Her Boss Kissed Her at an Ex-Boyfriend's Wedding—Then She Discovered the Real Reason He Invited Her Was to Expose a Multi-Million Dollar Corporate Conspiracy!

The restaurant was a small, dimly lit seafood place tucked away on the edge of the Providence harbor, far enough from downtown that no stray clients or advertising executives were likely to spot us.

We sat at a corner booth overlooking the dark water, where the reflections of harbor lights danced across the gentle ripples of the bay. For the first time in two years, the invisible barrier of the boss-employee relationship wasn't hanging between us like a glass wall.

""So,"" Meredith said, taking a sip of her white wine. ""When did you actually figure out you had a crush on me?""

I laughed, picking up my water glass. ""Day one, Meredith. When you handed me a napkin after I spilled half a cup of black coffee across my resume during the interview, and you didn't look at me like I was an idiot.""

""You weren't an idiot,"" she protested, though her cheeks flushed pink. ""Just very enthusiastic.""

""You didn't laugh until I started laughing,"" I reminded her. ""That was the moment I knew you were dangerous. You have this way of making complete chaos look like an executive strategy.""

""And you have this way of being entirely unimpressed by corporate titles,"" she countered, leaning her chin in her hand. ""Which, as it turns out, is exactly what I needed when my life was falling apart around me.""

""You handled your life falling apart just fine on your own,"" I said gently. ""Preston was a footnote. You just needed someone to remind you that you didn't have to carry the whole agency on your shoulders by yourself.""

Meredith’s expression softened, the hard defensive armor she usually wore in public melting away completely. She reached across the table, her fingers sliding over mine where they rested on the wood.

""Thank you, Jonah,"" she said quietly. ""For everything this weekend. For walking into that wedding with me, for not running away when things got complicated, and for keeping me grounded.""

""Always,"" I said, turning my hand over to interlock my fingers with hers. ""Though next time, let's pick a less dramatic way to ruin your ex-boyfriend's life.""