“Mike’s wife is two years younger than me.” She threw her hands up in disgust. “She has three kids. I have four dead plants.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
She sighed a little. She’d known going in that quitting wouldn’t be easy. That Ethan would try to keep her by offering raises, promotions, vacations. But she hadn’t realized how hard it would be to tell him what was bothering her. What was driving her to leave. Heck, she’d only recently figured it out for herself.
“I want a family, Ethan. I want a man to love me...” You, her brain whispered, but she shut that inner voice down fast. “I want kids, Ethan. I’m almost thirty.”
“Seriously?” He pushed the edges of his jacket back and stuffed both hands into his pants pockets. “That’s what this is about? A biological clock moment?”
“Not just a moment,” she told him. “I’ve been thinking about this for a while. Ethan, we work fifteen-hour days, sometimes more. I haven’t been on a date in forever and haven’t had sex in three years.”
He blinked.
She winced. Okay, she hadn’t meant to tell him that. Bad enough that Sadie knew the pitiful truth. Downright embarrassing for Ethan to know it. “My point is, I don’t want to look back when I’m old and gray and all alone—except for a cat and I don’t even like cats—and have the only thing I can say about my life be, Boy, I really was a good assistant. Kept that office running smoothly, didn’t I?”
“Doesn’t sound like a bad thing.”
Exasperated, Sadie stabbed her index finger at him. “That’s because you don’t have a life, either.” Yes, it had been forever since she’d been with anyone. But he was no better. “You bury yourself in your work. You never talk to anyone but me or Gabe. You own a damn mansion in Dana Point, but you’re never there. You eat takeout at your desk and pour everything you have into charts and ledgers, and that’s not healthy.”
One dark eyebrow arched. “Thanks very much.”
Sadie took a step back, mostly because standing so close to him was hard on her nerve endings. He smelled good. His jaw was tight, his eyes flashing and he looked...too tempting. Not for the first time, she wondered what would happen if she threw herself at his chest and wrapped her arms around his neck. Would he hold her back? Kiss her senseless?
Or would he be horrified and toss her to one side?
Since she was quitting, she could easily find out the answers. But the truth was, she wasn’t sure she wanted to know. Sometimes a really good fantasy was way better than reality.
“This isn’t about me and my life,” he pointed out.
“In a way it is,” she said. “Maybe if you hire an assistant who insists on a nine-to-five schedule, you’ll get out of this office once in a while.”
“Fine.” He jumped on her statement. “You want nine to five, we can do that.”
Sadie laughed. “No, we can’t. Remember Megan’s wedding?” Her cousin had been hurt that Sadie had slipped out of the chapel and missed the whole thing. And Sadie hadn’t liked it, either. “I’m really sorry, Ethan, but I have to quit. I’ll stay for two weeks, train a replacement.”
“Who?” He crossed his arms over his chest and dared her with his eyes to come up with a suitable replacement.
“Vicki in Marketing.”
“You’re kidding.”
“What’s wrong with her?”
“She hums. Constantly.”
Okay, she had to give him that one. He wasn’t the only one to complain about Vicki. Worse, Sadie was pretty sure the woman was tone deaf. “Fine. Beth in Payroll.”
“No.” He shook his head. “Her perfume is an assault on the senses.”
Typical, she thought. Of course he would find something wrong with everyone she suggested. He might be young, gorgeous and a sex-on-a-stick walking fantasy, but he had the resistance to change of a ninety-year-old.
Good thing she’d been prepared for this. “How about Rick? He’s been working here for two years. He knows the business.”
If anything, his jaw got tighter. “Rick agrees with Gabriel. I’m not going to spend every day arguing with my assistant.”
True. So it came down to this. To him suggesting her replacement. “Who do you suggest, then?”
“You.” He was frowning and somehow that only made him look sexier.
What was wrong with her?
“We’re a team, Sadie. A good one. Why break that up?”
Though she loved the fact that he didn’t want her to leave, she knew she had to go for her own peace of mind. How could she ever look for love somewhere else when she was too wrapped up in Ethan Hart? God, how pitiful did that sound?
“I’ll find someone,” she said firmly.
He didn’t look happy at that, but he jerked a nod. “And you agree not to leave until a replacement is trained.”
She narrowed her eyes on him, because she saw the trap. If he never agreed to a replacement, she’d never get that person trained and thus, never leave. “And you agree to accept the replacement.”
He shrugged. “If this nameless person can do the job, of course.”
“You sound so reasonable.” Sadie tipped her head to one side and watched him closely. “Why don’t I believe you?”
“Suspicious nature?”
His eyes flashed and her insides skittered in response. Seriously, from the moment she’d taken this job with Ethan Hart, Sadie had been half in love with him. And over the years, she’d taken the full-on tumble. She still wasn’t sure why. Ethan wasn’t anywhere near her ideal man.
She’d put a lot of time and thought into what she wanted. Yes, Ethan was gorgeous. Really way too handsome. Women were always tripping over themselves trying to get close to him. Yes, he was successful, but he was driven by his work to the exclusion of everything else in his life. She didn’t know if he liked children because he was never around any. She didn’t know if he was an amazing lover—though she’d had quite a few dreams in which he was the ultimate sex god. He had a sense of humor but he didn’t use it often, and he was entirely too spoiled. Too used to getting his own way.
No, Ethan Hart was not the man for her and if she ever hoped to find that elusive lover, then she had to leave this job.
“I have reason to be suspicious,” she said.
“Why would I lie?” he asked, feigning astonishment at the very idea.
“To get what you want.”
“You know me so well, Sadie,” he said, shaking his head. “Just one more reason why we make a good team.”
They really did. Damn it. She hated having to leave and couldn’t stand staying.
“Ethan, I’m serious,” she said, lifting her chin and meeting his gaze squarely. “I’m quitting.”
He looked at her for a long, silent minute. “Fine.”
Just like that, his walls went up and his eyes went blank. “Wow, you’re good at that.”
“What?”
“Going from hot to cold in a blink.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Of course you do,”