Anne, an older redhead who was sitting with two other people at the table, lifted her gaze to mine. Her cheeks turned a rosy hue. I knew even then I’d already picked up the reputation of being the boss’ pet, so she probably felt self-conscious gossiping about him in front of me, but she had already said it once, so she told me again.

“Tess left him. At least, that’s what I heard.”

Seeing my pallor, the others jumped in to elaborate on the juicy gossip, to tell me about the hunky, muscle-bound personal trainer she’d run off with. Apparently, they’d been having an affair for a while.

With that very important missing piece of the puzzle, the mystery of last night fell right into place. Suddenly, it made sense why Lee was so sad and looked so disheveled. It even made sense why he reached out for comfort from the one person he knew would give it to him without hesitation.

And I would have, if only I’d known!

My mind raced as I carried the cup of coffee back to his office. Last night replayed over and over in my head.

Why hadn’t he just told me? Everything would have been different if he’d just told me.

My fingers trembled around the handle of his coffee cup. I held it a little tighter and knocked once to let him know I was coming in.

He was on a phone call when I entered. He flashed me a smile to wordlessly thank me, but I didn’t walk back out and leave him to his work like he expected me to. Realizing I must need something, he told the person on the other line he would call them back.

I shifted my weight from one kitten heel to the other as he put the phone back on its cradle and looked up at me. “Did you need something?”

I cleared my throat. Dropped his gaze. Shifted my weight again. My stomach was tumbling like a gymnast on a trampoline. “Um, about last night…”

His lips tugged up, but this time without humor. “I thought we didn’t have to discuss that any further.”

“No, I know, it’s just… While I was getting your coffee, I…”

How do I say it?

I heard your idiot wife left you for her personal trainer?

I realized I could actually have you, and that changed everything.

But did he even want me for real? I was always around seeing to his needs, and in a vulnerable moment like last night when he was hurting, what if all he wanted was… a release?

What if he just knew I’d be easy? That I’d been interested in him for so long, I would’ve let him fuck me against a wall in his office, but what came after that? He still wasn’t divorced. Hell, maybe Tess would come to her senses and come back.