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“A week ago I didn’t even know him.”
“The man moves fast, I’ll give you that. Is that the problem? Is it too soon for you?”
“No. It’s more than that. I don’t want to live with any man. Especially one who is so overbearing. Being with him twenty-four-seven all day, every day? I’m afraid I’ll lose my sense of independence, who I am, what I’ve strived for all my life. I’ve worked too fucking hard to give it up now.”
They each took a drink of wine.
“Are you going to be able to keep working with him? When Lorean and I break up…” She rolled her eyes. “Some mornings I just want to stay in bed and sob in my pajamas. One time I did. Ate an entire pint of ice cream for breakfast. And shit… The amount of mimosas I have when things suck just doesn’t bear thinking about. Maybe I’ll open a liquor store. At least I can make money from myself. Wait. Did that make sense?”
“Yeah. In a strange way.” Even though the glasses didn’t need to be refilled, Kelsey did so anyway. “Lara Donovan called me the other day.”
“Did you tell her I’d give her a free service?”
Kelsey glared at her friend in a way that should have left Andi six feet under.
“Oh. Sorry. We’ll get back to that. I’m going to do Erin, thanks to you. Well, Mr. Hottie Boss. Oops. Sorry again. You were saying?”
“She’s hiring for a CEO position.”
“Who? Lara?”
Kelsey nodded.
“And she called you?”
Again, Kelsey nodded.
“Wait, that’s his sister-in-law, right?” Andi whistled. “That’s messed up.”
“It doesn’t mean I would get the job. But she’d like to talk to me about it. Nothing formal, just a talk.”
“Are you going to meet with her?”
She exhaled. Until this moment, she hadn’t made a decision. “Yeah. I think I am.”
“Wow.” Andi took a long gulp. “Wow, wow, wow. You’d quit Newman Inland over this or, rather, quit Donovan Logistics?”
“I can’t watch him date someone else, move on.” And she knew it wasn’t possible for her to see him every day and not yearn for him. Worst of all, she was afraid that if she spent time with him, she’d end up begging him to dominate her. The D/s was already part of their relationship, something she liked. Because of that, she was incredibly vulnerable to him. A clean break was better for them all.
“Aww, crap, Kelsey. Did you fall in love with him?”
“It’s a good career move,” she said. But she wasn’t sure which one of them she was trying to convince.
“You did, didn’t you? Damn it. Damn you. You fell in love with him. Now what are you going to do?”
“Gotta keep moving forward.” Kelsey gave a false, brittle smile. “Companies to run. Dreams to chase.”
They ordered a second bottle of wine and a plate of French fries smothered in cheese.
“Anything else?” the waiter asked.
“Ice cream,” Andi said. “And chocolate cake.”
“Do you want me to bring them out with the French fries?” he asked, sounding incredulous.
Andi glared.
“Got it.”
Kelsey’s attempt to hold back the pain was failing. Her eyes were full of tears she refused to shed, and she offered a toast. “To the man who has ruined me for all others.” And then, damn it, despite the fact she was a strong woman who needed no one, the tears fell.
Chapter Seventeen
“She’s been fucking shortlisted?” Nathan dug his hand into his hair and stared at Connor across the small bar table.
More than an hour before, Connor had called to ask if they could meet for a drink. The request had been so unusual, and he’d been so fucked up since he’d walked out of the door of Kelsey’s condo yesterday, that he’d grabbed his jacket and told her he was leaving for the day, offering a brief nod and nothing else as he’d passed her desk. He’d driven to the hotel that housed one of Lara and Connor’s favorite restaurants, ridden the elevator to the nineteenth floor, secured a window table and downed one of their finest scotches before his brother had arrived.
Connor had discussed overall business strategy for a few minutes before Nathan had told him to get to the point.
After Connor’s drink had arrived and he’d downed it in a single swallow, he’d looked at Nathan straight and delivered the news that Kelsey was among the top candidates being considered for a position at BHI.
“What the fuck do you mean, she’s been shortlisted?” he repeated. Through his shirtsleeve, he saw that annoying heart frantically pulsing. But this time it wasn’t pink. It was red. Blood-drippy red.
