Law #2: Don't Play with a Player: A Sweet Office Romance Story (Laws of Love) by Agnes Canestri (web ebook reader .txt) 📕

She wiggles free from my embrace.

Her breathing comes in short pants, and her cheeks are flushed. Her lips are swollen from my nibbling, but her eyes burn with an angry flame. “Why did you have to do this?”

“To prove to you that I love you,” I murmur sheepishly.

Laia shakes her head. “You only proved that you desire me. But that’s not love. If you loved me, you wouldn’t have made a booty-call to your ex right after dropping me off.”

My jaw sinks. “You think I slept with Morgan?”

“Well, didn’t you?”

“No, I did not.” I control the outrage in my voice, even if Laia’s assumption stings.

She shrugs, and with this subtle movement, her sullen attitude melds into a quiet resignation. “It’s hard for me to believe, given that you arranged for Morgan’s room to be right next to yours.”

My throat dries out, and no words come out.

“Also…” Laia squares her shoulders. “I heard the story about your former assistant, Hayley. That you fired her because she fell in love with you while you only wanted a fling with her? Would this have been my destiny, too?”

The mention of Hayley snaps me out of my self-induced impotence. “Laia, I said I loved you. Why do you think I would say that?”

She shakes her head. “I don’t know. Maybe because you thought that’s what I’d need to hear to jump into your bed?”

I narrow my eyes. “Where did you even hear this nonsense about Hayley and me?”

“From someone at the company. I didn’t want to believe it at first. I told myself it was mean-spirited gossip, nothing more. But after what happened between us, and between you and Morgan…I’m not so sure anymore.”

My stomach churns. “You said last night that you knew I was more than just a player. That you saw more in me.”

Laia’s chin quivers. “Yes, I did. But maybe I was mistaken.”

Her words cut deep into my soul like sharp blades.

I could contradict her on all of her accusations. I didn’t sleep with Morgan. I never touched Hayley.

And I certainly didn’t tell Laia about my love to get into her panties.

So then why don’t I argue my case?

Maybe because of the way Laia is staring at me. With her brows furrowed and her lips in a hard line, as if her belief in my flawed nature is unshakable. Or perhaps it’s because of my own plaguing doubts about my character.

Perhaps it was foolish to hope I could cancel out my past and deserve to be loved by someone as pure as Laia. To wish that Laia would ignore my previous mistakes and trust me.

“I’m sorry if this is what you think of me,” I murmur.

Laia’s eyes fill with tears. “I’m sorry, too.”

The sight of her sorrow is more destructive than any of her previous words. I don’t want to see her sad, and the realization that I’m the cause of her distress shreds my insides.

If I were to insist on my truth with Laia, I might convince her.

Would that be the best choice at this point? Am I really and truly the right one for her?

I know it in my bones that she deserves that—the best man who will make her happy.

But what if I’m not him?

The air escapes my lungs in a loud whoosh, as if I were tackled by Wyatt’s impressive frame during a high school football match.

But it’s the sobering truth that causes my ribcage to crash.

Maybe my greatest act of love for Laia should be to give her up.

Laia said she loved me, but maybe she has fallen into the same trap she accused me of. I know I’m not just attracted to her physically, because I have more than enough experience under my belt to see the difference.

But Laia does not.

What if her feelings for me are magnified by our potent chemistry?

If so, with me out of the picture, Laia could have a better chance of finding someone who’s pure like her.

Not a rotten apple like me.

I need to push Laia away. For good.

I capture her gaze. “You’re right, Laia. Perhaps once a player, always a player. I probably have a sick attraction to the boss-employee romance trope, despite the rules I impose in the company.”

Morgan’s recriminations taste foul on my tongue, but I continue anyway. “Also, I’ve been curious to see how someone so innocent like you would behave with someone like me. But it was a lapse of judgment from my part. You want, and clearly deserve, more than just a fling with me.”

Laia’s eyes widen.

It’s almost as if despite her flaring anger and fiery comments, she still held onto a straw of hope about my character, which I, with my answer, have set on fire.

“I think I’ll go now, Devon,” she mumbles, dropping her glance to the floor. Her voice is throaty with the sobs she must be biting back. “I’ll email you a formal resignation letter as soon as I get home.”

“Very well.” My words seem to float around me like they don’t belong to me.

That’s not what my heart wants to tell Laia.

But since this is what my brain needs to choose so she can be happy in the long run, I roll my hands into fists and watch Laia fetch her carry-on.

I open the door for her in a last gallant gesture, and she thanks me for it quietly.

“Live well, Devon,” she whispers before stepping out into the corridor.

I lean to the jamb, paralyzed and empty, as the weight of what I’ve just done settles on my shoulders.

I did a good thing for Laia, and this knowledge must be my consolation. But I also lost the person who managed to make me see the world differently and taught me what true love could feel like.

As I stare at her disappearing silhouette, I know the scar this good-bye will leave behind will stay with me forever.

Chapter 47

(Laia)

“Well, if this won’t cheer you up at least a little, I’m going to start to worry.” Eva dips a spoon in the chocolate fudge ice cream