Page 129 of The Bad Boy Prince in Love

“Welcome!”Hallie said.As far as she was concerned, anyone other than Miss Santer was going to be an excellent fit.

“Luke asked me to tell you he’s happy you’ve decided to continue working for him,” Ms.Simmons went on, “and if there’s anything you need, just let me know.I’m here to help.”

“Thank you, that’s very kind,” Hallie said.

“I understand something’s happened between you two,” Ms.Simmons added in an undertone, “And I’ll be the intermediary, so if you’d like to communicate anything, just let me know.”

“I don’t have anything to say at the moment,” Hallie replied.

“Okay, I’ll be at reception if you need me.”

As Ms.Simmons made her exit, Hallie was glad to be left alone to catch up on work.No one interrupted her after that, and she got quite a bit done.

Just before lunch, Ms.Simmons entered again, carrying a donut on a plate, but not just any donut.It was a massive chocolate-glazed donut with the words “Please forgive me, Hallie” written in beautiful cursive made of strawberry icing.

Hallie had to admit she was slightly tempted to eat it.

“Luke asked me to send you this,” Ms.Simmons said, holding her breath for Hallie’s reply.

“I’m sorry you had to waste a trip, but I don’t want it.”

“Are you sure?It looks like he went to a lot of effort...”

“These days, there’s probably a factory somewhere that makes ‘forgive me’ donuts,” Hallie scoffed.

“He’d have to get a personalized one that said ‘Hallie’ on it,” Ms.Simmons said with a twinkle in her eye.

Hallie was beginning to like her more and more, though having a likeable assistant was probably just part of Luke’s ploy to win her over.

“I don’t know if you know the story,” Hallie said, “but Luke has done something foul, dishonest, and downright disgusting.I’m not going to let him buy his way out of this with confectionary!”

“I don’t know the details,” the assistant replied.“But I hope you can be friends again one day.”

“I really wish he were here so I could throw it in his face,” Hallie said with a sigh.

“I understand how you feel,” Ms.Simmons said, nodding sympathetically.

Hallie pushed the plate away.“Tell him I’d rather eat a sea urchin than this donut.”

“That’s very graphic and precise,” Ms.Simmons said happily.“I like that!I’ll tell him.”

“And ask him not to send any more pastries!”

Hallie focused on work, asking Ms.Simmons not to give her any more messages from Luke unless they were work-related.Luke seemed able to comply with this since she received no more apologies or romantic gestures.

She saw Luke in the hallway a few times.In these instances, they only gave each other a polite ‘hello’ and each continued on their way.

Sometimes Hallie still felt some sexual tension as she hurried past him, even if they were a few feet apart.This didn’t change what he had done, and she was able to resist any urges to talk to him further.

The week went by unbelievably quickly.Friday marked the beginning of Thanksgiving weekend, and Hallie was thankful to have a four-day work week.

On Friday afternoon, she headed back home to the ranch for a weekend with her family.

Hallie was actually looking forward to it.She had felt strangely alone all week, having few people to talk to.

She still hadn’t talked to her best friend.Admitting that Jessica was right would have been the mature thing to do, but with all the emotions swirling around her as a result of the Luke debacle, Hallie could barely hold it together as it was.

The journey back to the countryside relaxed her as she drove past the usual gas stations, trees, and wacky giant statues symbolizing the little towns along the way.The scenery grew more and more rustic and seemed to welcome her home.