He hadn’t told me any of this himself, but I picked up plenty from the office gossips. It was widely known that his marriage was a miserable one. He hadn’t dated Tess long enough to ensure they were compatible, and they weren’t. She was shallow, dishonest, and irresponsible—always lying and creating some new mess for him to clean up.

Most men in his position would have left, but Lee stayed and tried to make it work. No one knew why because it didn’t even seem like he was deeply in love with her, but I thought it might have something to do with his adorable little daughter not technically being his.

Years later, I found out I was right.

By then I was used to him occasionally being mean to me for no reason. I had convinced myself it might be because he felt an attraction to me and couldn’t act on it. He didn’t know I would never have acted on it, either, so when he felt that tug of attraction, he would go cold and try to push me away.

It happened a lot.

It didn’t work.

It hurt, but I didn’t go anywhere.

Knowing why he was doing it and considering it so noble probably made my devotion to him deepen even more, honestly. He was just such a good man. Strong and loyal even when he was unhappy, unwavering in his own principles even if he might be a little tempted.

When his wife left him for someone else and took her daughter with her, that was the first time I ever truly felt his guard fully down around me, and it was a fleeting thing.

Chapter Two

Georgia

It was at the end of a long day. Everyone else had left. I figured Lee must be in the zone working on something since he’d been shut away in his office all day. When I had stayed as long as I could justify staying with nothing to do (I was still hourly back then), I finally interrupted to see if he needed anything before I left.

As soon as I stepped inside the office, I caught the scent of hard liquor. I’d never known Lee to drink alone, so I was instantly on alert. Then I saw him at his desk, disheveled as hell with his hand wrapped around a glass of amber liquid.

My heart jumped to my throat. Closing the door behind me and tentatively approaching his desk, I asked, “Is everything okay?”

He looked up like he’d forgotten I existed until that moment, his gaze cloudy and sad. He hadn’t shaved, and that wasn’t like him. “Yep,” he said, voice low and gravelly. “Everything’s perfect.”

That was clearly not the case, so I moved closer. “Are you sure?”

Setting down his glass and swiping a hand tiredly across his face, he said, “Yes, I’m sure.”