Summer Worthington doesn't hate her corporate job, per se. It's her god-awful boss, Mr. Griffin - or, as her roommates like to call him, Mr. Grouchy - who's the problem. He's cruel, cold-hearted, and the most attractive man she's ever seen.
As his p...
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IT TURNS OUT MAX HAS had his heart broken, and I'm not talking about a couple of deep cracks time will probably be able to heal. I'm talking destroyed beyond repair—why I spent so many months convinced he didn't possess one.
Max's heart is gone, but not because it was never there in the first place, it's just . . . with them now.
It makes total sense.
And honestly, I'm not sure what I'd rather—the heartless CEO I thought I had all figured out or the man who's loved and lost more than anyone I know.
Both outcomes are pretty awful.
It's no wonder Max is glacially cold, so unapproachable and withdrawn. I would be like that, too, if I'd lost everything. I might be upbeat and bubbly—his opposite—but we're kindred spirits. What he's been through is my worst fear. It's why I've never wanted to be vulnerable, to let someone in. Because if I lost them, I'd be losing a part of myself I'd never get back. I'd be just as sad and grumpy and jaded as my boss is. And I'd never survive it—losing my person, my family.
The fact that Max has survived, that he's still functioning—getting out of bed and running a billion-dollar company—is even more impressive to me.
Hell, it's downright admirable.
I can't begin to understand the level of pain and grief he's been subjected to in his thirty-six years. I've never been in love before, never had a relationship that's lasted more than a couple of months, and the chasm between us has never felt this vast—not even when I despised him.
My life experience pales in comparison to his, and I don't know how to navigate something this big. Something so soul-destroying. I don't know what to say to him, or how to move forward. Truthfully, I have no idea what I'm even doing anymore. I'm just staring at the sleek, slimline monitor on my desk—or, more accurately, the dazed reflection that blinks back at me—and questioning everything.
This job couldn't be more different to my last one, and the sense of responsibility and dread is slowly starting to eat away at me like a corrosive acid. I don't feel like the boss-bitch Lauren told me I was this morning as she gave me a much-needed pep talk and handed me my extra strong coffee.
I suddenly feel unprepared for all of this.
Max must (telepathically) receive the memo that I'm struggling to keep things separate between us—our personal and professional relationship—because he avoids me all day.
After Friday night's D&M on my veranda and my conversation with Krystal this morning, I thought he'd hired me again because he wanted to give me a chance to restore my reputation, to let go of all the misconceptions I've had about him over the last eight months.
