The Boss Project by Vi Keeland

I took a deep breath and nodded. “Sorry.”

My lawyer held my eyes. “Tread lightly.”

I managed to refrain from speaking for the next forty-five minutes. In the end, the judge set a trial date, but stressed that he believed it was in both our best interests to settle the matter out of court.

After it was over, my attorney and I spoke for a while in the hall. Then he had to go upstairs to a different hearing, so I headed out on my own. As I made my way down the marble stairs, Christian was suddenly by my side.

“Can we talk for a minute?” he said.

“Why?”

“Because I want to put this behind us as much as you do.”

I kept walking. “So drop the lawsuit.”

“I will…if you just have dinner with me.”

That stopped me in my tracks. My entire face wrinkled. “What?”

“Have dinner with me. And I’ll drop the lawsuit.”

“What are you talking about?”

Christian looked down. “I fucked up, Evie.”

I snort-laughed. “You think?”

“Please have dinner with me.”

“For what? What would be the purpose of that?”

“So we could talk?”

“We’re talking right now. Say what you have to say and drop the lawsuit. I just want to move on with my life.”

Christian looked up. “I can’t move on with my life without you, Evie.”

Oh my God. Is he serious? I shook my head and held up my hands. “I don’t even know what to do with that. I’m not having dinner with you.”

“Come on, Evie…”

I had no words. So I started to walk again. “Just sue me, Christian. I’d prefer that than having to look at your face for an hour over a meal.”



• • •



I went into the office on Saturday morning to take care of a few things since I’d been out yesterday. There were a few people milling around, but Merrick’s door was still closed. I’d taken out my notepad and started reviewing my scribbles so I could type up a session summary when I noticed my hairclip on my desk.

I picked it up and stared at it. I hadn’t left it there, had I? I didn’t think I’d ever brought one of these to the office. The only time I ever used one was when I washed my face and got ready for bed. Then it hit me—I might’ve left the one I’d used at Merrick’s on his bathroom sink. I thought back to a week ago Friday night…

I’d gone into the bathroom off Merrick’s bedroom to wash my face and brush my teeth. I was just finishing when Merrick walked up behind me. He looked in the mirror with a dirty smile, unclipping my hair as he reached up underneath the T-shirt I’d been wearing. I couldn’t remember putting my clip back in my bag after that. I suppose Merrick could have left it on my desk the other day when he placed my bag on the couch. But I can’t imagine I wouldn’t have noticed. And why would he have placed it there and not in the bag with the other stuff he’d collected?

The only logical explanation was that he was back, and he’d left it on my desk either yesterday when I was out, or this morning. If that was the case, he might be upstairs right now. I thought about texting him again or picking up the phone and calling, but something was clearly going on, and I needed to see his face to know he was okay. Merrick was not the type of man to shy away from things, so maybe he was hurting more than I understood. I took a deep breath and went to the elevator.

Halfway up, I started to second-guess my decision, and I pushed the button to go back down to the office. But it wasn’t like the elevator had a cancel button, so I had to ride up to the top floor before I could take it back down. Which is exactly what I’d planned to do, until the door slid open and Merrick stood in front of me.

“Oh…hey,” I said.

Merrick looked up and frowned. My heart nearly broke right then and there.

“Hey.” He shoved his hands into his pockets and looked anywhere but at me.

“I was just coming up to see if you were back. I, uh, found my hairclip on my desk today so I thought you might be.”

He nodded. “I found it in the bathroom last night.”

Merrick didn’t look well. His skin was sallow, and dark circles rimmed his normally bright green eyes—which were pretty damn bloodshot. He was also a wrinkled mess, which was very unlike him.

I stepped forward and reached out. “Are you okay?”

Merrick stepped back. It would have been less painful if he’d slapped me across the face.

“Are you sick?”

He shook his head.

“Are you hurting because of seeing Amelia’s daughter?”

His eyes jumped to meet mine. I’d never mentioned that the man had filled me in on who he was.

“He told me after you left the store,” I whispered.

The elevator doors slid closed behind me. It made the hall feel so much smaller.

“Will you talk to me? Maybe I can help.”

Merrick shook his head. “I don’t want this.”

For some reason, I assumed he meant me giving him therapy. “I won’t try to psychoanalyze you or treat you like a patient. Whatever is going on, I can just listen as your girlfriend.”

“I’m sorry, Evie. I made a mistake. We should never have happened.”