Page 64

He chuckles. “There you go again, evading your own issues and focusing on everyone else’s. I opened my heart to you yesterday. I told you everything and now you think none of that matters?”
“I know it matters. I just don’t think it has to matter,” I say desperately.
“That makes no sense.”
“It does to me,” I say, a note of finality in my voice. “In light of recent events, I don’t think I can keep working as your assistant. I’m going to quit.”
“That’s not happening.” Sterling states, glaring at me.
“Excuse you?”
“I said it’s not happening, Emilia. You’re not going to quit. You signed a contract, remember? You’re going to work as my assistant for as long as I’m manager at the Edenton branch. You don’t get to walk away from that.”
“I think what happened compromises our professional relationship,” I retort.
“And why is that? Like you said, it doesn’t matter. All we have to do is not let it matter. The both of us are going to be tin men. That’s what you want, isn’t it?”
“I’d be a tin woman, actually,” I mutter, unable to resist making the tiny joke.
Sterling’s lips twitch and I feel the tension ease a little. He steps forward, looking down at me with those hypnotic green eyes. Even now, my heart feels like it’s going to jump out of my chest due to his proximity. He has such a big effect on me. And I hate that he knows it.
“You’re going to keep being my assistant, angel,” he begins. “And just like you want, we’ll both pretend last night neverhappened. The two of us will be civil. Hell, we’ll even be friends. And then we’ll grow closer. Eventually, you’ll drop all your walls. Where are you going to hide after that?”
My throat feels dry but I manage to speak regardless.
“I won’t drop my walls for you, Sterling,” I say confidently.
He smirks. “We’ll see.”
I exhale softly. “Whatever. Can we leave now? I really need to get back home before Anika wakes up.”
“Yeah, okay,” he tells me. “You can drop me off at my car and then we’ll return to Edenton separately. Alright?”
I nod.
“Let me head in there for a sec,” he murmurs, turning to the bathroom.
Once the door shuts, I sigh, relieved that we’re past that conversation. We didn’t agree per se, but I’m glad he’s letting me off for now. I don’t think I can handle anything else. My emotional capacity is at its peak.
It takes him a couple of minutes to re-emerge. When he does, it’s hard not to notice the tired look in his eyes. They were brighter this morning. I guess what I said dampened his mood even more. I bite down on my bottom lip, feeling bad. I wanted to help him, not make him feel worse.
I stay quiet as he puts on his clothes, slowly sliding into the shell of the unruffled grumpy businessman I’ve come to know and care about.
“Sterling?” I call softly.
He turns around in the process of buttoning up his shirt, raising an eyebrow in reply.
“How are you feeling now, though? Are you okay?”
“You know, a part of me wants to be an asshole and tell you to focus on yourself,” he says with a sly smile.
I roll my eyes at that.
“But I don’t need to do that and you don’t need to feel bad, angel. I’m fine. I feel better, actually. You helped me.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. You know yesterday my whole world felt like a crumbling mess but now that I’m looking at things objectively, I know it’ll all work out. My family is still a mess and they all handled things in the worst fucking way possible. But at the end of the day, at least I know the truth now. It’ll take a while, but all those thoughts about not belonging will eventually fade. Because I’m a Harrington, angel. It might not feel like it at times, but I actually do belong.”