Page 43 of Their After Hours Playbook

Zach wanted to punch a wall or at least tear his hair out. “It’s a long story. For the moment, just tell the press that we have no comment at this time.”

“And Derek?”

“Tell him to go back to his tiny, appropriately sized office and get back to work.”

Teri snickered. “Got it. Anything else?”

“I might not even be coming in today. We’ll see how things go. Can you manage?”

“Of course, Zach. Always.”

“Thank you. You’re the absolute best.” Zach ended the call and started down the hall. “Paige? Are you still here?” he called. No response came. Had she left? He wouldn’t blame her if that was the case. But when he walked into his room, she was sitting on the edge of the bed, fully dressed, staring at her phone and shaking her head. “Hey,” he said.

She looked up with an unimaginable amount of pain on her face. He wanted so badly to make it go away. “They broke the story. It’s over.” She handed over the phone, which had a video from April’s network on it.

Zach didn’t watch it. He had too much to save in this room. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. It was all Tom’s doing.”

“Is that cover for you? I’m sure Tom will protect you at all costs.” She got up from the bed and marched into the bathroom, where she started chucking various toiletries into a zippered bag.

“It’s not. I had absolutely no idea this was happening. None. I swear.”

“I watched the video. Their source on the story says Alexis called you on Monday.” She turned to him, her eyes ablaze with betrayal. They held no softness for him. Not anymore. “That was the day I brought pizza over so we could watch basketball. You didn’t say a peep about it to me that night. We made love that night. And you continued to keep things quiet. You were keeping a secret from me the whole time.”

He stepped closer, even though he could feel the anger radiating off her. “I didn’t tell you about the phone call because I figured no good would come of it. I told her no. I defended you. I did everything in my power to keep things exactly as they are. And then I left it alone.”

“Well, it didn’t work because Tom apparently decided to step in. And now I’ve lost my biggest client and my boyfriend, all in one fell swoop.”

That word—it made his heart leap. Despite the seriousness of their situation, it made him so happy to hear her call him that. “You’ve never called me your boyfriend before.”

“And you won’t hear it again. We’re done, Zach.”

Just like that, the air was sucked from his lungs and his heart started shrinking into a tiny ball. “Don’t say that. We can work this out. I love you.” For an instant, the room went still. It nearly felt like the world had stopped spinning, too. He hoped the words would fix this, that they would prove to her just how serious he was about her.

Paige zipped up the bag, flipped off the bathroom light and stalked out of the room. “You know, I thought I was falling in love with you. I did. But then this happened and I told myself that it’s been five weeks. You can’t be in love with someone after five weeks.”

Zach followed her as she went to the closet. “I was in love with you after five minutes.”

Paige froze in the doorway. Her shoulders dropped. “Zach, don’t.”

He rushed to her side and grasped her arm, hoping to hell that this wouldn’t be the last time he got to touch her. “Those five weeks were just the confirmation that my first feeling for you was real.” All Zach could think was that if his job was turning into a nightmare and his relationship with his family was about to get rocky, being with Paige would make all of that misery okay. But that wasn’t going to be the way things played out. She didn’t feel what he did. He could see it on her face, and it was like a red-hot poker right through the center of his psyche.

“What you’re feeling isn’t love. It’s infatuation. And it’ll go away as soon as you meet someone else.” She drew in a deep breath and scanned his face. It was like she was looking right through him. “And even if it was love, it wouldn’t matter. You and your family have destroyed me. Maybe it’s all Tom. I don’t know. But I do know that family is incredibly important to you, just as it is to me. I don’t have any family anymore and it’s a very lonely feeling. I don’t want you to lose that on my account.” A tear leaked from the corner of her eye.

“Please let me find a way to fix this.”

She shook her head. “No. It’s already done. Alexis is leaving me because I failed. And if there’s one thing I learned from my mom, it’s that accepting failure is the only way to move forward in life. I need to look ahead. I’m tired of feeling stuck.”

He inched closer, wanting so desperately to wrap her up in his arms. “You weren’t stuck when we were together. We were happy. We can have more of that.”

“I wish that was true, but you know that you would have to give up far too much to be with me. In the end, family is all that matters. Work things out with Tom and be happy. That’s all I want for you. Be happy.” Paige stepped closer and kissed him on the cheek. “Goodbye, Zach.”

She picked up the overnight bag she’d brought to his apartment when he’d first cleaned out a drawer for her. It was so full that the zipper was straining. She was leaving and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it. When Paige set her mind to something, it was impossible to keep her from her aim. It was part of what made him love her so much.

But in the end, apparently love wasn’t enough to save either of them.

Twelve

It wasn’t until Sunday at noon that Alexis finally called Paige back. “Hey,” Alexis said, followed by a long and painful silence.

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