The One: The Complete One Series Collection (5 page)

“What do you want from me? Whatever you want, I’ll do it.” William sounded desperate and confused. I knew that I wasn’t handling things right. I needed to be firm.

“As long as I’m working for you, I can’t be with you,” I said, wishing that my voice would stop shaking.

William took my hand and threaded his fingers through mine. “I could fire you,” he said with a soft smile that let me know he was only kidding.

“You could.” I lifted our entwined hands and kissed his knuckles. “But that probably wouldn’t bode well for us having any kind of relationship afterward.”

“Probably not,” he admitted. “You could quit.”

“Do you want me to quit?” Not that I was willing to do so. I liked my new job a lot, and I wasn’t willing to quit a job simply because of a guy.

“No. Don’t quit.” He sighed in defeat. “I think we’re out of options.”

“Yeah.” Yet somehow my body was closing in on his again. “I should go back inside.”

“Just stay a few more minutes,” William said. He pulled me to him and put both arms around me. “We could be together just one more time, then put this behind us.”

“I don’t think that’s a very good idea, William.” We both knew that one more time was likely to lead to two, then three, and so forth. Self-control was not our strong point around each other. “I’m going back inside. You should wait a few minutes before following me so we don’t draw suspicion.”

Walking away from William was almost impossible, but somehow I managed. My legs shook as I walked back to the table where I had left my coat.

“Are you leaving already?” Tara asked.

“Yeah. I’m not feeling so good.” I spotted William r
eturning to the bar but he didn’t look in my direction. “I’m going to make it an early night. I’ll see you on Monday.”

“Have a good weekend,” Tara said. “Oh! Don’t forget the holiday party is next week. You should probably line up a date.”

I had completely forgotten about the holiday party. There was no way I could go to that if William would be there. We couldn’t be in the same room together and especially not when we would both be dressed up with unlimited booze floating around. It would be way too similar to the circumstances that had put us together in the first place. In the past twenty-four hours my life had gotten very complicated. So much for leaving the past in the past.

CHAPTER FIVE

I spent the following week at work trying to avoid William as much as possible. We had a few meetings together, but always with other people in the room. It wasn’t until Thursday that I found myself alone with him in my office. He had stopped by spontaneously to discuss a situation with one of Gravity’s newest clients.

“Legally, we aren’t allowed to do that,” I told him, after he sarcastically suggested we destroy evidence of a Senator’s affair. “He was doing this using his government email.”

“Yeah, yeah. I know.” William was leaned back in the chair across from my desk, looking a little too comfortable for my liking. It was already after seven, and I was pretty sure everyone else had gone home for the day.

“Surely this is something we can discuss in the morning,” I said, not being at all subtle.

William ignored the hint. He sat forward abruptly. “Why do you hate this guy so much?”

“Senator Wilkinson? Oh, how about because he was having an affair with his 22 year old intern for starters. Did you want me to continue?”

“He’s a creep, sure. But I think something else is bothering you.” William stood up and placed his hands on my desk, leaning forward. “What is it?”

I really didn’t want to go down this road with William. Not tonight. “You read his file. You should know exactly why I don’t like our client.”

“I know why I don’t like him. I want to know why you don’t like him.” William didn’t seem ready to back down anytime soon.

“He hits his wife.” I closed the file on my desk and stood up. “He’s a wife beater. And a cheater.”

William flinched
, and straightened his posture abruptly. My words had rattled him. “There’s nothing in his file about him being abusive.”

“It’s not spelled out in his file. But that doesn’t make it any less true.” I explained to William that I had done my own research once we had agreed to take Senator Wilkinson on as our client. The medical records for his wife had been plentiful, and completely consistent with having an abusive husband.

“You’re sure about this?” William’s jaw clenched and unclenched fitfully.

“I’m sure.”

“Why are you so sure?” William held up a hand to stop the bitter tirade I was about to unleash. “Look, I believe you. But if he is an abusive prick, there’s no way we are keeping him as a client. I won’t represent someone like that. So when I tear up our agreement, I need to know we’re right about this.”

I took a deep breath, wondering if what I was about to confess to William would be better left unsaid. People looked at you differently when you told them you had been on the receiving end of a Senator Wilkinson. “You know I had a shitty ex-boyfriend. Paul? Lana told you that, right?”

William nodded stiffly, as if he could sense what I was about to say.

“We were together four years. I never saw it coming. You think there will be signs, you know? I always did anyway. I would hear these stories about women in these horrible relationships and I would think, you had to know he was like that. People don’t just change suddenly. But I was wrong. Sometimes they do change. Paul had never been violent. Never. But then one day, he got pissed and he beat the shit out of me. I left him immediately, but I couldn’t move on.” It had taken me six months to be able to walk down the street without looking over my shoulder. I stepped around the desk and moved closer to William, wanting him to feel what I felt.

“I started seeing this counselor. It helped. Just talking about it helped. And she recommended that I begin volunteering at this shelter for women and kids that are escaping abusive relationships. I’ve been helping out there on weekends ever since, so I know what a battered wife looks like. I know how they act, and how they try to hide it. I’ve watched footage of the Senator’s wife and I’ve seen her medical files. He beats the shit out of her. And apparently he also cheats on her. So yeah, I hate him.”

I had never seen anger like I saw in William’s eyes right then. “I’ll kill him.”

“The Senator?”

“Paul. If I ever see him, if he ever comes around you again, I will kill him.” William’s hands were clenched into tight fists.

I had promised myself I would stay away from William. We would work together, and that would be it. Nothing else. But we were both worked up now, and I didn’t want to see that anger in William’s eyes anymore. I let my hands rest on his fists until he relaxed them, and then I slipped my hands inside. “Don’t say that, William. Don’t be like him. You’re a better man than him.”

William pulled his hands away. “I’m wouldn’t be too sure of that. You barely know me, Livy.”

“I know you well enough.” But the words rang false even to my ears. I had known William less than two weeks. I had known Paul for four years and had still missed such a huge part of his character. Maybe William really wasn’t the man I thought he was. But some part of me just couldn’t believe that could be true. I wanted to believe in William because I needed to be able to trust someone again. That’s when I finally admitted to myself that I needed William.

“We can finish this in the morning,” William said. He opened the door to my office. “You should go home. It’s late.”

“Yeah.” I couldn’t move. I could barely speak. I had finally admitted to myself that I wanted to be with William, and he was finally letting me go.

“Will you be attending the holiday party tomorrow night?” William asked, very formally.

“I’ll be there.” The words came out strained.

“Good.” William nodded. “I will see you tomorrow.”

As hard as it was to sit in the same room with William the next day, it was even more impossible for me to imagine not seeing him at all. William Connor had gotten under my skin.

He looked strong and confident when he told Senator Wilkinson that
, sadly, Gravity, Inc. would not be able to help him with his current situation. The other members of Gravity’s executive board were not happy with the decision and made their feelings known the minute the Senator was gone. In addition to paying well, Senator Wilkinson’s name was likely to draw a lot of attention to the company. They didn’t care that Wilkinson was a philanderer; it was par for the course in this line of work. William hadn’t told them what I had said the night before about the Senator’s wife. He was keeping that information between us.

“Steve, I get that you are mad. But this is my company. My decision is the final decision.” William didn’t raise his voi
ce or pound his fists on the conference room table. He had a way of exerting the power of his position without making other people feel small. “You’ll just have to trust me on this one.”

“This is a big mistake,” Steve Anderson, the Chief Operating Officer, said one last time. “But it’s your call.”

“Cheer up, Steve,” William said. “I’ll buy you a drink tonight at the party.”

Steve smiled reluctantly. “You’ll be buying all the drinks tonight, Connor.”

As the others left the room, I hung back. “William?”

He looked up at me with tired eyes. His decisio
n today had been more taxing than he let on. “Yeah, Livy?”

“Last night you said I barely know you. That I couldn’t know you were a better man than Paul.” I looked directly into his eyes. “You were wrong. What you did today, turning down Wilkinson, that’s my proof. The way you treat your employees, that’s my proof, too. You’re a good man, William Connor. Accept it.”

He smiled sadly. “Thank you, Olivia Harris.”

“Anytime.” I turned to leave but William stopped me.

“About tonight…” He thought twice about what he was about to say. “See you at the party?”

“Absolutely.”

Changing into my party dress in the bathroom stall was a bigger challenge than I anticipated. Keeping my feet from touching the sketchy floor was a lot of work and I nearly stepped into the toilet bowl two separate times. So it was surprising that I somehow managed to look presentable when I surveyed the results in the mirror.

“Good enough,” I said, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.

“Downright gorgeous, I’d say,” Tara disagreed. She wagged a finger at me. “You are so getting laid tonight.”

“Ha! I don’t even have a date tonight.” In typical fashion, I had forgotten to remind Thomas that he was supposed to be my date for the party. He had made other plans, and now I would be attending the party solo.

“I’m sure that won’t be a problem.” Tara nudged me with her elbow. “You could always go after Connor.”

I choked out a laugh and walked away before she could see the flush spreading across my cheeks.

One thing about William couldn’t be denied- the man knew how to throw a party. He had rented out an entire club for the company holiday party. Tara and I checked our coats at the door and headed directly to the first bar we could find. We had worked late and missed the dinner, so we had a lot of catching up to do. I made a complete lap of the first floor, introducing myself to both co-workers and significant others. I was still new enough that I didn’t know at least 70% of the people at the party. After I lost Tara in the crowd and was on my own, I began to feel out of place. With a few hours of drinking under their belts, many people were already drunk, and some of them were bordering on inappropriateness.

I was relieved when I found the stairs leading to the second floor. The music started playing just as I began to ascend the stairs. I had a feeling I was leaving at the perfect time. The second floor was much quieter, and only a few people lingered about. I headed for the back, where I would be able to watch what was happening on the floor below.

“Hiding?”

I jumped as someone stepped out of the shadows. “Shit, William. You scared the crap out of me.”

“Sorry,” he said, but I was close enough to him now that I could see his smile.

“This is your party. Shouldn’t you be downstairs mingling with the minions?” I hadn’t meant to sound judgmental but it came out that way. I stepped closer to the railing so I could observe what was happening below us.

William shrugged and moved next to me. “In my experience, people tend to have more fun when their boss isn’t sneaking up on them.”

I knew that he was probably right. William was probably the best boss most of these people had ever had, but he was still their boss and that meant they would act differently around him. “This isn’t such a bad place to be,” I commented, pointing out the great overhead view we had.

“I would have to concur,” William said, but he wasn’t looking at the view. “In fact, if it was up to me, this is exactly how I would spend the entire evening.”

“Hiding in the shadows?” I teased, nudging his arm.

“No. Alone with you.”

Very slowly, William reached over and took my hand. The shadows upstairs were dark enough that no one would be able to see unless they were within a few feet of us. I squeezed his hand and leaned into him slightly.

“I miss you, William,” I said, betraying my feelings for him for the first time.

“I’m right here, Livy.”

It did seem strange that I had seen him every day in the past week and yet somehow I still missed him. “It’s not enough.”

“It’s not,” he agreed. “Nothing has changed, though. I’m still your boss.”

“I know.”

“That was never my issue. You are the one that couldn’t handle it.”

“I know.”

William’s thumb traced a slow circle over my hand. “I want you, Livy. I’ve never tried to hide that from you.”

“I want you, too, William. I think,” I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I think I need you, as well.”

Now it was William’s turn to let out a deep breath. “Are you sure about this?”

“No. But let’s do it anyway.” I smiled up at William, and when I saw his perfect lips curl up into the familiar playful smile, I wanted to have him right there.

“There’s something I need to take care of first,” he said. “Will you follow me?”

“Anywhere.” William squeezed my hand one last time and then let go. We were headed out into enemy territory.

I followed him downstairs and to the edge of the stage. He jumped smoothly onto the stage and grabbed the microphone from the D.J.

“Hey, everyone.” His voice boomed through the speakers and the music stopped. Everyone in attendance was staring expectantly at William.

“I hope everyone is having a nice time. I just wanted to thank everyone for their hard work this year. Gravity’s success is completely a reflection of the people who work here, so you should all be very proud. As a thank you, everyone will be getting their bonus checks on Monday. Spend it wisely.” William paused while everyone laughed. “This party is supposed to wrap up in twenty minutes, but I took the liberty of asking management to extend it for two more hours, in case any of you aren’t interested in going home yet.”

The crowd cheered loudly, but my heart sank. I really didn’t want to stick around the party for two more hours.

“Have a great time. Happy holidays.” William tossed the microphone to the D.J. and jumped down from the stage.

“Two more hours?” I asked, yelling over the music that had resumed its thumping rhythm.