Page 36 of Dirty Boss

All the tension that had melted out of me locked my muscles up once more. A woman glided toward me, all glossy dark hair and expensive clothes.

“Yvette,” I said, forcing a smile. “I didn’t know you drank the coffee here.”

“I don’t, normally, but I was across the road meeting with my financial advisors and was desperate for a cappuccino.” Her eyes were sharp as they swept over me, and I regretted my choice to wear old jeans and my comfiest, rattiest sweater. The designer clothes hanging in my closet still felt like someone else’s.

“It’s so good to see you. We missed you at Ryan’s this year.”

Ryan was a mutual friend who was famous for throwing extravagant, multi-day birthday parties. The location changedevery year, from one exotic destination to another. Even if I’d been invited, I wouldn’t have had the money to go.

“I’m sure it was fabulous,” I said, standing to kiss the air on either side of her cheek. “How have you been?”

“Oh, I’m sooverthe winter. I was just thinking I need to get out of the city for the weekend, at least.”

“You still have that place in…Jamaica, was it?”

“Oh”—she waved a hand, laughing—“we sold that place last year. We’re looking at buying in the Bahamas, but you know, the hurricanes are getting worse…”

“Uh-huh.”

“How about you? I heard you wereworking…at arestaurant?” She laughed, frowning, but interest sparked in her gaze.

“Who told you that?” I asked with a coy smile, forcing myself not to squirm.

At dinner with Vaughn, it had been so easy to put on the persona I used to wear all the time. The poised, effortless, carefree woman whose chief worry was booking her next blowout at the salon. It was harder now, in the face of a woman who delighted in spreading malicious gossip. I knew she’d be on the phone before she left the café. Then I thought of Vaughn’s discomfort—and the way he’d braced himself, straightened, and forced himself to pay attention—and I figured if he could push past it, so could I.

So, I smiled at Yvette. “It was fun,” I said breezily, waving a hand.

Her catty smile turned confused. “Fun,” she repeated, like she’d never heard of the word. Or maybe she’d never heard it in relation to actual work.

I smiled. “Very.”

“Your ex-fiancé seems to be doing well. I ran into him and his new woman. They’re madly in love.”

As far as daggers to the chest went, that one wasn’t subtle at all. My smile remained in place only because I had years of practice. “I’m so happy for the both of them.”

“And…what was his name…James?”

I tilted my head. Apparently news of my connection to James had gotten out. “What about him?”

“Are the two of you blissfully happy as well?”

“I haven’t seen him in over a year, so I can’t speak for him, but I’m doing well. Was that your name that was just called?”

Yvette glanced at the counter, where the barista placed a steaming drink. She turned back to me with a razor-sharp smile. “Nice to run into you. We should catch up sometime.”

“Absolutely,” I said, knowing she wouldn’t call me and I wouldn’t call her, and we’d both be happier for it.

As she walked away, her designer shoes clip-clopping on the café’s tiled flooring, I turned back to my book. The words scrambled on the page, my attention on the sound of her heels as it moved toward the door. When she was gone, I blew out a breath and slumped on the sofa.

I’d been wrong last week, when I thought I was ready to grovel my way back into the family fold. I missed my clothing, my driver, my ready-made food, my cleaner, my beautiful penthouse apartment. I missed all the things that had made life easy.

But I didn’t missthat. The fake niceness, the subtle and not-so-subtle jabs, the constant put-downs and one-upmanship.

None of the people in Yvette’s and Ryan’s social circle had spoken to me when I was thrown out of my family. None of them so much as sent me a text message. They weren’t my friends. I knew that now.

And I knew that I didn’t want to go back to that world, even if it meant doing it tough for a while longer.

My coffee was cold, I couldn’t focus on my book, and it was about time I started getting ready for my next session with Vaughn.