Hers by Dawn Robertson Page A

text, letting her know about the plans for the next couple days, and giving her free reign of my penthouse.
     
    London for the next week. Penthouse is yours. Drinks tomorrow night before I leave?
     
    Ideally, I like to check in with her before I leave, and in the wake of the Evan breakup, it’s even more important for me to make sure she’s handling it. In a lot of ways, Star is just like me. We both hide our emotions extremely well. As shattered as I was when Daniel left me, I never let anyone see. Not even Star, even though she could see right through the tough as nails persona I put on.
    On cue, my phone comes to life with the conference call I’d patiently been waiting for. Still no sign of Levi; I’m sure he will steer clear of me as much as he can, at least until we hop on a plane to London and are forced to work one-on-one for days. Something I am both dreading, and looking forward to, because you know, I am mentally fucked up.
    The Tokyo conference call drags on, and on, and on some fucking more. I continue looking at the clock, watching the minutes tick on by, completely bored out of my mind. My participation is limited, and my need to play Candy Crush on my cell phone grows. Somewhere around level one hundred and twenty three, my office door cracks open, and Levi saunters in. His appearance is tired, his jawline covered in a blanket of stubble, his tie pulled free, and the three top buttons of his expensive dress shirt left open. If I wasn’t shocked by him actually joining me, I may have found myself drooling all over my desk.
    I quickly mute my end of the line.
    “I didn't think you were going to join me,” I state, flatly.
    He runs his fingers through his dark hair, never making eye contact. “I got stuck on a call. I should have been here an hour and a half ago. Damn lawyers.” Something is clearly bothering him, but I am not about to start playing Dr. Phil; I am already in too deep as it is.
    My heart races as he sits down across from me, and props his black dress shoes up on my brand new desk. I should want to kill him for putting his dirty feet on my desk, but he looks too damn sexy for me to be mad.
    My blood would boil if anyone else did this. I would hit the ceiling. And here he is, like he owns the place, and I am completely unfazed by it. Yup, I have lost my mind.
    “Nothing from our legal department, right? I didn't get any memos.” The business side of me kicks in, and I start prying, while trying to listen in on my call.
    He shakes his head, pressing his full lips together in a line. “My ex-wife is trying to get more money out of me. Nothing new. Just fucking annoying.” He’s uncomfortable and I can see why. Who would want to talk about his ex-wife with a woman he’s been hooking up with? Wait, are we hooking up? No. It was a one-time thing. Wait. Two times. That is it!
    “That sucks. I'm glad I don't have any messy exes like that.” I shrug it off, because any kind of conversation that may emotionally connect us is out of the picture. I don't need any more of a connection than what we have already established. Even that is way too much for me. The line I have always drawn in the sand has been crossed. Crushed. Erased. Pulverized. FUCK!
    His curiosity is peaked. Damn it. I wish I could just keep my mouth shut sometimes. Thinking before I speak can sometimes be a weakness of mine. Clearly.
    “No exes? No messy break ups? No relationships?” His warm eyes connect with mine, and I feel insanely uncomfortable all of a sudden. I don't want to lie, but the truth is more than I can bear to deliver.
    “I had one, a long time ago.” I shrug, and my attention is back to the conference call. I answer a couple questions before the line is disconnected and I am finally free to go home. Or am I?
    I think the conversation has been dropped.
    “Is it true?” Levi asks me, standing from the desk, like he is going to head for the door.
    The vagueness confuses me. “Is what true?” I walk