into the jacket pocket of his suit and pull out a thin envelope. He handed it to her. “Read it. I’m offering you an extremely generous salary and benefit package to return to Stewart Investments.”
Slowly Maya ripped open the envelope and pulled out the single sheet of paper. The offer letter was nothing short of impressive. The salary was more than generous, it was astronomical. And the benefits of increased 401(k), profit sharing and an abundance of time off was staggering. “Ayden...”
“Listen, I’ll make this worth your while. I’m willing to offer you a signing bonus of twenty-five thousand dollars if you’ll agree to come back right now.”
She looked in his direction and saw the worry that she would say no etched all over his face. And she should. She had every right to turn him down. He wasn’t good for her. And she’d made a good life in San Antonio. She should go back where it was safe, but when had she ever used her head when it came to this man? The bonus he was offering her was too great a sum to turn down, not when the funds could help her ailing mother. When he looked at her with those puppy-dog eyes, she was a goner.
“Please, don’t say no. Think it over.”
“I don’t need to think it over,” she answered impulsively. “My answer is no. I have a life in San Antonio, Ayden. I can’t just drop everything because you need me.” She had a home, a job she enjoyed and her best friend, Callie. Why would she uproot her life?
“You haven’t even thought about it,” Ayden said. “Isn’t there anything I can do to entice you? There has to be something.”
The thought continued to nag at her that if she accepted Ayden’s offer, she could help out with her mother’s cancer treatments. Even though they were estranged, Maya couldn’t imagine letting her mother suffer when she could have the potential means to help. What kind of person would she be if she did that? But could she go back to working for Ayden knowing her feelings for him weren’t truly resolved? “I don’t know.”
“Maya, we can make this work,” Ayden murmured. “With you by my side, we can not only win over Kincaid, but take Stewart Investments to new heights. And with that offer, you would get a share in the earnings. It’s a win-win. Please say yes.”
“All right, all right, I’ll come back.”
Ayden couldn’t believe the joy that surged through him at Maya’s response. Without thinking, he stepped closer. He called himself all kinds of foolish for torturing himself with her familiar sweet aroma, but he couldn’t resist. Ayden pulled her into his embrace, squeezing her tightly to him. He felt her breasts pebble against his chest and his groin tightened.
Maya stiffened and Ayden knew he’d done the wrong thing. She didn’t welcome his advances. The one night they’d shared had been her attempt to feel loved, coddled, but that was in the past. He mustn’t forget that. Still, being in her hotel room was doing funny things to his anatomy again; he pulled away. “I’m sorry. I was just so overjoyed. Won’t happen again.” He couldn’t touch her again. Otherwise, he might lose his head and start to remember what it was like to feel that soft skin of hers as she melted underneath him. He blinked rapidly.
“It’s all right,” Maya finally said, letting him off the hook. “I guess you were right. It’s time I finally stop hiding and return to the life I once loved.”
“Do you really mean that?” Ayden quirked a brow. He knew it wasn’t entirely true. The report he’d received had told him of Sophia Richardson’s health. He knew that the signing bonus was the reason Maya was coming back—she needed it for Sophia Richardson’s health costs. He would have given her the money even if she hadn’t agreed to come back. Maya was someone he cared about, and if it was in his power to help her mother, he would. He wouldn’t want her to experience the guilt he’d felt at not being able to help his mother during her illness. It was guilt he still carried to this day.
“Not the long nights,” she added with a smile, “but I did enjoy working with you. We were a good team.”
“And we will be again.” Once they got back into their work groove, the past would be left behind and they could make a new beginning. He offered Maya his hand. She glanced down at it and Ayden wondered if she was going to renege, but instead her soft fingers clasped his in a firm shake.
“It’s a deal.”
Ayden grinned. “You don’t know how much this means to me.”
“Oh, I can guess,” Maya laughed. “I suppose there’s lots of work piled up?”
Ayden grinned unabashedly. “No. Carolyn is still here for a few weeks, but I wasn’t relishing working with someone new. Plus I already had my mind made up that no one but you would do.”
Maya Richardson was one of a kind. And although Carolyn had done an acceptable job in her place, Maya was irreplaceable. He’d discovered that when he’d made the mistake of mixing business with pleasure. And speaking of that, it was late. He needed to get out of her room before he did something he couldn’t take back. He moved toward the door, but stopped midstep. “How much time do you need to get your affairs in order?”
“A couple of weeks to give notice at my current job. And when I get back to Austin, I’ll need some time with Carolyn to get up to speed before she leaves.”
He pointed his index finger at her. “I’m holding you to it.”
“I’ve never gone back on my word.”
“Very true.” She never had and never would, because Maya was a woman he could count on. “I’ll see you soon.” Ayden left swiftly and closed the door behind him, then leaned up against it.
Closing his eyes, he sucked in a deep breath. It had been dicey in there for a minute. He hadn’t realized just how much of a physical tug he’d feel being with Maya again. It had been five years, but the moment she’d opened the door to her hotel room, he’d been transported to that night at his apartment when she’d exploded in his arms and kissed him with a passion unlike anything he’d ever known. Maya had kissed him as if he were a man and not the boss she’d worked with for years. She had aroused him to the point that he’d acted rather than thought about his actions.
For a split second when he’d held her in his arms and their bodies collided, he’d felt compelled to act as he had back then, but in the nick of time he’d managed to do the right thing and move away. He’d just convinced Maya to come back to him and Ayden wasn’t about to mess it up because he couldn’t keep it in his trousers. He was already the worst kind of scoundrel, having played on feelings he suspected she might still harbor for him.
How did he know?
There had a moment when she thought she’d disguised her true emotions that he had caught a glimpse of something in her eyes. He wasn’t positive of how deep her feelings went after all these years, but at the very least, Maya still cared for him, and Ayden had used it to get what he wanted. Which was why he would ensure he kept their relationship platonic going forward—he refused to lose her a second time.
“Are you insane?” Callie stared at Maya in disbelief from across the table of the Starbucks where they’d met the following afternoon when she returned to San Antonio.
“No, I’m not.”
“Clearly, you must have lost your mind.” Callie reached across the short distance to place the back of her hand on Maya’s
