Prove Me Wrong by Gemma Hart

only reason why you’re still President of DXC Global is because you aren’t one of those men.”
                  I pressed my lips tightly together. “A compliment, I’m sure,” I said dryly. But I knew it was. At least when it came from Martin Lowell.
                  Martin looked surprised, as if it could be taken any other way. “To be sure. I just complimented you on your success in running a multi-billion dollar corporation.” He paused, looking me over carefully. “And that’s the exact reason why this kind of life is a charade and you know it.”
                  I did, goddamn him. I did. Everything he was saying was verbatim the things I had been thinking ever since I realized I felt more than just lust for Clara.
                  “Men like us don’t ‘settle down.’” Martin almost sneered at the phrase. “We don’t love. Those kinds of ideas take up time and energy that can be better spent elsewhere. And, kid, I knew it from the moment I saw you as a scrawny little twelve year old.” He looked me straight in the eye. “You don’t have that kind of heart.”
                  I know.
                  “It’s not a flaw,” Martin continued. “In our world, it should be considered a blessing. But it’s time you finally stop fooling yourself and accept who you are. You’re not meant to be some two bit lumberjack in fuck all Vermont. You’re not some settle down husband who’ll be happy with Little League games and Sunday dinners. Stop fucking around, kid, and get your head straight. ”
                  Every word, as disgusting as it was to hear, was the truth. I knew it. Martin knew it. There was no future for me and Clara. And every day I stayed here, I was just making the inevitable heartbreak for her more unbearable.
                  Although all of it was the truth, I still couldn’t help but rage. With a force that shook the entire building, I slammed my fist hard behind me against the wall.
                  Some of the chairs in front of me actually skipped a few inches from the force of my punch.
                  “I’ll be in New York by the end of the week,” I said slowly.
                  Martin nodded, satisfied. “Good. Clean yourself up too,” he said, eyeing my recent beard growth with a critical eye. “Unless you want the board thinking you’re some kind of vagabond.”
                  With that, Martin pushed past the swinging doors and walked out of the back room, leaving in his wake the destroyed pieces of my secret hopes for a life of innocent happiness. Of a life with Clara.

Chapter Six
Clara
                  I stood behind the counter at Mackleson’s, looking down at the small black cellphone. A smile curled my lips as I wondered just how late Jonah would be without his cellphone to wake him.
                  Jonah relied on his cellphone for everything and I was surprised to see he had left it at the store.
                  I had left the house early this morning to deliver a piece I had been working on to a customer across town. Deliveries like these were a normal part of my job but now with Jonah in my bed, warming me up with his arms, I was reluctant to leave the bed, let alone his embrace.
                  It was hard not to feel so good in Jonah’s arms. He was the first man I had ever been with who never seemed to tire from holding me. Usually, most men start off by tucking my head against their shoulder, holding me tight after lovemaking. But as body heat and hot breaths increase the warmth between us, they would roll over, pushing me aside for the sake of comfort.
                  But Jonah seemed to revel in touching me. He held me close to him, kissing my forehead frequently. If I fell asleep with my head on his arm, I woke up in that same