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“Are you still at the motel?” she asked quietly. I didn’t answer. She knew I was. She knew I’d moved out of Mom’s place the day after the wedding and hadn’t talked to her since. “I wish you’d come live with me until you can find your own place.”
“I’m fine,” I said again. I let out another breath and forced myself to sit back. I knew I should’ve stopped for a coffee after I left the office.
“You know, Mom’s really missing—”
“I don’t care,” I interrupted. “She fucked up this time, Bridge. I’m not forgiving her.” She was silent for another moment, then sighed.
“I know,” she said. “You know how she is—”
“That doesn’t give her a pass to treat me like shit.”
“You’re right,” she agreed. “It’s just—” She let out a sharp breath, and when she spoke again, her voice was harsh. “I’m in the middle of this, Dani, just like I always am.” I pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to wake up.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “But I can’t keep forgiving and forgetting the shit she does and says.”
“She’s not a great mom, we know that, but can’t you just ignore the comments?” she asked, and I let out a humorless laugh.
“She called me a slut for dancing with Aiden,” I said. “She told me how embarrassed she was to have a whore for a daughter. What were her friends going to think?” My hands clenched into tight fists.
“She called you a whore?” she asked, her voice quieting in disbelief.
“Yeah.” I didn’t want to be having this conversation. “I told you.”
“No,” she drawled. “You told me she got onto you for dancing with him, not that she called you a whore.”
“Yeah, well, it doesn’t matter,” I muttered.
“It does.” Her voice was hard again. “If I would’ve known she said that, I wouldn’t be defending her or trying to get you to talk to her. Jesus, I can’t believe this.”
“It’s fine,” I said. “You know how she is—”
“She’s never called us names.” I bit my lip. No, she’d never called Bridget names. Not bad ones, at least. Whore seemed to be one of her favorite names for me, unfortunately, even though I was still a virgin.
“Don’t worry about it.”
“How can I not when you’re living in a fucking—”
“Bridget,” I groaned. “I’m tired. Can we please not talk about this right now? It’s not important.” She let out a long sigh.
“Fine,” she said. “But we’re talking about this at some point. You can’t avoid me forever.”
“Sure I can,” I teased. “Everything else okay?”
“Fine,” she said too quickly. I narrowed my eyes. She was a terrible liar, but if she wanted me to know, she’d tell me. “Just miss you, bug.” I smiled at the nickname. She hadn’t used it in years.
“Miss you too, sis. Talk tomorrow?” After she agreed, I quickly hung up, not wanting to prolong the conversation and risk hearing her cry. I didn’t handle emotions well, and she seemed to have enough for the both of us. Hearing her cry always tore me up, and I just didn’t have it in me to console her tonight.
Tomorrow, after I was rested, I would call and grill her about her secrets, but for now, I just wanted to go home and—I glanced at the stack of files on the seat and groaned.
4
AIDEN
“Danica.”
I tapped my fingers against the doorframe, and her head shot up. Her tired eyes were wide as she looked at me, and even though she looked run down, she was still beautiful. From the first moment I saw her, standing beside her sister, I thought she was the most gorgeous woman I’d ever seen. But I was her boss, and that complicated things. I needed to keep things professional if I didn’t want a lawsuit on my hands.
“Yes?” She got to her feet and swayed slightly. I lurched forward, ready to catch her if she went down, but she caught herself and gave me a weak smile. “Sorry. I didn’t have breakfast.” I frowned. That was always her excuse.
