“Dennis threatened you. Didn’t he.”
My mouth falls open, and I lose every reason why my lie was so important as I’m left stunned. “How did you . . . ?”
“I knew it.” She claps her hands together, looking like she’s just solved a very complicated puzzle. “That little fucker. He turned you in to the board, and then when he heard Parker and me talking the other day, he must have put two and two together, and then he—” She looks almost contrite. “I’d completely forgotten, it was the day that I went into heat, and I was feeling so awful, and he walked up while Parker was laying into me for letting myself get too close to you, and I just . . . forgot.”
“Wait. Parker thought you were getting too close to me?”
She scoffs. “That’s your takeaway?”
“I’m sorry, I . . . I am very confused right now.”
“About which part, Noah?” She takes a step, poking a finger into my chest. All I can think about is how happy I am that she’s touching me again. “About the fact that you lied to me? How you broke my damned heart because you didn’t trust me enough to tell me that Dennis was threatening you?”
I blink, still reeling. “I broke your heart?”
“Do you want me to beat you up? Is that it? I don’t care how big you are, I swear I will—”
“How did you find out?”
“Parker. He told me Dennis has been researching alpha shit for months. I put two and two together, and I knew something had to be up. When we broke into his computer, we found pictures he’d taken on his phone of the results of one of your physicals, which you’d left on your desk. I guess that’s how he found out.”
“You broke into his computer?”
She throws up her hands. “Why are you focusing on all the wrong things?”
“So Dennis turned me in?”
“I mean, are you surprised? That weasel has been gunning for your job for forever, right? It’s not that much of a stretch that he’d be the most likely candidate to sabotage you like that.”
“I can’t believe it,” I breathe. “I knew he hated me, but I never thought he’d go snooping through my office like that.”
“What he did was a crime, Noah. We can get him on a HIPAA violation at the very least. Then there’s the blackmailing. We can nail that shithead to the wall.”
“We?”
She pauses, looking unsure for the first time since she came here. “Unless you . . .” She wrinkles her nose. “Unless you weren’t lying at the café?”
“Mackenzie, I . . . I really hurt you.”
“You’re damned right you did. Here I am, finally thinking I can try out this whole relationship thing, and you come along with your stupid ‘I don’t know if it’s the right time for us’ bullshit, and if I didn’t think you were doing that because of some nonsense alpha idea of protecting me, then I wouldn’t even be here.” She juts out her chin, staring me down. “Is that why you did what you did, Noah?”
I could keep up with the lie, even now. There is still a part of me that thinks eventually she would have realized I wasn’t enough, that there are better options for her out there, and maybe a good person would give her that opportunity. Maybe a better person would usher her out the door to make sure nothing bad ever touched her.
But maybe I’m not a better person.
“He threatened your job,” I tell her slowly. “He was going to turn you in for lying to the board.”
“That absolute fuckhead,” Mackenzie hisses. “I’m going to give him a testicular torsion when I see him again.”
“You’re not . . . mad at me?”
“Oh, I’m mad at you,” she assures me angrily. “You should have told me the truth. We could have figured out a solution together. You should have trusted me, Noah.”
“I should have,” I echo dumbly, knowing she’s right. “I’m sorry.”
“I’m not some damsel in distress who needs you to save me. This was my career on the line, too, and I deserved a choice here. You took that away from me when you went all alpha male.”
“I know. I know that, but I—”
“This is exactly what I wanted to avoid when you found out what I was. I have never wanted or needed someone to protect me, do you understand? I can do that myself. What I want is someone who is there for me. Even when times are tough.” She blinks, looking surprised. “Fuck. I didn’t even know I wanted that until you.”