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ChapterTwelve
Penny stood outside the door to the gaming room, silently giving herself a pep talk. It was just before four. The company had only just recently started allowing people to work flexible hours, so this was quitting time for some of the employees. As such, a few of the offices had begun to clear out.
Unable to sleep all week, she’d been at the office by seven every day—a Festivus miracle if there ever was one. She’d skipped lunch today so she could have left an hour ago, but it had taken her all damn day to build up her nerve.
She could do this. Shehadto do this.
It had been six days. Six long-ass, brutal days since Gage Russo had taken her virginity, ruined her for all other men forever—she’d always thought it would be wonderful to feel that way, but now she knew it sucked—and then snuck out of her apartment like a thief in the night.
Honestly, if she was the only one getting hurt, she could deal with it. After all, that was what she’d signed up for. Sex lessons with her playboy boss. She wasn’t so foolish that she believed Gage would fall in love with her.
Because there was a big difference between what she wanted and what she expected to get.
And—as always—she got what she expected, not what she hoped for.
While she lacked bedroom experience, she was the number one seed when it came to dashed hopes, so she was well versed enough in disappointment to mask her emotions.
But the thing was…she wasn’t the only person who was upset right now. And that was what she needed to fix.
Taking a deep breath, she opened the door. His assistant had told her he would be here, and the woman hadn’t lied.
Gage didn’t hear her enter, didn’t hear her lock the door. His back was to her, and he was lost in a video game, headphones blocking all sound. She walked closer and looked over his shoulder, studying the game. It wasn’t one she recognized, and she wondered if he was testing a new one from the gaming company he’d purchased.
The fact that he was doing that without her, Toby, and Rich meant she was doubly pissed off now.
“New game?”
Gage wasn’t startled by her presence, and she wondered now if her arrival really had gone unnoticed. He paused the game and took off the headphones.
“It is,” he replied.
“You don’t seem surprised to see me.”
Gage gestured to his cellphone lying next to the keyboard. “My assistant just texted. Said you were on your way. What’s up?”
While his words were casual, his tone was anything but. He seemed distant and cold, two words she used to describe his brother, Matt, but never Gage.
“You haven’t been down to IT this week.”
Gage lifted one shoulder. “Been busy.”
“Yeah. The thing is, I’m pretty sure that’s a lie. You’ve managed to stop by the office three or four times a week, every single week, for the last six years. So I know you’re lying low because of me. Because of,” she swallowed heavily, “last Friday.”
“Penny—” he started, but she’d practiced what she wanted to say all damn day, so she forged on.
“I’m not mad,” she hastened to say. “About you leaving, I mean. I told you that you could, so if you’re thinking I’m upset, I’m not.”
He nodded. “Okay.”
“Toby said you bailed on D&D for tonight.”
He opened his mouth, but she waved away whatever excuse he intended to offer. “I’ll skip it so you can go.”
He frowned. “What?”
“It’s obvious what we did sort of screwed up the friendship we had going. I asked you for too much, and I shouldn’t have. That’s on me. But your absence this week hasn’t gone unnoticed and, well, the guys miss you. They’re thinkingtheydid something wrong, and they can’t figure out what, and I hate that. Hate that they’ve become collateral damage in something that I did.”
Gage sighed—a long, heavy sigh—then he stood up and walked over to her. To her surprise, he reached out and drew her in. Her head spun as Gage wrapped her in his embrace and held her there.
