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Tears begin to fill the corners of my eyes, and I will them to stay back.

“It’s fine, Verity. We’ll find a way through this.”

Cullen takes a step toward me, reaching for my hand. I counter, taking two steps back.

“No, we won’t. This has to end here.”

“We just started.”

“I know, I—” The words get stuck in my throat. The longer I’m around him, the harder it gets to push back. With his touch on my skin, my screaming heart quiets. In just a few short weeks, he has become such a comfort to me. I need to leave now, before I lose my courage.

“I can’t date my boss’s ex-husband. I can’t risk my career, Cullen.”

I shuck off his jacket and shove it into his chest. That movement startles him enough that I use it for my escape. I swivel on my heels and sprint out the building and as far down the street as possible before he can catch up.

I make a run for it like the coward I am.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

VERITY

“Hello, my love. I come bearing gifts.” The front door slams open and heels click against the floor alongside Hannah’s loud greeting. There’s a bunch of rustling and clanging. “Turns out the guy I banged lives next to that cronut place. You know the one that’s doing those Dubai pistachio fillings? The sex was fine. Probably would’ve been better if I was less drunk, but also probably not because his dick was thin as a number two pencil. So, maybe it woulda been worse if I was sober. Height does not always equal penile girth.” My bedroom door swings wide, forcing light to filter into the darkness. “Still, I managed to get the cronuts out of—Hey, are you even awake?”

I let out a groan, and the bed dips as Hannah bounces onto the end.

“I’m surprised you’re still in bed. The event must’ve drained the life out of you, huh? Looked great online, from what I saw. Bridget Vaughn was even there.”

I groan again, curling into an even tighter ball under the sheets.

“All right, all right. I’ll stop bothering you. The cronuts are on the counter when you want them, ‘kay? Oh, and I think your phone’s dead. My texts weren’t going through earlier.”

The mattress straightens out as she gets up to leave.

“Hannaaaah,” I whine.

“What? You want coffee? I can put some on, but I think you’re running low on creamer.”

“My life is over.” I poke half my face out from under the sheets.

Her easygoing smile quickly drops into a concerned frown. She crouches next to me, hands instantly reaching out to smooth some of the hair away from my forehead.

“What’s wrong? Did something happen at the event? Your eyes are puffed up like marshmallows.”

I groan again, flipping onto my back and pressing the heels of my hands against my eyes. I press hard enough that little dots start fuzzing the black expanse of my vision.

“Hey, hey.” She pulls my hands away from my face. “Do we need to murder someone? That wasn’t exactly on my Sunday agenda, but I can make it work. Just say the word.”

“I fucked up.”

She gets up and scooches her ass onto the edge of the bed.

“Whatever it is, we can fix it.”

“It’s too late. The deed is done.”

“The deed? What’d you do? Fuck a client?”

She laughs, but I groan again, causing her temporary smile to sober.