Page 52 of About that Fling (The Can’t Have Hearts Club #2)

J enna straightened her skirt, then straightened her spine and took a deep breath. She was five minutes early, but that was better than being on time or late, wasn’t it?

She had no idea. She’d rushed home to shower, donning her best power suit and high heels that pinched her toes. That wasn’t a bad thing. A little discomfort would keep her tough, make her strong enough to do what she had to do.

Her hand trembled as she reached for the door of the conference room next to Kendall’s office. She willed herself not to cry.

You’re the chief relations officer for a major medical center, she told herself. You worked hard to get here. You can handle this.

She took another deep breath and pushed the door open.

Her eyes fell first on Kendall, who sat primly with her hands folded on the desk in front of her.

She wore a black jacket and cat-eye glasses that had slipped a little down her nose.

Across from her was Adam, looking clean-shaven and stiff in a dark gray suit.

Beside him sat Mia.

She wore a dark blue maternity dress with her red hair pulled back in a severe chignon. She wasn’t smiling.

“Mia,” Jenna gasped. “What are you—how’s Mark?”

Mia rested one hand on her belly and looked up. Her eyes were red, her expression unreadable. “He’s going to make it,” she said, her voice soft and sandpapery. “The bullet missed a major artery in his leg. He’ll need a few months of physical therapy, but it could have been a lot worse.”

“Oh, thank God.” Jenna felt the tears starting, and willed herself not to let them fall. She’d been here less than ten seconds and she was already crying. Jesus, she’d never make it at this rate.

She most definitely did not have things under control.

“Thank you for joining us,” Kendall said, nodding from behind her desk. “Could you please close the door, Jenna?”

“Of course.”

She pushed it shut, then turned to face the room. An empty chair sat between Adam and Mia, and she started toward it. Then she stopped. Clasping her hands in front of her to keep them from shaking, she forced herself to stand straight and tall.

“There’s something I need to say.”

Kendall glanced at Mia, then at Adam. “I’m not really sure it’s necessary for you to?—”

“No, I need to say it. In front of everyone—Mia, Adam, you.” She swallowed, surprised to discover her voice was steadier than she expected it to be. She’d spent her whole career perfecting the art of polished presentation, but nothing inside her felt polished anymore.

Everything was absolutely, positively, not under control.

Jenna felt raw and empty and completely unraveled. She took a steadying breath and lifted her chin.

“I’m sorry.” She paused, feeling oddly fortified by that word, so she said it again.

“I’m really very sorry. I know I’ve been cavalier with the company’s policy on employee fraternization, and I know I’ve conducted myself in a manner unbecoming to an executive of this organization.

I understand if you need to penalize me for it, and I accept the consequences of my actions.

But that’s not what I’m most sorry for.”

She took another breath and looked at Mia, willing herself not to fall apart.

Not until everything was out on the table.

“I’m sorry for the pain I caused you. Not just by dating your ex-husband, but by hiding that from you.

I should have had more faith in the strength of our friendship and in your strength as a person. ”

Mia’s eyes held hers, but they’d started to shimmer. It might have been a trick of light, but Jenna didn’t think so. Behind the desk, Kendall opened her mouth to speak, but Jenna held up a hand.

“I’m not done. Please, just let me finish.

” She had to get this out before she lost her nerve.

“Mia, I should have trusted you to know better than almost anyone that people can’t always help who they fall in love with.

They can’t always control where it happens or whether it’s an inconvenient time or an inconvenient person.

But that doesn’t make the love any less valuable or sacred or real.

” She cleared her throat, fighting the thickness that made her voice tight and shaky.

She stole a glimpse at Adam, absorbing the strength to keep going.

The pride in his eyes pushed her to keep going. To turn back to Mia and say what she needed to say.

“And the fact of the matter is that I love Adam,” she said.

“I love him for the man he is now, and I love him for the man he was when he belonged to you. I love him for who he’ll become tomorrow, which may be a new variation of the same man.

But whichever man he is, I’m prepared to love him no matter what. ”

Her throat squeezed tight, making it harder to get the words out. She struggled to see through the tears in her eyes, but commanded herself to turn and look at him. The force of his gaze nearly buckled her knees, but it also gave her a fresh surge of power. She took another deep breath.

“Adam, I love you. In case I didn’t make that clear just now.”

He nodded. “I think I got it.” He offered a small smile. “I love you, too.”

“I’m going to screw up. A lot. I won’t always have everything under control.

” She snorted at that, such an absurd understatement.

“As a matter of fact, that’s the one thing I’ve learned—there’s so much I can’t possibly control.

Things I shouldn’t try to control. Very little in life will turn out like I expect, and I know I’ll make mistakes.

I’ll use the wrong words or the wrong coping mechanism or the wrong fork at dinner.

But my heart’s in the right place.” She unclasped her hands. “It’s with you.”

Adam stood, pushing the empty chair aside.

Jenna didn’t need any further encouragement.

She stepped into his embrace and felt his arms wrap around her, felt herself sink into his heat and strength and safety.

She closed her eyes, hoping like hell this wouldn’t mean the end of her career or the end of her friendship.

But even if that happened, she could handle it. She might not control it, but she knew she could weather the storm.

Behind them, Mia cleared her throat. “I feel like I’m supposed to applaud or something.”

Jenna drew back, pushing her hair behind her ears. She smoothed her skirt and looked at Mia. “I’m sorry.”

“Stop with the sorry,” Mia said, shifting a little in her chair. “That shit gets old in a hurry. Just ask Adam, he’ll tell you.”

“Yep.” Adam nodded and sat back down. “For once, I’ll have to agree with my ex-wife.”

“I’m making a note of that,” Mia said, and picked up a stack of papers on the desk. “So the real reason I asked everyone to meet this morning was that I’m requesting a change to some corporate policy. Namely, the anti-fraternization rule.”

Jenna blinked. “You requested a rule change?”

“I was actually planning to be circumspect about the reason for the request.” She shot a look at Kendall before returning her gaze to Jenna.

“You kinda fucked that up just now with your little speech. Congratulations, by the way. And you’re forgiven.

Not that you need my forgiveness or my blessing. ”

Jenna blinked, too stunned to know how to reply. “I need both, actually.”

“Then you’ve got it. Along with my well wishes for dealing with this bastard. You’re going to need it.” She smiled for real then, and Adam smiled, too, a private joke between them that somehow didn’t leave Jenna feeling left out.

“So,” Mia said. “The fraternization rule is bogus, and I’d like to suggest a revision, but since we’ve already got mountains of more important corporate policy to negotiate with the bargaining team, it seemed silly to bring this to the table.

I thought this might be better handled within our core group.

A group that recently dealt with a personnel matter along the same lines. ”

Kendall frowned as her cheeks flushed red. “How did you know about?—”

“Oh, please,” Mia said, waving a dismissive hand. “Everyone knows Brett Lombard has been mailing photos of his junk to Susan Schrader for months. It’s the worst kept relationship secret in the hospital.”

Adam snorted and glanced at Jenna. “There’s an honor I’m glad we didn’t achieve.”

“Nope, you were actually pretty damn good at hiding yours,” Mia said, “which is reason I hope we can make this policy change quietly and with as little fanfare as possible.”

Kendall steepled her hands on the desk, and looked down at some papers in front of her.

“I’ve reviewed the amendments you’ve suggested, Mia.

I appreciate that you’ve taken into consideration our need to address supervisory relationships and situations where a legal conflict of interest might exist, but what you’ve spelled out here seems like a good starting point. ”

“Thank you,” Mia said. “My stepfather is an attorney. I was on the phone with him at four o’clock this morning quizzing him about anti-harassment regulations and corporate law. It beat the hell out of thinking about gunshot wounds.”

“I don’t understand,” Jenna said, still too stunned to come up with anything smarter. “You have every right to hate me right now.”

“I choose not to exercise that right. Hating someone is kind of a pain in the ass, when you get right down to it.”

Adam scrubbed a hand over his chin. “You know, all this agreeing with you is starting to freak me out.”

“Don’t get too smug about it, ex-husband of mine. There’s actually another ex who gets the credit here.”

Jenna winced. “Shawn? God, I need to apologize to him.”

“You do, and you will, because you’re a good person,” Mia said. “But I wasn’t talking about Shawn. I’m talking about Ellen.”

“Ellen?” Jenna blinked. “Mark’s ex-wife?”