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I huffed, astounded by his obliviousness. “You don’t get it. Not even one little bit. I’m not like you, Cooper. I don’t have a huge trust fund to fall back on if things go to shit. I am up to my eyes in debt and I have to work. People like me, we don’t have choices. If our job sucks, tough shit, you wake up and go anyways because if you don’t, your whole fucking life unravels.”
He dropped his gaze, as if embarrassed by my honesty. I mentally kicked myself for being so open book. It wasn’t like me to go on and on like that. What is it about this man that made me lose all control? Verbally and otherwise…
“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to simplify things. I could give you a job. A really good job.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m not that desperate yet. I have no interest in being your full time sex toy.”
He groaned. “That’s not what I meant and you know it. Why do you always do that? Why do you always have to paint me to be such a fucking dick?”
Now it was my turn to advert my eyes. He had a point. I was so convinced that I was just setting myself up for a fall that I wasn’t giving him a chance to prove me wrong.
&
nbsp; “Fine, whatever. Legit job or not, I’m not interested.” I paused, wondering whether or not I should go on. “You still haven’t answered why you disappeared like that.”
“I wish I could. I want to give you a list of good reasons. I want to explain everything to you, but all I can really say is that I was busy and that my absence couldn’t be helped.”
In the history of bad answers to the “why didn’t you call” question—that women have been asking men since the invention of phones—that had to be the worst. The disappointment stung, but I didn’t bother digging for more information. It was over.
“It’s fine. Like I said, I just really need to focus on my job and getting things back on track here. The ads are done, so let’s just both move on. Anyway, I appreciate you stopping by and clearing everything up,” I said.
I turned and started walking and this time he didn’t try to stop me. Even though deep down inside, I probably wanted him to.
Chapter Eleven
I would have given anything to avoid going back into the building, but once I stomped away from Cooper, I realized I had nowhere else to go but back up to my desk. I stood in the shadow of the hulking building and took one last breath of fresh air before pulling open the glass door and going inside. My heart was begging me to turn around and see if I could watch him one last time. I knew he would have to pass by to get back to the parking lot. But my brain talked me out of it, knowing I was already a flight risk and could easily convince myself to fly out to him and go wherever he wanted to take me. Telling him off like that had worn down my defenses. If he had pushed one more time, said one nice thing, apologized again, I probably would have melted completely.
I took in a deep, steadying breath before heading back to the fifth floor.
Once inside the office, I didn’t even bother going to my desk. I made a beeline straight for Bryce’s office and shut the door behind me when he invited me in. I didn’t say anything and started frantically pacing back and forth in front of his desk.
“What is up with you? You look like you’re waiting for the third round bell to ring,” he asked, watching me with a curious expression on his face.
“Ugh! Where to even begin?” I asked, before flopping into one of the overstuffed armchairs in the corner of the office. “It’s that woman. It’s him. Everything, really.”
He nodded, as if he understood exactly what I was talking about. “Safe to assume that by ‘that woman’ you mean Rita, and ‘him’ is Cooper Brighton?”
“Yeah. I don’t know what to do about anything. I’m pretty sure I’m going to get fired. And then Cooper comes in, all knight in shining armor routine, offers me a job at his company, but I know I can’t do that. But maybe I should.”
“Okay, whoa, slow down. Let’s work through this one step at a time.”
I nodded and flopped into a chair, my energy suddenly zapped, the exhaustion hitting me like a truck.
“What’s going on with Mr. Brighton? He offered you a job? Why was he even here?”
I replayed the meeting with Rita for him and then explained the confrontation with Cooper outside.
“So, safe to assume, you and he…” his voice trailed off.
I nodded, pinching my eyes closed tightly. “I’m so stupid.”
Bryce laughed. “Oh honey, no you’re not. He’s a charming man. If he was gay…well, let’s just say I would have willingly fallen into that trap, as well.”
I laughed weakly. His attempt to cheer me up was appreciated but didn’t help much.
The pressure built and the laugh quickly dissolved to tears. Bryce rushed over, sat next to me and gave me a hug. “It’s okay, we’ll fix this. Don’t worry so much.”
“It’s not that. I just feel so stupid,” I answered. My face pressed into his shoulder and my voice came out mumbled.
