Page 104 of Fake Dating Mr. Prince

Ashlyn had been there for me unconditionally. She came to tell me what her stepmother had done even knowing I might blame her.

Regret hit me hard. I’d handled things badly with her. I hadn’t wanted to believe that all women were like Simone, and yet I treated her as though she was. I needed to fix my mistake before I faced her.

I loved her, but I didn’t know how to tell her that yet.

Thinking about loving her made my throat tighten. I couldn’t swallow. The devastated look on her face, as she left my place, haunted me. She deserved better than what I gave her.

Loving her had been staring me in the face this whole time. I’d been protecting her not because I didn’t want people to think I’d been made a fool of again, but because I cared about her.

Ashlyn had been real with me in a way no woman had ever been. We connected. It was so much more than the physical side of our relationship, but I’d been too slow to see it. She was smart and funny and really listened when we talked. She wasn’t afraid to disagree with me or call me on my shit. The perfect woman had been standing before me all along and I was too stubborn to see it.

Now, I was too late.

To prove my love to her, I’d make sure no one else had a chance to implicate Ashlyn in the theft. Then I could go to her and make things right. I only hoped she'd find it in her heart to forgive me.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Roni’s fiery eyes glared at me as she jumped up from her seat.

My head snapped up. “Who the hell do you—”

“Shut it. You were handed evidence that your girl, whom you obviously have feelings for, didn’t betray you and you don’t go to her? Chivalry isn’t dead. It’s fucking broken.”

“You don’t get it, Roni. Stay out of my personal life.” I growled.

“Seriously, get your head out of your ass and fix this.” She continued to stare at me. “Sir.”

The phone on my desk rang, interrupting any comment I might have hurled back.

“Dean Prince.”

“Sir, Ms. Tremaine was here again.”

“What did she want?” I paced as far as the cord of the telephone would allow.

“She left an envelope. Said you’d want it right away.”

“Send it up.” I laid the phone back on its cradle.

“What was that?”

“I don’t know. Stella came back and left an envelope for me.”

She raised an eyebrow and sat down in the seat she’d vacated.

I stood by the door waiting for the envelope to arrive, not caring how that might look to whoever delivered it.

“Here you are, Mr. Prince.” One of our male interns handed me a cream envelope with our company's logo on the front. It had been folded and wrinkles marred its surface. The condition of the envelope was my first clue indicating what lay inside.

“Thanks,” I said as my foot kicked the door shut. I didn’t need an audience. It was bad enough Roni was a witness to this mess.

The weight of the envelope was my second clue about its contents. I swallowed hard at the lump blocking my throat. Even though I had chosen not to go after her I’d hoped it wasn’t the end of us.

My shaky hands ripped the thick paper open. The sting from a papercut barely registered as my heartbeat pounded in my ears. I turned the envelope upside down with one hand, the other caught the black diamond necklace I’d given Ash. With another look I confirmed the check to start her business also lay inside.

“Shit.” I shoved the envelope in my back pants pockets and gripped the necklace tight. “Roni, I’ll be right back.”

She shooed me with her hands and grinned. “Hurry. Go after her.”

I’d yanked open my office door when the buzzing of my cell phone stopped me. I considered not answering it, but instead grabbed it from my inside suit jacket pocket hoping to see Ashlyn’s number.