Chapter 35

I woke up with a start.

Groaning, I rolled over and opened my eyes to see Noah fast asleep beside me. I smiled at how handsome he looked. It was still dark, the clock telling me it was only 7a.m. But then I frowned. I could hear banging. It must have been what woke me up.

Noah opened his eyes. ‘What is that noise? I was having a delicious dream,' he said, smiling sleepily. ‘About you,' he added, wrapping an arm over me on top of the duvet.

‘Oh yeah, what was it about?' I asked, leaning in to kiss him, but then the banging happened again. I pulled back. ‘Is someone at your door?'

‘Fuck. Who the hell is it at this time?'

With a groan, he got out of bed. He was only in his pants and I watched without shame as he grabbed the dressing gown I'd been wearing all evening.

‘Don't you go anywhere,' he said before walking out. ‘I'm coming, Jesus!'

Smiling, I rolled onto my back and looked up at the ceiling. I'd had a deep, restful sleep after we'd gone to bed, cuddling up like we didn't want to be apart even in our sleep. Now, last night replayed like a movie montage in my brain. Noah's kisses and touches. The deliciousness of it all. How good it had felt being with him again. How exhausted but contented my body felt. The ache in my legs was welcome. And then Noah's words flooded back. The way he'd promised not to leave me. The words I'd longed to hear finally leaving his lips. This wasn't just about regretting what happened in the past. Noah saw a future for us.

And now, so could I.

‘What are you doing here?'

I frowned as Noah's voice floated towards the bedroom. Then I heard a second voice. I jumped out of bed and crept towards the half-open bedroom door. Leaning against it, I listened.

‘Did you think you could do all that and I wouldn't notice?'

My heart sunk into my stomach.

I knew that voice and it wasn't a welcome one. It was Mr John Matthews. Noah's father was in his flat. At 7a.m.

And I was naked!

With a yelp, I pulled on my underwear and bra and rushed to Noah's wardrobe and grabbed a shirt. I glanced in the mirror. I looked like I'd had a lot of sex. I rushed into the bathroom and splashed water on my face and then pulled my hair into the emergency scrunchie I always had in my handbag. Then I went back to the door and listened, my pulse racing.

‘How could you go against my wishes like that?' Mr Matthews was barking at his son. ‘You were on the bloody news! Promoting a book I told you I didn't want us to promote. It was an embarrassment!'

Anger flowed through my veins. This man was doing my head in.

I pushed the door open and marched into the living room. Mr Matthews was pacing while Noah stood off to the side, his hands on his hips.

‘Bitten is not an embarrassment,' I said, my voice cutting through the tense atmosphere like a knife. Both men turned to me in shock. Mr Matthews looked horrified and Noah was surprised but then he took in my outfit and I swore he smiled a little bit. On me, his shirt looked more like a white dress.

I stood up straighter in a vain attempt to make myself as tall as them. ‘It's a really good book and we had a great idea to promote it without any additional budget, like you requested.'

Mr Matthews gave me a look of complete disdain before turning to his son. ‘So, you did all this to impress a woman? A member of your staff? What were you thinking?'

‘I was thinking that you were wrong,' Noah replied, matching his father's angry words.

There was a stunned silence.

‘Excuse me?' Mr Matthews said.

‘You are wrong,' Noah repeated. ‘Bitten was worth promoting and Stevie had a great idea to do just that so yes, we went for it, with very little money spent. And it got great buzz. We had the press there. It went viral on social media. We had orders in from the biggest bookshop chain here because of it. Stevie did the best campaign she could with the budget you gave her. I don't know why you're angry. Any publicity is good for the company. Any more copies we sell of this book means more profit for us.'

‘I told you I wanted us to focus on the thriller,' Mr Matthews said through gritted teeth. ‘You went against my instructions. I waited because you said that you thought the team here could step up but all I see is insubordination and failed attempts. How well is Bitten doing? I'm not seeing any great pre-order figures. I was right that it was the wrong book to focus on. And now I'll have to clear up the mess you made.'

‘What does that mean?' Noah asked, glancing at me then back at his father worriedly.

‘I'm bringing in the New York team. I want you to let everyone at Turn the Pages go. Including your girlfriend.' Venom dripped from Mr Matthews's voice as he looked at me.

Noah stepped forward. ‘If you do that, I'm leaving. I'll never work for you again.'

They stared at one another. ‘Don't be ridiculous,' Mr Matthews said after a moment. He stalked past us towards the door. ‘Get dressed and meet me at the office within the hour to make arrangements. And you…' He looked over his shoulder at me. ‘Don't bother coming in.' Then he swept out and slammed the door shut behind him.

Noah's ragged breaths were the only sound for a full minute as we both stared at the slammed door.

‘I'm done,' Noah said eventually. ‘I'm done with him, Stevie. How can I not be? He's going to sack everyone. After all we've done. After how hard I've been trying. He just doesn't care. Fuck!'

He threw his arms up in the air.

My heart felt like it was stuck in my throat. All that work. All that effort. Was it really for nothing? I felt awful. Was I about to be the reason everyone lost their jobs?

‘There must be something we can do,' I whispered, trying to cling to some hope that together we could fix this.

Noah shook his head. ‘I think we might have done too much already.'