Todos os capítulos de Engaged to One Whitmore, Fell for the Other.: Capítulo 51 - Capítulo 60

LaylaHarvey caught up with me before I reached the top of the stairs.One moment I was holding his hand, pleased with myself for making him follow me with his hair still disordered from the elevator. The next, his fingers tightened around mine and he pulled me back toward him.I barely had time to turn before he kissed me.The kiss at Aurelia had been hungry. This one felt like everything he’d held back during dinner had finally followed us home.My clutch slipped from my hand onto the carpet. Harvey’s arm went around my waist as I rose onto my toes, sliding both hands into his hair again. His mouth moved over mine slowly at first, then harder when I pressed closer.He tasted faintly of wine and the dessert he’d spent half the evening stealing from me.When his mouth left mine and moved along my jaw, I tipped my head back.“So this is why you wanted me to stay.”Harvey’s lips brushed the sensitive place beneath my ear. “I wanted you to stay before dinner.”I smiled. “You were that co

LaylaThe last time I’d gone away for a weekend with Harvey, I’d spent most of it pretending I wasn’t attracted to him.This time, my suitcase was in the trunk beside his.Rhys had invited us to spend the weekend at a resort owned by his family, a few hours outside the city. Harvey had mentioned it earlier in the week as though he were asking whether I wanted Thai food rather than inviting me into another part of his life.“Rhys is having people up to the resort this weekend.”I’d looked up from the file I was reading. “People?”“Friends.”“You have those?”Harvey had stared at me.I’d smiled.Then he’d told me who was going. Rhys, Declan, Sophie, Celeste, Kate and Kate’s brother, whom I’d somehow never met.“Taylor isn’t going?”“He’s in Chicago until Sunday.”“Do you want to go?”Not We’re going.Do you want to go?“Yes.”So we went.The Morrison resort appeared beyond the trees near the edge of a wide lake, all stone, dark timber and glass overlooking water that reflected the surro

LaylaBy the time we left the Morrison resort, the weekend already felt too short.Our bags were being loaded into Harvey’s car when Adrian came down the steps behind us. “It was good meeting you, Layla.”“You too.”He looked at Harvey. “Try not to disappear for another six months.”“I saw you yesterday.”“That wasn’t what I meant.”Harvey opened my door. “I know.”Adrian stepped back. Kate came out with Sophie a few minutes later. She hugged her brother goodbye before turning to me. “Have a safe drive.”“You too.”Harvey and I left soon after.Mom sounded tired when I called from the car, but she insisted she was fine. The hospital was still monitoring her, and there had been no change to the surgery date. Three weeks had sounded far enough away when Dr. Bellamy first said it. It didn’t anymore.I ended the call and rested my head against the seat. Harvey glanced at me. “Everything okay?”“Yes. She’s tired.”His hand left the steering wheel long enough to squeeze mine. I looked out a

LaylaBy the time I finished telling Marissa what had happened, I was angry all over again.She sat beside me on the sofa, staring at the photograph on my phone. “So someone watched Adrian stop you from falling, took this, and decided to make it look like something else.”“Yes.”“And now people are questioning your job because of it.”“And Harvey decided the best way to protect my job was to take my work away.”Marissa handed my phone back. “I’d be furious.”“I am.”That was the simplest part of it. I understood why Harvey had called legal. I understood why Whitmore Capital needed communications involved once the board and the press were asking questions. What I didn’t understand was why any of that had turned into Harvey deciding what happened to me without speaking to me first.He had taken me off my assignments. Communications had told me not to respond to anyone. Then McKenzie had been sent to tell me it would be better if I went home. Not one of those decisions had been mine.“I

LaylaBy the following afternoon, there wasn’t much left to argue about professionally.Legal had finished its review. Recruitment had documented my hiring from application to offer, Peter had documented why he’d assigned me to Tectrics, and the work I’d done after that spoke for itself. The dates established that Harvey and I hadn’t been together during the overnight trip, and once our relationship began, we’d disclosed it and put the necessary safeguards in place. The board had been given the full chronology.The story looked convincing only when the dates were missing.I was reading the final summary from legal when Harvey appeared beside my desk. “Do you have a minute?”I saved what I was working on and followed him to his office. The door closed behind us.Harvey handed me a printed page. “They found the earliest circulation of the photograph.”I read it. The image had begun moving through a small group of people connected to the Morrison weekend before any of the questions about