Worth shifts closer, his hand finding my waist, thumb brushing lazy circles on my skin.
Which would be a lot more comforting if I didn’t feel like a fraud half the time.I told myself I’d go back to my own room every night to keep lines clean and my head straight, but I never make it past the doorway. I always end up here, tucked under his arm, stealing warmth I have no business wanting, and I can’t even find the will to be mad about it.
How am I supposed to convince a board I know what I’m doing when I can’t even convince myself to leave Worth’s bed?
I bite the inside of my cheek. “Yeah, but it doesn’t matter how much I know if the board has already made up their mind.”
He frowns. “What do you mean?”
I finally look at him. “If they give me funding, it’s only because I’mMrs. Miller.” The title tastes bitter. “Not because I earned it or I’m good at what I do.”
Worth sits up, rubbing a hand through his hair. “You’re overthinking it. They wouldn’t have asked for the presentation if they didn’t believe in your work.”
“That’s easy for you to say.” I sit up, too. “You walk into any room and people already respect you. I walk in, and they see the woman sleeping with the boss.”
His jaw flexes. “Having an advantage isn’t always a bad thing, Mya. Everyone uses what they’ve got.”
My stomach drops. “You can’t be serious.”
“I’m saying it doesn’t make your work less valuable. It’s not like youdidn’tearn this.”
I stare at him, disbelief clawing at my throat. “You just don’t get it, do you?”
He blinks, thrown off. “How?”
“When all of this is over—” I gesture between us, “—you’ll still beWorth Miller,billionaire mogul, CEO, whatever title you want. And I’ll be theex-wifewho slept her way to success. The woman who got ahead because she played the part.”
“Mya—”
“No,” I snap, voice shaking. I press a hand to my chest, trying to keep my heart from breaking out of it. “We’re not the same. And that’s—that’s why we can never be real.”
Something dark flashes in Worth’s eyes. “That’s what you really think?”
I avoid his gaze, and stay silent.
He gets up to pace the room. “You know what? Maybe you’re right. Maybe Idon’tget it. Because for once, I thought someone actually saw me for who I was. Not for the headlines or the bank account or the goddamn last name.” He stops and looks at me, eyes full of fire. “But I guess I was wrong.”
“Worth—”
“No. You’re just like everyone else. You think I’m some guy who only cares about women and money, that this doesn’t mean anything to me. Have I not shown you how much I care about you, Mya?”
The words slice through me. Guilt rises fast, but I force myself to hold my ground. “You’re twisting my words. I’m beingrealistic.You need to stop living in this fantasy where we could ever actually work. We don’t fit.”
His laugh is humorless. “And who do you think would be the right fit for me then, huh? That redhead you saw me with at the gala?”
I cross my arms, refusing to flinch. “Someone like her makes more sense. Someone who belongs in your world.”
His temper rises. “You don’t get to decide who I want, Mya!”
The shout echoes through the room, and for a moment, neither of us moves.
His eyes burn. “You need to get out of your head and see what’s right in front of you.”
There’s something desperate in his tone, almost pleading. It kills me, because a part of medoessee it. All of it. Him. Us. What we could be if I weren’t so damn afraid.
But fear wins. It always does.
I get up, heart pounding. “I need to get ready.”