The One Who Got Away (Wilde Ways #12) - Cynthia Eden Page 0,33

all the time?”

Luckily, no. But… “Some people are too perfect.”

A furrow appeared between her brows.

“You were too perfect, Ella. You were like…” He kicked his pride aside. It wasn’t doing much for him, anyway. “You were like my dream come to life.”

She laughed.

He didn’t.

Her laughter slowly trailed away. “What? Are you serious right now?”

Dead serious. “Everything about you…it seemed as if a fantasy I’d had all my life—you’d just come to life. You were funny. Smart. You even smelled like strawberries. Do you have any idea how much I love strawberries?”

Her lips parted.

“You were the sexiest woman I’d ever seen. You walked like you were moving to the sound of music that only you could hear. You knew tech. You could get a team of guards to follow your every command with just a quiet whisper. You had this sly sense of humor that snuck out, and you made me laugh. Hardly anyone can make me laugh, but you did it effortlessly. My life tends to be so serious.” He tended to be too serious. “But I wanted to smile with you. Everything was easy when you were close. Talking with you was simple.” He’d struggled to talk with others over the years. He’d always admired his buddy Sebastian because the guy could build an easy rapport with people so quickly. But things had been different for Antony. Until her. “And, of course, there’s the way you look.”

“How do I look?”

His heart kicked into a double-time rhythm. “Like I said, a fantasy come to life.”

“You’ve dated super models, Antony.” Her lips thinned. “Not often, yes, you don’t date very often at all because you’re so work focused. But don’t expect me to believe that you’re insanely overwhelmed by my appearance because I don’t buy it.”

“I don’t date often because of work. That’s not the reason. I don’t date much—it’s because of you. You were off-limits, but I didn’t want anyone else. So why waste time with them?” He shrugged. “I took dates when required. When I had a big event that mandated I not arrive alone.” Though most of the time, he’d just said screw it and showed up alone. Those models? They’d been with him because of his bank account. Or because it was trendy to pair up with a tech guy. Nerds were the new hot men of the moment, or so the magazines said.

“So you wanted me, but all this time, you thought I was secretly the enemy?” Her eyes widened. “Do you still think I’m the enemy?”

“I haven’t thought you were the enemy since the second week you worked for me. I had already cleared you by then.”

“I am so confused right now. You hired me because you thought I was a secret agent. When you found out I wasn’t, you kept me on because…?”

“I hired you because you were damn perfect. I feared you might be an enemy agent, but that was cleared up fast. I kept you on because, one, you were very good at the job.”

“Thanks for noticing.”

“And two, I couldn’t imagine not having you close. Couldn’t imagine not going into the office and seeing your slow smile. Having you meet my eyes when someone said some dumbass comment and you and I were secretly laughing about it.” Those secret moments when they connected over jokes—he loved those times. He loved the closeness he felt with Ella. “But then one day, you were gone.”

“It wasn’t ‘one day.’ It was last week.” She pressed her lips together. Looked down at her hands. Seemed to gather her thoughts before she continued, “You never said anything.” Her head tipped back. “I’m supposed to believe you’ve been—um, lusting after me—all this time, and you never said or did anything about it?”

“You worked for me. You didn’t seem to feel the same way. I didn’t…” Damn but he wished he could be a little more suave with his words. This was so important, and he was screwing things up even worse. “If I did something wrong, I would have lost you.” And I have done something wrong. I’m afraid I am going to lose you no matter what.

She rose to her feet. “So you kept lying to me.”

“I will never be able to tell you about all of the cases I have worked with Dex. I can’t. It’s confidential. Lives are on the line.”

Ella nodded. “I actually get that.” She headed closer with slow steps. “I don’t want specifics. I don’t want to put anyone in jeopardy.” Another