One Night With The Biker

Chapter 22

Summer’s POV

The man standing in front of me slowly lifted his gaze from the phone in his hand.

For one strange second, I simply stared at him.

Then I recognized him.

Not because we had ever spoken.

We hadn’t.

But because I had seen his face before.

In company photographs.

Business magazines.

Newspaper articles.

The occasional interview that had appeared on the television in the background while I was cooking dinner or getting ready for work.

Andrew Knight.

The owner of Knight Constructions.

My boss.

I had seen him from a distance before.

At company events.

Across crowded conference rooms.

Walking through the building surrounded by senior executives and department heads.

But never like this.

Never standing directly in front of me.

Never close enough that I could see the details of his face clearly.

Never close enough that I had to decide what to say to him.

For a moment, my mind went completely blank.

Then I remembered where I was.

I immediately straightened.

“Good morning, sir.”

His eyes remained on me.

There was something strange about the way he looked at me.

Not rude.

Not inappropriate.

Just…

Focused.

As though he was trying to place me.

I wondered if he recognized me from the company.

That seemed unlikely.

And yet…

He continued looking at me.

I shifted slightly beneath his attention.

“Sir?”

His expression changed almost imperceptibly.

As though he had suddenly realized that he had been staring.

“Good morning.”

His voice was lower than I expected.

Calm.

Controlled.

Professional.

I nodded.

“Good morning.”

The elevator remained open between us.

Neither of us moved.

I suddenly became aware of how ridiculous I probably looked.

I had spent the entire morning trying to convince myself that I was ready to return to normal life.

I had carefully chosen my outfit.

Applied makeup.

Done my hair.

Walked into the building with the determination of a woman who had her life completely under control.

And now I was standing in front of my boss, saying the same two words over and over again like my brain had forgotten how conversations worked.

Andrew’s gaze moved over my face once more.

Not lingering anywhere inappropriate.

Just observing.

I wondered if I looked as exhausted as I felt.

Probably.

I had slept badly.

Even after everything that had happened at the settlement conference, my mind had refused to quiet down.

I had spent most of the night thinking about Ethan.

About the house.

About the life we had built.

About the way he had looked at me when I told him I was walking away.

Then I had thought about the future.

My future.

A future that suddenly had no clear shape.

And somewhere between three in the morning and sunrise, I had decided that I needed to stop thinking.

Which was why I was here.

Back at work.

Standing in front of Andrew Knight.

Who was still looking at me.

I smiled politely.

“Are you going up?”

It was a stupid question.

He was standing in front of an open elevator.

Of course he was going up.

But apparently, it was the only thing my mind had managed to produce.

His eyebrows lifted slightly.

Then, to my surprise, the corner of his mouth moved.

Almost a smile.

“Eventually.”

I blinked.

I wasn’t sure if he was joking.

He didn’t look like the kind of man who joked with employees.

Then again, what did I know?

I had never spoken to him before.

“Right.”

Brilliant, Summer.

Absolutely brilliant.

I stepped to the side.

“Sorry.”

He continued looking at me for another second before stepping into the elevator.

I followed.

The doors began to close.

Then stopped.

Andrew’s hand moved toward the control panel.

He pressed a button.

The doors slid shut.

The small space immediately felt too quiet.

I stood on one side of the elevator.

He stood on the other.

There was plenty of room between us.

More than enough.

And yet, I was suddenly aware of every inch of it.

I kept my eyes fixed on the glowing numbers above the doors.

I had spent two years working for this man.

Two years.

And somehow, I had never been alone in an elevator with him.

I had never spoken to him.

Never shaken his hand.

Never had a conversation that lasted longer than a polite greeting at a company event.

It was strange.

Especially because I had spent an entire evening recently having one of the most personal conversations of my life with a complete stranger.

A man whose face I hadn’t even seen.

I almost laughed at the thought again.

The contrast was absurd.

I had been able to tell a masked stranger about my broken marriage.

About my husband.

About the way I had watched him kiss another woman.

I had told a man whose name I didn’t know that I had been heartbroken.

And now I was standing beside my actual boss, unable to form a coherent sentence.

Life had a strange sense of humor.

I glanced at the reflection of Andrew in the polished elevator doors.

He was looking at me again.

I immediately turned my attention back to the numbers.

This was becoming uncomfortable.

Not because he was doing anything wrong.

He wasn’t.

But because I could feel his attention.

And I couldn’t understand why.

Maybe he was simply trying to figure out which department I worked in.

Maybe he had seen me somewhere before.

Maybe he was wondering why one of his employees had suddenly returned after taking time away.

That had to be it.

I had been gone for several days.

My absence had probably been noticed by someone.

Not him.

Definitely not him.

There were thousands of employees at Knight Constructions.

Andrew Knight did not keep track of every interior designer who took personal leave.

The elevator reached the next floor.

The doors opened.

Andrew stepped out.

Then paused.

I wasn’t sure why.

He looked back at me.

For the briefest moment, our eyes met again.

“Have a good day.”

I nodded.

“You too, sir.”

The doors closed.

I stood there for a moment longer.

Then exhaled.

I hadn’t realized I had been holding my breath.

“Get a grip, Summer.”

I muttered to myself.

It was my boss.

That was all.

Andrew Knight.

The man whose company employed me.

The man I had seen in magazines.

The man who probably had no idea I existed.

And yet, for some reason, the brief interaction had left me feeling strangely unsettled.

I stepped out of the elevator and headed toward my department.

The moment I walked through the doors, several heads turned.

A few people greeted me.

Someone waved from across the room.

A colleague called my name.

I smiled and responded to everyone as I made my way toward my desk.

The familiar surroundings immediately gave me something to focus on.

My desk was exactly as I had left it.

The same monitor.

The same stack of files.

The same small plant sitting beside my computer.

For a second, I simply stood there.

It felt strange to be back.

Not bad.

Just strange.

I had spent the past few weeks living in a strange space between my old life and whatever came next.

And now I was sitting at my desk again.

As though nothing had changed.

As though I hadn’t just sat across from the man I had once planned to grow old with and discussed how to divide our life between us.

I slowly placed my handbag on the chair.

Then sat down.

My computer screen lit up.

Emails began appearing.

Messages.

Project updates.

Requests.

A dozen small reminders that the world had continued moving while I had been away.

I stared at the screen.

Then opened the first email.

Work.

That was why I was here.

I needed something else to think about.

Something that didn’t involve Ethan.

Or Natasha.

Or divorce papers.

Or the house.

Or the future I was no longer going to have.

I needed deadlines.

Projects.

Clients.

Colors.

Textures.

Floor plans.

Anything.

I had barely started going through my emails when my phone vibrated.

Lena.

I glanced at the message.

Did you survive your first hour?

Despite myself, I smiled.

I typed back.

Barely.

Her response came almost immediately.

Do you need me to come rescue you?

I looked around the office.

Then typed:

No. I think I might actually be okay.

The reply appeared seconds later.

Good. But remember, okay doesn’t mean you have to pretend you’re fine.

I stared at the message.

My smile faded slightly.

That was Lena.

Always knowing exactly when to say something.

I typed back.

I know.

Then added:

Thank you.

Her reply was simple.

Always.

I placed my phone face down on the desk.

Then forced myself to focus.

For the first time in weeks, I allowed myself to disappear into work.

And for a while…

It worked.

The morning passed faster than I expected.

I reviewed design concepts.

Answered emails.

Made notes on a residential project.

Attended a brief team meeting.

By lunchtime, I realized I had gone almost three hours without thinking about Ethan.

That felt like an achievement.

A small one.

But an achievement nonetheless.

I was beginning to believe that perhaps returning to work had been the right decision.

Perhaps I could do this.

Perhaps I could rebuild my life one ordinary day at a time.

Then my supervisor’s assistant appeared beside my desk.

“Summer?”

I looked up.

“Yes?”

“Your supervisor wants to see you.”

My stomach tightened slightly.

“Now?”

She nodded.

“He said whenever you’re free.”

I glanced at the work on my screen.

“I’ll go now.”

I saved everything before standing.

My supervisor had been the person who had approved my leave.

He had been surprisingly understanding when I explained that I needed time away.

I had promised to return when I was ready.

Now that I was back, I felt that I owed him a proper conversation.

I made my way toward his office.

Halfway there, I remembered something.

I needed to collect a file from another department first.

It was a small thing.

Something I could have easily done later.

But I decided to get it now.

Perhaps because I wanted to delay the conversation for a few more minutes.

Perhaps because I wasn’t quite ready to talk about how I was doing.

Or perhaps because I simply wanted to keep moving.

I turned toward the elevators.

The hallway was quieter than the main office.

I pressed the button.

The elevator arrived almost immediately.

The doors opened.

I stepped inside.

Then pressed the button for the floor I needed.

The doors began to close.

And just before they did…

A hand appeared between them.

They opened again.

I looked up.

And froze.

Andrew Knight stepped into the elevator.

For one second, neither of us spoke.

Then the doors closed behind him.

I stared straight ahead.

My boss stood beside me.

Again.

The same man I had never had a one-on-one conversation with in two years.

And suddenly, I had the strangest feeling that my carefully planned return to a normal life…

Was about to become anything but normal.