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It was in the stubborn look on her face, her jaw locked and ready to snap if I dared to question her motives or rewriting of history. The dare that flashed in the green. Wondering if I was bold enough to remind her that she was a bit late with the trashing of the man who broke my heart in two.
It was like looking in a mirror because I had that same look whenever I saw Jason’s name in my inbox. Whenever I snuck a peek at celebrity news, sure he’d move on, replacing me with someone more glamorous and willing to bend. Who always said yes and wasn’t so much trouble.
He didn’t.
And I knew that beneath all the bluster and unsolicited commentary about my looks, my mother loved me in her own way.
Or that’s what I kept telling myself anyway.
“Mom, I don’t want to talk about Scott-”
“Oh, get your panties out of the crack of your butt, Natalee,” she scoffed, like it was absurd for me to be a little testy about chatting about a very painful chapter of my life. “Clearly you’re over him because you only get cagey when I’m right on the money.” She sat back and I saw the familiar worn lines of leather, with an indent in the headrest that was a perfect mold of the back of her head. She was in her chair, a leather recliner that no one, Dad included, was allowed to sit in unless they wanted to hear her complain about how she never asks for much (lie) and she wanted this one thing (another lie).
It was her throne. Her happy place. I bet she even had her stories muted, a fact that should make me feel really special, because she didn’t put her stories on mute for just anybody. “So tell me about this new man, for my benefit.”
“Nothing to tell,” I lied, knowing that my cheeks, inflamed and giving it all away in living color, would just make her pick at this thread until it all came unraveled, my sanity included. I’d have to give her something though, or she’d answer in kind.
Like surprise me with a visit, I thought with a shudder.
I licked my lips and gave her the tiniest crumb. “It’s nothing right now, but if it becomes something, I’ll let you know.”
She looked as giddy as if I told her that I could hear wedding bells. All I could hear was silence, because I wasn’t sure I had it in me to risk all the things that came before the bells.
The falling.
The point where there was no turning back, because we said that four letter word that changes everything.
Because now that I was looking at a face that looked so much like mine, I could see the equally giddy reflection in my eyes. I knew it was only a matter of time before I did something really foolish—and let Jason back in.
CHAPTER TEN: JASON
The outreach and acquisitions coordinator for Maximum Tech, Tyler Steade, had clearly pulled out all the stops for the presentation. They invited our team to their sleek, high rise headquarters, everything onyx and marble, screaming that they paid a lot of money to look very cool. The elevator, a chrome bullet that would've made Batman cream his pants, was worth the price of admission alone.
Tyler, a spiky haired, bleached tooth kid who looked fresh out of college, had hinted that we were in for a treat as we zipped toward the elevator on a people mover that was straight up odd outside of an airport setting. I knew I was in for a wasted trip when he tossed a wink over his Armani clad shoulder and asked me if I liked sushi.
He was about as smooth as Scott’s bumbling proxy, Rodney Masterson. At 6’4 and 230 pounds of bulging, I-eat-testosterone-for-breakfast-lunch-and-dinner, muscles twisting in his absurdly defined torso, it was hard to take either of them very seriously. Rodney even held a hand up for a high five like we were cruising for tail on the Jersey Shore instead of headed to a business meeting.
Rodney had at least fifteen years on me, but you’d never know it because there wasn’t a lick of gray in his gelled, frosted tips and he used phrases like YOLO and had his locker at work plastered with pictures of swimsuit clad celebrities. And when I passed on the high five from Tyler, Rodney accepted his gladly, bellowing, “Cali Rolls FTW!’”
And California rolls had been waiting for us—strategically placed on a petite Asian woman who was naked and splayed out on the conference room table.
Appalled, Delia had opted to stick with water and passed on sitting at the table with us, choosing a seat in the far corner. To the rest of the men in the room, she likely disappeared after she introduced herself, but I felt her eyes burning holes in my back. Her glare incinerated the chauvinists who slobbered like they’d never seen a naked woman in their lives. Like this woman had no purpose besides entertaining us. Reduced to a literal serving platter for food that most certainly would have the Health Department losing their shit.
I’d passed on the sushi as well, which had earned an arched eyebrow from everyone in the room. Truth be told, there was only one woman I wanted to see. And not just naked, though I’d be lying if I didn’t admit I’d been fantasizing about those breasts of hers. How her cotton candy nipples melted in my mouth. But the image that kept replaying in my head was when she was fully clothed—and marching out of the room.
And based on her lack of returning my calls, emails, or texts, out of my life.
Tyler cleared his throat, reminding me we were in the throes of a meeting. “What do you think, Mr. Cox? I think our companies could do amazing things together.”
I covered the fact that I was only half listening by casually reclining in my chair. I felt every eye in the room on me and swept over every one—except the woman who was on the table. Her eyes were closed like she was counting the minutes until this gig was up. Rodney was all but clasping his hands together, his bug eyes silently begging. He was definitely a fan of naked sushi.
I had to close my eyes for a minute and pray that Scott would stop punishing me before the next meeting because if this amateur never accompanied me to another meeting, it would be too soon.
Tyler cleared his throat a second time, solidifying the fact that his patience was about as thin as mine. “Mr. Cox-”
“We’ll take it under advisement,” I said curtly, snapping my laptop shut. I rose to my feet, pointedly eyeballing the man who was supposed to be my right hand guy, who was too busy salivating like an idiot.
“Well, personally...” Rodney reached for a roll that was perched on the woman’s right breast. “I think the partnership would yield amazing-”
