She was on the floor, her head buried in a box of files when her door opened.
“That had better be either my lunch or more boxes.”
“Neither, sorry.”
She whipped around to see Mick standing in her doorway.
She stood, wiped her hands down her skirt, not at all mentally armed for this battle. “Look, I’ve stayed away. What the hell more could you possibly want from me?”
“Is it okay if I come in?”
Wary, she motioned with her hand. He walked in and shut the door.
“Your receptionist sent me back. She seemed to be in a hurry to head out to lunch.”
Damn Felicia and her crazy diets. Hunger made her stupid.
“You’re here. Might as well sit down. Do you want some water?”
“That would be good, thanks.”
He was being polite. That was new. She fixed him and herself a glass, handed his to him, and took a seat behind her desk. Her spacious office suddenly seemed too small as she waited for him to say whatever it was he came to say. Finally, she tired of the suspense.
“Why are you here, Mick?”
“To apologize for being so hard on you. I’ve never been one to carry a grudge, and for some reason with you I have been.” He stood, dragged his fingers through his hair. “I’ve never been in love before. It’s made me a little crazy and overprotective of Tara and Nathan. And what you did really set me off.”
“I—”
He held up his hand. “Let me finish, please.”
“Okay.”
“What you did hurt them. And I know you realized it and you fixed it. You apologized over and over again, and made peace with both of them. You’re even friends with Tara now. But I couldn’t let it go. For some reason I just couldn’t let it go. I kept on punishing you. And when you and Gavin got together, I didn’t want that to happen. I wanted you out of my life, out of Tara and Nathan’s lives, too. Seeing how happy Gavin was with you made me think we might never get away from you. It also made me think I made a mistake firing you.”
She had no idea what to say to that, so she said nothing while he paced and talked.
He stopped, turned to face her. “I hate Don Davis. I signed with him because you hated him, too. I knew he was your nemesis, that his number one goal in life was to take business away from you. I did it to get back at you, to hurt you the way you hurt the people I love. And maybe it did hurt you, but it hurt me, too. He doesn’t know shit about promoting me and my career the way you did.”
Wow. Just . . . wow.
“I mean, obviously, I can’t have you throwing women at me anymore. Not with Tara in my life. But you really understood me and my career goals and what was important to me. And you listened. Davis doesn’t listen. He doesn’t know me and my family and my life like you do.”
He sat in the chair and faced her. “I’m sorry, Elizabeth.”
She got up and moved around the desk and sat in the chair next to his. “I’m sorry, too, Mick. Truly sorry for what I did to Tara and Nathan. I do learn from my mistakes and try never to make them again. I’ve missed having you as a client and as my friend. Losing you as a client hurt me professionally. Losing your friendship hurt me on a much deeper level.
“If you’d like, I can recommend some very good agents who aren’t as slimy as Don Davis, people who’ll listen to you and who’ll be very good for your career.”
He arched a brow. “You’d do that?”
“Of course. I’ve always wanted what was best for you. And Tara’s my friend. Your career is beneficial to her, too.”
“How about I re-sign with you as soon as I can get out from under the Davis Agency?”
She leaned back in the chair. “You’d want to work with me again?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t know, Mick. There’s a lot of history, not all of it good.”
“And sometimes you have to leave the past in the past. We had a great working relationship. You get me. And your negotiation skills are the best out there.”
She smiled. “They are, aren’t they?”
He laughed. “That’s what I like about you—your humility.”
“Can’t have humility in my job. Not when it counts the most.”
“I signed with him for a year, told him I wanted to test the waters. When the contract’s up for renewal, you and I will talk. If you’re interested . . .”
“You know I will be.”
He stood. “I’m sorry I’ve been so hard on you. And I’m sorry I came between you and Gavin.”
Her smile died. “You wouldn’t have come between your brother and me if he hadn’t allowed it. It just wasn’t meant to be. Too much conflict there.”
“Is that Gavin talking, or you deciding it for him?”
She shrugged. “Doesn’t really matter, does it? You heard him that day at your dad’s house.”
“Yeah, I did. And I was part of it, instigating it all. I can’t apologize enough for it. You have every right to kick my ass forever for it.”