Page 31 of Tempt My Heart

She smiled weakly. "It's not your fault either. It's his."

Christopher shrugged and said nothing else as they walked back to the town car. "We'll drop you home."

She nodded her thanks and then relaxed against the leather seats, exhausted. She didn't even realize she'd fallen asleep until a horn sounded when someone drove past. They were parked outside of her apartment and Christopher was looking outside, unaware she was awake.

She didn't move, just content to watch him, when Denver spoke softly.

"Are you sure about all of this? You could try and talk to him again. Blake is going to be pissed if you leak anything to the press, man."

Her boss lifted one shoulder and let it fall. "Last time I tried to talk to him I got arrested. Blake can be pissed all he wants. She's worth it."

She's worth it.God, she couldn't explain how badly she’d needed to hear that, to know that someone thought that outside of maybe her mom.

They fell silent again and she decided it would be safe to 'wake up'. As soon as she stirred, Christopher's eyes flew to hers.

"Hey, we're here."

"You should have woken me," she said after checking the time on her phone.

"You needed to sleep."

They watched each other silently in the near-dark as the sun slunk lower in the sky and it wasn't until Denver cleared his throat that she startled back into action.

"Well, I should get inside."

"Yeah," he said, but there was something burning hot in his eyes that made her hesitate before she pushed open the door and walked to her apartment building.

Things hadn't gone to plan from the very beginning. She could only hope that they weren't going to get hurt too badly in whatever came next.

ChapterSeventeen

“Didn't Christopher tell you to stay here and rest?" Jesse asked the next morning as Ali poured coffee into her to-go cup.

She shrugged. "He said I could, not that Ihadto."

"And you don't think you need to take a beat?" Freya asked gently from her place at the table as she picked at a fruit salad.

"I took a beat last night." It was true, she'd come in and updated her roommates on what had happened and then essentially crashed. "I need to be there today."

"Are you sure—"

"I'm sure." Her smile was tight. She knew they meant well, but she knew what she needed right now better than them. She was the one trapped in her own head. Initially, she'd had every intention of following Christopher's advice, but the longer she'd stayed in bed the more her mind had refused to quiet. She needed to be busy, or she'd lose her shit. It was no good for her to sit around at home stressed and worrying. "Have a good day," she told them before striding out of the door and down the stairs to the apartment complex entrance.

It was pleasant outside and the light blouse and pants she'd chosen to wear were perfect for the faint breeze and surprising sunshine. Sometimes it was the little things.

She'd only been at the office for about an hour when Christopher walked past and did a double-take.

"Ali, you're here?"

"Should I not be?"

"No—I mean, you can do whatever you'd like. I was just surprised is all."

She nodded but didn't stay anything else and he swept a stray piece of hair out of his eyes before continuing past her desk and into his office.

She spent the next hour and a half going through the build up of emails in her inbox, and then rearranging Christopher's schedule for a few last-minute meetings he was going to need to take. Once everything was in order, she stood and knocked on his open office door, ready to do what she should have done at the start of the week.

"Ali," Christopher greeted from behind his desk as he glanced up from the computer screen. "Everything okay?"

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