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I’m back to just being his assistant again.

And I can’t do this anymore.

I can’t just go back to being his assistant.

“I’m trying to protect as many people as I can,” Monty continues while running a hand through his hair. “The board is watching every decision I make right now. I’m going to have to make some tough decisions. I should’ve told you this sooner, I know…

While he talks, I study his face. The careful expression. His controlled tone. The way he’s keeping three feet of space between us and won’t look at me, at least not the way he looked at me a few hours ago when I was in his arms.

I can’t go back to pretending I don’t want him.

I can’t sit outside his office, taking care of his every need anymore, when I have my own.

Holding up my hand to stop him mid-sentence, I take a breath that feels like it rips open my lungs. “I’ll save you the trouble of laying off one less person,” I tell him. “I quit.”

For a second, Monty just stares at me, lips still parted on the last word he spoke before he asks, “What?”

I pull the diamond off my finger before I can change my mind. It feels heavier now than it did when he first gave it to me. Heavier than it should for us to just be pretending.

“I think it’s time for me to finally move on, to do what I should have years ago,” I say, holding the ring out between us.

Monty’s eyes drop to my bare hand, then back up to my face.

“What? No, Kendall…”

“It’s for the best, for both of us,” I add before he can say anything. “Besides, I’d rather go than see someone with a family get laid off.”

“That’s not how this works,” he huffs.

“It is now.”

He still hasn’t taken the ring from me.

So, I step closer, close enough to see the hesitation in his eyes. His brilliant blue eyes I looked into just hours ago when he kissed me like he never wanted to stop.

I take his hand and press the ring into his palm. His fingers close around it automatically.

“Goodbye, Monty,” I say softly. “I’ll take my two weeks off now as my notice. Maggie can fill in temporarily. Or maybe permanently.”

For a second, it looks like he’s going to say something else.

Like he’s going to stop me.

Like he might tell me not to go.

Instead, he just stands there holding the ring as if he doesn’t know what to do with it.

When I turn away from him toward my car, he finally says, “Kendall, wait —”

But I can’t.

I can’t keep waiting on him even a second longer.

18

Monty

After Kendall leaves me standing in the airport parking lot with the diamond ring in my hand, I’m devastated.