Free Snowbound with the CEO by Shannon Stacey Page A

heart—that nothing could ever be the same again. She loved Adrian Blackstone and there was no turning back from that. It had been easier when she was a little in love with him from a distance and could tell herself it was just an infatuation.
    But the Mount Lafayette trip had been the tipping point and she was all in. That wasn’t something she could set aside when she walked through the main doors of the office every day and they couldn’t go on as they were. It wasn’t going to get better. Not anytime soon, anyway.
    She couldn’t continue living in denial. It hurt too much and she couldn’t keep doing that to herself and she wouldn’t keep doing it to Adrian. By the way he’d tried to get her to talk to him a couple of times, he knew their relationship was off. The last thing she wanted to do was confess she’d fallen in love with him.
    Though it was one of the hardest things she’d ever done, Rachel smiled her way through the rest of the Christmas party. Traditionally, Adrian left first and she didn’t think she drew an easy breath until she saw him leaving the banquet room with Diane.
    It was another hour before everybody called it a night. The hugs and kisses and wishes for a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year were a joyous end to the night, but Rachel had a hard time embracing the spirit of the occasion. The only thing she felt was numb.
    Once the last reveler was gone, Rachel thanked the restaurant staff and found her coat. It was bitterly cold outside now that it was fully dark, and she wished she’d called for a cab. She turned toward the bus stop and almost ran smack into Adrian.
    It was too much. Maybe it was the two drinks she’d had or a sugar rush from the dessert table, but anger rose and burned off the sadness. “An ambush? Really?”
    “Let me take you somewhere so we can talk.”
    She shoved by him. “The only place I’m going is home. Good night.”
    “Wait! Rachel, I want to talk to you for a minute.”
    She stopped walking, but took a deep breath to steady herself before turning to face him. “It’s a little cold to have a conversation right now.”
    “Two minutes. You’ve been avoiding me all week. I think you can give me two minutes.”
    She watched the snowflakes falling lazily onto his dark hair and resisted the urge to wipe them away. “I’ve hardly been avoiding you. That would be awkward since I work for you.”
    “That’s my point.” He shoved his hands in his coat pocket. “Things are awkward and I don’t want it to be like that.”
    “I don’t, either. That’s why I’m leaving.”
    He stared at her, and she wondered if he could hear her heart pounding in her chest. She wasn’t sure what she was going to do until the words came out of her mouth but, no matter how painful they were to say, she thought it was the right thing to do.
    “What do you mean you’re leaving?”
    “I’m going to find a new job. I can’t work at BHR anymore.”
    He was shaking his head, as if he could make her take back the words with sheer will. “You don’t have to do this, Rachel. Please don’t. We can figure this out if you would just talk to me.”
    “What happened between us was a mistake.” It hurt so badly to say that, and to watch the impact it had on Adrian. “And I was hoping it wouldn’t affect how I feel about this job, but it does.”
    “It doesn’t have to. Look, I messed up. I wasn’t sure how to act in the office when we first got back, so I was too hands-off. And then I screwed up and brought Diane tonight. There’s nothing between us. There hasn’t been for years.”
    “It’s not any one thing, Adrian. And the bottom line is this—I don’t want to work for you anymore.”
    She knew she’d never forget the shock in his eyes. And she could almost feel his sense of betrayal. But she couldn’t take it back, even if she wanted to. Their relationship was irrevocably broken.
    Without saying anything more, Rachel walked away and this time he didn’t try