The Ex-Change novel · Chapter 18 of 24

Chapter 18: The Offer

The network held a press call on the terrace at ten, with four cameras, forty reporters and a lawyer in the front row.

Colton stood at a lectern in a white shirt with the sleeves rolled.

Vanessa stood a pace behind him with her hands folded.

I was handed a chair at the end of the line.

Jude sat down beside me and put one hand flat on his knee, a foot from mine.

"Today's the day," Colton said, and the cameras whirred. "I want to start with an apology."

A hush went across the terrace.

"To Callie Radcliff," he said, and looked straight at me, soft-eyed.

"In Rome, I said she couldn't let go. That was unfair, and I knew it when I said it."

A reporter gasped, a small happy sound.

"I'd like to retract it, here, in front of you all." He turned to face me. "Cal, I'm sorry. You never clung."

He let a beat pass.

"All I ask is that you tell the truth about that elevator, and let us all heal."

Forty faces swung toward me.

It was perfect.

He had handed me the one thing I'd wanted, tied with a bow.

The knife was inside the bow.

If I said thank you, I'd be admitting to the lift.

If I said no, I'd look like the woman who refused an apology.

"Thank you, Colton," I said, and stood up.

His dimple deepened.

"I accept the retraction," I said. "It's eight months late, but I accept it."

"And the elevator?" called a reporter.

"I'm not going to apologise for the elevator," I said. "I kissed him, and I'd do it again."

The terrace went off.

I looked at Colton, and the dimple was gone.

"And I'm not selling anything today," I said, pleasantly. "You'll hear the rest tonight."

I sat down.

My heart was beating so hard I could see it in my wrist.

Jude didn't say anything.

Under the line of chairs, where the cameras couldn't see, he hooked his little finger around mine.

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