Grace (The ‘Hello’ series)

29. Chapter 29

twenty-nine

Grace

I hate asking the question, but I know that I need an answer. I don’t know if I can move forward without it. And considering how quiet Daniel’s being, I’m sure I’m right.

He takes a slow breath, then finally looks at me. “I need you to listen in full to this, Grace. No running or walking away until I’m done.”

“It was before me,” I whisper softly. “That means that I’m not upset with you for it.”

He nods once, then clears his throat. “Melissa and I… had a similar start to you and me. One night, she stayed to work late on the same day I did, and it happened. Just some flirting comments, some long looks, then I… we…”

My stomach churns as my skin tightens. Because now it makes sense why Melissa seems to know that I have something going on with Daniel, but if he’s done it before…

“I won’t call being with her a mistake, but the timing was. I made the choice all the same, and it was a bad one. I was still married. Really, we were only married in name. We only talked by fighting, and it got to the point where I stayed late to avoid Victoria. It was wrong, but I was desperate for escape, and Melissa offered that, so… we continued,” Daniel whispers.

He cheated on his wife with her? My throat dries and I slowly sit up.

“I was terrible at hiding it, apparently. I didn’t realize that. My wife figured it out some way or another, got herself some proof because it came up in our divorce settlement. It helped her leverage herself through the prenup I’d made her sign, so she got plenty from the divorce,” Daniel continues.

His face twists. “I trusted Melissa. I thought we were on the same page. Maybe that was stupid of me. I wouldn’t have outed us intentionally, but she must have shared enough with Victoria that it was a legal issue that I couldn’t save myself from.”

I’m not sure if I want to confront him about infidelity or something else. Daniel stares at my hand and seems confused by it. “I didn’t think I’d be able to trust a woman again. My ex-wife and me brought out the worst in each other. I didn’t like the man I became. I wanted to escape my own home to get away from it all. Then Melissa shared everything we did. She didn’t blackmail me, but she didn’t share any information with Victoria until after I’d ended things due to my guilt.”

“Daniel.”

“I know I’m not in the right here, Grace. I won’t pretend to be. But it made me think that all I had to offer women was either material things or sex itself. I didn’t feel like I was good enough for more, and then you came along. You never seduced me purposely. You’ve never asked me for anything. You’ve cooked for me, supported me, helped me at work, welcomed me with honesty and openness,” he says, squeezing my hand. “I’m not… afraid to share with you.”

“With all she had done, why is she still working at your firm?” I ask, wondering if he still has some feelings for her.

He sighs. “I don’t blame her for what happened. I can only blame myself that she got caught in the middle of my drama with my ex-wife. I didn’t want to fire her because of a mistake I made. I knew how badly she needed the job, and she has always been a great employee.”

“You gave her a fresh start,” I whisper.

“My wife pulled her through the dirt, everyone knew at the office, and she’s still there, working hard, and no one seems to remember what happened years ago,” he says, a weak smile tugging on his lips.

“Was she the only one?” I ask, and I’m not sure I want to know, but Melissa made a comment about it and it keeps nagging me.

“She was the first. I’ve had some indiscretions after that, but it was never serious,” he mumbles with a shrug.

I swallow. “So, you haven’t been in an actual relationship since your marriage?” I ask as I fidget with my fingers.

“Until now.” He gazes at me without hesitation or fear. There’s no tension or doubt when he says it, and it makes the stiffness in my shoulders fade.

He peels my hands apart. “We haven’t talked about it and I know we just started, but you’re more than just a fling and we’re more than sex. I already hate thinking about your heading home. I hate thinking that I’ll only be able to see you in the office,” he says.

My heart stammers and so do my thoughts. I’m grateful for his honesty, grateful for the time we have spent together and that we have given ourselves a moment to grow closer. And yet, words are lost on me. I open my mouth, close it, then clear my throat. “We’re supposed to go to work,” is all I can come up with.

A grin spreads on his lips “Too bad. You’re so sick, so feverish,” he says playfully. “And I’m so stacked with meetings out and about that it’s easier for me to work from home.”

I chuckle. “Keep that up and someone’s going to figure out what we’re doing,” I murmur.

His brows draw together. “Are you ashamed of me? I was clear last night that I want to be seen with you. I want to be the man on your arm. I’m not ashamed, but if you—”

“It’s just because things are complicated. Maybe if you were just my boss,” I say, glancing down at his fingers laced through mine. “But you’re my ex’s dad too, Daniel.”

“Don’t remind me.” He snorts.

I edge closer. “But I did tell my roommate about you. She’s very supportive, wants way too many details,” I say, then laugh.

“Whatever you want, darling,” he whispers.

Days go by as we spend more and more time together. The lines are fading, our relationship changing as our way of hiding seems to slip through our fingers. We have lunch together regularly, just talking about life, our goals, the futures we have in mind.

He comes home with me Wednesday so we can cook together, have an in-date. Thursday, we have dinner out, and then Friday at five, he approaches me directly.

“I’m tired of this, Grace.”

My ribs tighten almost painfully. “Of me?” I ask, confused, in emotional whiplash considering I just logged out of my computer and we’ve been doing so well, actually spending quality time together and talking.

He chuckles with a shake of his head. “No, darling,” he says, then cups my cheek. “I don’t like when you go home without me or when I have to leave to go to my place. Spend the weekend with me. Stay with me and let me fall asleep and wake up to you.”

My breath hitches as he presses his forehead to mine. “I hate leaving you.”

“I can’t stay with you, Daniel,” I whisper. “I want to, but not… not with Bash lurking around. I’m not ready for that.”

His lips form a thin line and he edges back. “You’re right.”

His warmth disappears, and my forehead creases in confusion as he starts packing up his briefcase.

I want to tell him to come stay with me. I want to introduce him to Ashley. I want to spend more time with him, let him see me in my everyday life and see him in his, but…

“What do you—” I start to ask.

“I’m going to head home and grab a bag. Then I’m going to come to your place.” He says it so simply, so easily that I wonder why I ever doubted this.

I stare at him. “You want to be in my house? Where things are mismatched? Where my bed is too small and we have to blast the A/C when we sleep? With all my unorganized books and my obsessive cleaning and—”

“I want you. Your home is a part of you, so yes. I want that. I want to spend a whole weekend with you. That’s what couples do, darling. It’s a good thing that I want as much time with my woman as possible.”

My mouth opens and closes, then I close the distance between us and cup his face to pull him down enough until our lips clash.

We still have plenty to work out, to figure out together, but I know we can and will because these feelings are what matter. We’re good together, and we’ll keep being good together as long as he stays this open with me.

I smile against his lips as I can’t wait to get home, determined to clean some things, to start cooking, and to make sure everything is set up for a full weekend with my man.