After a night of tossing and turning and hardly getting any sleep at all, Mia got out of bed long before any alarm went off. Careful not to wake Beau, she crept over to the drawer he'd given her in his dresser and pulled out an outfit, yoga pants and a long-sleeved T-shirt, put them on, and crept to the closer to get a pair of tennis shoes she'd left there a few weeks ago.
Beau's breathing was still even. He was so handsome, lying there on the bed, one arm tucked beneath the pillow, the other across his chest. He'd told her that he loved her. How could any woman be anything but over the moon for such a man? Yet, here she was, an hour or so before he would wake, gathering up her gown and the other items she'd worn to the opera, preparing to head downstairs and catch a rideshare back to her apartment.
It wasn't that she didn't love him, too. In her heart, she knew she did. But the entire situation was so complicated, so overwhelming, she wasn't sure what to do. It would be impossible for Mia to deepen her relationship with Beau and continue to be his brother's secretary. While quitting her current job and finding another seemed like the obvious choice, she wasn't sure she was ready for that. Sam stirred something inside of her, something she'd never felt before, and selfish as it was, she wasn't sure she could let that go. Not yet.
Tears filled her eyes as she gave him one last glance and headed out the bedroom door. She'd send him a text from the car to let him know that she wanted to talk to him about the situation-later. After work. After she had some more time to think.
Mia made her way down the stairs, treading lightly, though she knew she'd need the help of Beau's staff to get out of the house. She had no idea what the alarm code was, but she knew there was one. And it wasn't as if she could call an Uber to the front steps without someone opening the gate. Perhaps she'd be better off walking a few blocks away to do that. She'd still need the gate to be opened.
She'd made it to the bottom of the stairs and was thinking she might go to the kitchen to ask assistance when Beau's butler, William, entered the room. His eyebrows arched as he took her in, standing there with her gown tossed over her arm, her shoes in her hand, her sparkling handbag squeezed tight to her body so it wouldn't slip. "Miss Mia?" he said, clearly a question. "Is everything all right?"
"Yes, thank you. Everything's fine. I just decided I needed to get home and get ready for work a little earlier this morning, that's all. Would it be too much trouble to get someone to let me out and open the gate so I can get an Uber? I don't want to be any trouble."
William continued to stare at her for a moment, obviously not buying her reason for why she was leaving so early. "Yes, of course. That can be arranged. I can have someone drive you home, Miss Mia."
"That won't be necessary." She smiled, stepping over to the man who'd always treated her so kindly. "I really don't want to be a nuisance."
"You could never be a nuisance, dear," he said, gently patting her arm. "Is Mr. Whitaker awake?"
"No, not yet." She felt the heat come to her face as she thought about how she'd left Beau in bed asleep. He'd be expecting her to be there when he opened his eyes. Instead, he'd wake to an empty bed and a text. Maybe-if she managed to get that sent before he awoke.
"I could drive you to your apartment myself," William offered. "I don't mind. The rest of the staff is fully capable of making sure Mr. Whitaker gets to work on time."
It was evident he thought she needed to provide an explanation for her behavior, perhaps not to him, but to someone, and since she trusted him more than any of the other staff members, he had nominated himself. Mia didn't want to have to tell anyone how she was feeling, but his kind eyes seemed like a safe place to fall, and when she found herself nodding her head, he relaxed slightly.
Mia followed him to the garage where he plucked a set of keys from the hanger by the wall and led her to one of Beau's cars. It was nothing fancy, a black Audi SUV, one she assumed the staff usually drove. William opened the passenger side door for her, and Mia climbed in, still clutching her dress as if it was the only possession she owned in the world. Perhaps she should've left it behind under the circumstances, but she didn't want Beau to think she was completely running out on him, and leaving such a beautiful gift might've signaled that was her intentions.
Once she was in and had her seatbelt buckled, she fished her phone out of the sparkling bag, only partially paying attention as William opened the garage door and headed toward the gate. She assumed she'd have to give him directions, but when he pressed the navigation button on the dash, her address was one of the choices, which seemed odd to her but also made her even more upset about what she was doing.
Mia opened her texts and easily found Beau's name at the top of her recent activity. She began to type out what she hoped would come across as lighthearted text, thanking him for last night and letting him know she'd like to speak to him after work about their relationship. None of it sounded right. If she received a text like that from him, she'd assume he was planning to break things off with her. How could she send him something like that?
"How was the opera?" William asked as they headed toward a major road that would take her most of the way to her apartment. He could clearly see that she was laboring over the text and either wanted to give her a reprieve or was hoping she wouldn't send it.
"It was wonderful," Mia said. Thinking back to how happy she'd been watching the beauty of Tristan and Isolde unfold before her on the stage made her smile. "The whole night was wonderful."
William smiled. "Good. I am sure Beau had a lovely time, too. He enjoys being with you no matter what the pair of you are doing."
Mia noted he'd become less formal, calling him Beau and not Mr. Whitaker. She had to assume that was on purpose. He wasn't just Beau's butler; he was his friend. "I always enjoy my time with him as well," she assured him.
"You know, I've worked for Beau for many years. Over that time, I've seen him bring home a good number of women. I'm sure you know that." She nodded-that was no revelation. "But most of them only come a time or two. Only a few have been what I'd call girlfriends, and even then, something was missing. But with you.... Well, he seems like a different person when you're around."
Her heartstrings tightened at William's words. While she was flattered that Beau seemed to think so highly of her, she didn't want to break his heart either. Was that the path they were headed down.
When she didn't say anything, William continued. "You work for his brother, don't you?"
Mia swallowed hard, feeling her face redden. Did he know what it meant if she did? A small, "Yes," slipped from between her lips.
William nodded. "Sam is a complicated man. He's certainly taken a different path than Beau. I know he has a way with women unlike many other men. But if I may be so bold as to make a suggestion, perhaps you should speak with some of his former secretaries. He has several."
Her eyebrows arched. What was William getting at? What could his former secretaries possibly tell her that she didn't already know? Mia had no idea, but she wanted to know. "How would I find them?"
"I bet you have friends at the office who could help you with that." He reached over and patted her hand where it rested on her knee, making it clear the conversation was over. Mia was relieved at that. They turned onto the street that led to her apartment building, and she was glad to see that she was almost home.
She realized that she hadn't send Beau the text. She read over what she'd written again and decided there was nothing she could say to make it sound any nicer, so she sent it, and prayed that Beau wouldn't be too upset when he got the message. Maybe William was right and it would help her to speak to some of Sam's former secretaries. She had to do something to make this decision easier, because at the moment, she was completely torn between her sexy billionaire boss and his handsome billionaire brother-who loved her.