Vitamins by the Pool

Emma swallowed her vitamin C supplement with lukewarm hotel coffee, the fluorescent lighting of the conference room already giving her a headache. Day three of the corporate retreat, and she was running on caffeine and spite.

That's when she saw him—Fox, the senior VP from the London office, standing by the pool in his shirtsleeves, cigarette dangling from his fingers like he owned the entire damn hotel. Their eyes met across the water, and Emma's stomach did that familiar flip it always did when Fox looked at her like that.

"You're avoiding me," he said, not accusing, just stating fact as she approached.

"I'm not avoiding anything. I'm networking."

Fox laughed, a dark sound that matched the shadows lengthening across the pool. "Networking. Right. That's why you're out here instead of inside discussing synergy strategies?"

They'd ended things six months ago after that weekend in Berlin—too many secrets, too many complications when your department oversees budget audits and his department's books don't quite add up. But the chemistry remained, pulling at them like gravity.

"My cat misses you," he said suddenly, blowing smoke toward the water.

Emma's breath caught. Mr. Darcy, the grumpy Persian Fox had adopted after his divorce. She'd spent weekends at his flat, reading while the cat slept on her stomach, Fox watching them both with that hungry expression he never quite managed to hide.

"Don't," she said. "Please don't."

"The quarterly reports come out next week," Fox said, his voice low. "I know what you'll find, Emma."

The accusation hung between them. Emma had suspected—creative accounting to hide massive losses, fraud that could tank the company. She'd been gathering evidence quietly, professionally. But loving him had complicated everything.

"Why tell me?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Fox crushed his cigarette under his shoe. "Because someone needs to warn you before you destroy us both."

The pool lights flickered on, casting rippling shadows across his face. Emma realized then that this wasn't a warning—it was a choice. He was giving her the chance to choose.

She took a deep breath. "I already made mine, Fox. Six months ago."

He nodded once, understanding dawning in his eyes. "Then I suppose I'll see you in the boardroom."

As he walked away, Emma swallowed another vitamin pill with shaking hands. Some choices were bitter indeed.