My Cheating Manager Watched His Billionaire Boss Choose Me

When I pushed open the break room door, Nolan had Sienna pinned against the table.

He was still wearing the anniversary watch I'd given him.

He saw me, and he didn't let go of her right away.

Sienna smoothed her rumpled skirt and smiled. She asked if I'd walked into the wrong room.

I pulled off the promise ring Nolan had given me and told him we were done.

Ten minutes later, the whole floor had heard that I'd dumped my boyfriend of five years so I could seduce the CEO.

◇

But in that first second, I didn't move.

Sienna's legs were still wrapped around his hips. Her blouse hung open. Nolan's belt was undone, and his hand was buried under her skirt. The mug I'd bought him last Christmas sat on the counter beside them, still steaming.

"Oh." Sienna tilted her head. She worked in Marketing, two desks from the elevator. She had always been sweet to me at the holiday party. "Maren. Did you get lost?"

Nolan finally stepped back. He took his time buckling his belt.

"You could knock," he said.

"Knock." The word came out flat. "It's a break room, Nolan."

"Exactly. Anybody could walk in." He shrugged. "Guess anybody did."

Sienna laughed and slid off the table.

My fingers found the ring. Thin silver, with a tiny N engraved on the inside. I twisted it off. It caught on my knuckle, and that small sting almost broke me.

I set it on the table, right in the spot where she'd been sitting.

"We're done."

"Fine." Nolan didn't even glance at it. "Honestly, Maren? You did me a favor."

"A favor."

"Let's not pretend." He leaned against the counter and folded his arms. "Five years. You think I don't know why you stuck around? I'm a department manager. You're a secretary. You needed someone to put your name in front of the right people."

My mouth opened. Nothing came out.

"You think I used you?"

"I think you're smart." He smiled like it was a compliment. "Smart girls know which men to stand next to."

Sienna's eyes gleamed. She picked up the ring and turned it over in the light.

"Cute," she said. "Cheap, but cute."

I took a step toward him. My voice came out lower than I expected.

"I paid your rent for eight months when you got laid off from Rexford. Eight months, Nolan."

"Nobody asked you to."

"I stayed up until three in the morning rewriting the Halvorsen proposal. The one that got you promoted. Your name's on it. Mine isn't."

"And whose idea was that?" He spread his hands. "You volunteered. You always volunteer. That's your thing. You love being needed."

"I loved you."

Sienna made a soft little sound, like she was watching a sad movie.

Nolan sighed. "See, this is the problem. You make everything so heavy." He reached past me and grabbed his mug. "You're a secretary, Maren. You'll always be hanging off somebody with power. Today it's me. Tomorrow, who knows? Maybe you'll aim higher."

His eyes slid toward the ceiling. Toward the top floor.

Toward Callum's office.

Heat flooded my face. "You're disgusting."

"I'm honest." He sipped his coffee. "Close the door on your way out."

And I did. Quietly. That was the worst part. I wanted to slam it hard enough to crack the glass, but my hand just eased it shut, like I was the one who should be sorry.

◇

I made it back to my desk without crying. Barely.

My monitor was still open to Callum's schedule. A board call at two. A dinner with investors at seven. I stared at the screen until the letters stopped swimming, and then I started typing.

Confirm. Reschedule. Send.

My hands knew what to do. My hands had always known what to do.

"Maren."

I flinched.

Callum Ardmore stood at the edge of my desk. Thirty-four, the youngest CEO this company had ever had, and the only boss I'd ever worked for who said thank you like he meant it. He had a folder tucked under one arm. His tie was loose, the way it always got after his eleven o'clock.

"You sent the Ingram file twice," he said.

"Sorry. I'll fix it."

"It's fine." He didn't leave. His gaze stayed on my face. "Are you okay?"

"Yep."

"Your eyes are red."

I forced a laugh. It sounded almost normal.

"The coffee machine ate my quarter," I said. "Third time this week. I think it's personal."

He didn't laugh. He didn't argue, either.

He just studied me for a long moment. Then he set the folder down on my desk.

"That machine has a long history of violence," he said quietly. "I'll have Facilities look into it."

"Thank you."

"Maren."

"Hmm?"

He reached out. Before I understood what was happening, his thumb brushed the corner of my eye. Warm. Careful. It caught the one tear I hadn't noticed was there.

The touch lasted maybe a second.

My heart slammed so hard I thought he might hear it.

He pulled his hand back and looked at the wet spot on his thumb. Something shifted in his face. Not pity. Something sharper.

"If it was anything other than the coffee machine," he said, "my door's open."

"It was the machine."

"Okay." He nodded once. "Then the machine and I are going to have a conversation."

He picked up the folder and walked away.

I sat very still. My cheek still burned where he'd touched it.

Then I laughed. A real laugh this time, sudden and ugly, the kind that sneaks up on you when you're too tired to cry. I pressed my hand over my mouth to stop it.

◇

On the other side of the glass doors, Nolan stood frozen with his coffee mug halfway to his lips.

Through the glass, I saw his gaze move from Callum's back to my face, then to the hand I'd pressed over my mouth.

A slow grin spread across Nolan's face.

Sienna came up behind him and followed his gaze. Nolan pulled out his phone and started typing.

I couldn't hear what they said. I didn't need to. When Nolan looked up again, he stared straight at me.

By lunch, nobody in the building was talking about what I'd found in the break room.

They were talking about who I'd run to.