your salary and you won’t have to clap eyes on me again. I promise.’
Her eyes had grown huge. She pressed her hands to her cheeks. ‘I thought you’d ring, Alex, or email. I didn’t expect you to just turn up like this.’
Her hands shook. Her colour kept flooding and then receding. Should he have given her some warning? He’d been so intent on his mission he hadn’t thought what might be best for her.
But he knew how much she’d loved her job. She gained more satisfaction out of her job as project manager than he did running the entire company.
She shouldn’t feel compel ed to leave because of what had happened between them.
Stil , he’d been a fool to think that any meeting between them could be anything less than fraught.
