“Fine,” he said. He stood and walked to the door. He paused to scratch Sir between the ears and then he straightened up. “I guess we’re done here.”

“I guess we are,” I agreed. He closed the door very gently behind him.

I didn’t need it spelled out for me that we had just broken up. It was clear from the way my heart had just crinkled up like a piece of paper over a flame that we were through.

“You can’t be serious,” Carson said. “You’re going with that?”

I glanced at him from where I was standing in front of the whiteboard. My entire team was in the meeting room, finalizing our materials for Lexi’s approval. She’d had input along the way, but this was a run-through of our final presentation to her and the investors of the development. It was a very big deal.

I had followed Nick’s advice and buried Carson in work. He’d managed to fob off a lot of it, but there’d been enough that he’d actually had to put in some hours because Miguel and Sophie had made the material for Lexi’s housing development priority number one.

“Is there a problem, Carson?” I asked. I knew he was making a scene because Miguel and Sophie weren’t in the meeting, and he thought he could get away with it. Also, it was possible his ego was feeling a bit dinged. I hadn’t chosen his design for the logo, and since he was the art director, that probably chafed a bit.

“I busted my tail on the logo for New Dawn,” he said. He gestured to the artist rendering in front of him. “And you’re choosing this one?”

“Yes, I am,” I said. I glanced behind me at the whiteboard, where the chosen logo filled the entire screen. “I think Luz’s design captures the spirit of a net-zero development in the desert perfectly.”

“It looks like a child drew it,” he said. His voice dripped with condescension.

“That’s uncalled for and extremely unprofessional,” I said. I glanced at Luz, who had worked with me on rendering the logo: a bright yellow sun rising over the desert with a stylized mid-century modern vibe. I loved it, and most important, Lexi and the investors loved it even more.

“What are you going to do, tell on me?” Carson sneered. He rose, pushing back his seat so forcibly that it slammed against the glass wall. I saw staff members in the room beyond whip their heads in our direction.

“She won’t have to,” a voice said from the doorway. We all turned to see Trent standing there. He looked pissed. Trent never looked pissed. “A word, Carson?”

“Sure,” Carson said. “Whatever.”

He grabbed his materials and stalked from the room. Trent met my gaze as he waited for Carson, and he made the tiniest nod. Then he turned and followed him.