Total pages in book: 54
Estimated words: 49814 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 249(@200wpm)___ 199(@250wpm)___ 166(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 49814 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 249(@200wpm)___ 199(@250wpm)___ 166(@300wpm)
We can't be both. Maybe it works for other people, but we aren't other people. We're Constance and Bastian. He's a control freak at work, and I'm the girl who refuses to bend. As much as we love the push and pull, it's just not sustainable if we want to build a future together. Trying to work together as boss/employee places too much friction on the bond we're trying to build.
I know it. He knows it. I think everyone knows it, even if they aren't saying it. He can't be my boss and the man I love at the same time. I can't be his employee and the mother of his children. We'll fuck it all up because neither of us knows how to bend.
Yes, he should have talked to me. I deserved to know what he was thinking and what was happening. But…I haven't been entirely forthright with him either, have I? I've been too damn afraid to tell him how I really feel. I didn't want to rock the boat, so I just didn't say it.
He doesn't know that I'm in love with him.
That's…a travesty, really. He should know. He deserves to know that I want him. If the choice is between him and my job, obviously, there is no choice. But I never told him that. I fought to keep it all, even when I was telling him that it wouldn't work.
He changed the rules because I didn't leave him a choice. I kept my cards close to my vest, trying to keep everything from changing even when it was already changing.
Yeah, I deserved a conversation. But so did he.
And maybe I'm just as mad at myself as I am at him. Because how the hell are we supposed to build a future when I'm too damn afraid to even tell him that the thought of living without him makes it hard to breathe? I don't need him to be my boss. I need him to be my world. But…I never told him that.
I just expected him to know what I needed from him. And maybe I expected him to act on that. But that's not fair to him. I can't expect him to read my mind or know what I need, especially when I'm the one who told him that I'm afraid that working together is going to destroy everything.
Maybe he went about things the wrong way today, but it's obvious he was listening. He was trying. And I've been too damn scared to even do that.
"I messed up," I whisper, my throat raw. "I should have given him a chance to explain before I flipped out."
"Why didn't you?"
I shrug helplessly, my gaze watery. But it's a good question. Why did I freak out? "Because it felt like I was losing everything and had no say." My bottom lip quivers. "And maybe I felt like he was telling me that he didn't feel the same way I do." I swallow hard. "I'm so in love with him."
Caleb sighs. "Then I guess it's a good thing he's on the way here, isn't it?"
I blink at him. "What?"
My brother grimaces at me. "He's on the way."
"What? How? Why?"
"Because you're here," my brother murmurs as if that explains everything. And maybe it does.
Chapter Ten
Bastian
"I'm so mad at you!" Haven yells, flinging a pen at my head as soon as I stumble into the winery, feeling like the goddamn world just imploded around me. "You were supposed to talk to her."
I sink into a chair, my legs numb. Is Constance coming back? Christ, she has to come back, right? The thought that she might not is terrifying.
"Bastian?" Haven says, her tone softer this time.
"She left," I mutter, scrubbing my hands down my face. "I…Christ, I fucked up and she left."
"What the fuck?" Jax stomps into the lobby from his office, scowling down at me. "What do you mean she left? Is she coming back?"
"I don't know."
Haven gasps.
Jax growls a curse.
"Fix it," Haven demands, stomping around the side of her desk to jab me in the chest with her finger. "I don't care what you have to do, but you have to fix it, Bastian."
"You think I don't know that?" I growl, glaring at her. "I can't fucking breathe without her."
My cousin's expression softens. "Then why are you still sitting here?"
It's a good question. Why the fuck am I sitting here? I should be going after her. I should be begging on my knees for her to come back if that's what I have to do. If the social media manager position means that much to her, she can have it. I'll quit if that's what it takes to ensure I'm no longer her boss. Whatever I have to do to get her back here. Just…I have to get her back here. There is no other option. Not one I can live with, anyway.