Page 84 of Nothing to Win

“And you’ll stay the night here too.You need to be around people not interested in sucking you dry—and…” Roxie got in before she could say anything.“You’ll have complete access to every closet in the building.We’ll find you something amazing to wear and guys will line up to flirt with you all night.”

Her friend’s adamance almost teared her eyes.“Roxie…”

“It’ll feel good.I know you might not be ready for the big seduction, but there’s nothing wrong with flirty fun.Nothing wrong with playing without playtime, you know?”

“What about Zairn?”

“He’s gone somewhere… somewhere.”Roxie dismissed the thought.“I can call him to come home, or you can go be with him, if he’s more your type.His life is extra exotic, I’d understand.”

A brief laugh escaped.“I meant you said I could stay over.Zairn may not want random women—”

“Oh, his whole life is random women, thanks to me.My guy’s used to people coming and going from our private floors.We have people move in and out all the time.He’s used to my girls in our bed too, with or without clothes.He’s seen pretty much everything.”

“I envy you,” she said, going into the closet to scrounge up what she could.“The security you have with him.Forever.”

“And he knows plenty of other guys who could be your forever.Tripp has a bunch of brothers; his mom would love any of them to settle down and start making babies.”

Okay, she maybe wasn’t quite ready for that next life stage.Maybe?For sure.

“Guess it’s better than sitting here alone trying not to think about Brogan.”

“That’s the spirit,” Roxie said, upbeat about her pathetic attempt at optimism.“Grab whatever you need.The chopper will be there in a few.Mwah.”

Roxie hung up first.Lowering the phone, Gia let out a long breath.A helicopter?Was she that desperate?The distraction was needed and Roxie must’ve known that.Although her friend had said the robe was okay, she wasn’t quite that bold.Her father wouldn’t be wild about her fleeing in flannel either.

She let her hair down as Roxie once had and went into the closet to change.Crimson was welcoming to all, no matter their outfit, but she went for the dress she’d worn for Bram’s birthday party.Two events so close together shouldn’t feature the same frock.The shame was her mother’s, maybe she could avoid her on the way out.

Purse in hand, she left her bedroom to—her father was there walking toward her.He slowed, his eyes scrutinizing her outfit.

“Where are you going?”he asked, stopping.

She went to him.“Into the city.”

“At this time?”

“Yes.I’ll stay the night there and won’t disturb you.”

“With him?Is that it?He snaps his fingers and you jump?When I spoke to Spurn on Sunday, he refused to meet me tonight because he said he always had dinner with his girlfriend on a Tuesday.Summoning you at this time is disrespectful.Have you been sitting around waiting for him?There’s no car outside.Are you supposed to wait outside in the cold until he shows up?”

The moment of reckoning was upon them.“No, it’s not Brogan.You and Mom are right,” she finally admitted, defusing some of her father’s bluster.“I’m not his girlfriend anymore.”

“You’re not…”

“No.We broke up.It’s over.”

“I’m sorry, sweetheart.”He didn’t mean that but laid a comforting hand on her arm.“Do you want to talk about it?”

In that moment, she really wanted to believe he was asking out of concern.Shaking her head, her lips stayed tight together in an attempt to subdue unwelcome tears.Why?Why did that have to be the time emotion suddenly confronted her hurt?

“If you’re not with him anymore, Bram and I don’t need to fly with him, we don’t need to meet.”

God, that was right, they’d made arrangements to—she couldn’t have forgotten.Except she did.

“Oh, God, Daddy, I’m sorry.I wasn’t thinking.I should’ve said something so you could make other arrangements to—”

“Don’t be silly,” he said, rubbing her arm.“Break-ups can be traumatic… There wasn’t anyone else involved… was there?”

Him and his obsession with a third party did nothing to allay her building emotion.It wasn’t that she thought Brogan had dumped her for someone else, but, wow, right then, she did not need that visual.