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Twenty
Addison inhaled deeply, intent on appreciating the scent of her recent purchase. Nothing smelled as heavenly as “new car.” Unfortunately that scent also reminded her of Bran’s sports car and the trip to Tahoe.
But of course.
She’d spent the weekend car shopping, and while agreeing to a five-year loan wasn’t the most intelligent move now that she was jobless, purchasing the car had made her feel better. Or at least more independent.
Anyway, she wasn’t broke right away. She had a savings account and she’d been in this exact position before. Each time she’d been out of work, she’d found more work. Although she’d given notice at each of those places and in this case, there was no way she could work through a notice. There was no way she could face Brannon Knox again.
She loved him.
He’d used her.
Things hadn’t only ended, they’d ended very badly. There was no recovering from a botched proposal. Apparently, Bran was reserving the love he had to give for a special occasion. And him turning her down had made her feel very unspecial.
Not that it mattered. She was heading to the copy center to print her résumé since she didn’t own a printer. All her personal printing was previously done at work.
Soon she’d have a new job—a different job—and before she accepted the job, she was going to make sure her boss was a curmudgeonly, unattractive old guy with no sense of humor. She wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice.
Yeah, right. Because you fall in love with all your bosses...
No. Just one.
One she’d wanted to build a life with. She’d talked herself into proposing, so sure that Bran would realize his dream from earlier in the year was meant to be with Addison instead of Taylor. He’d wanted a family—he’d said so himself. Addi wanted a family. They were compatible. They were right for each other.
But she hadn’t given him a single moment’s warning before she popped the question. What a disaster.
Her cell phone rang from her purse as she pulled onto the highway. Before she could dig through her bag to find it the screen on her dashboard announced the caller’s name: Brannon Knox.
She reached for the Decline button as a car nearly swerved into her. She gripped the wheel, moved safely out of the way...and accidentally hit the green Answer button instead.
Shit, shit, shit!
She tried to find the End Call button in between watching the road but didn’t succeed.
A second later Bran’s voice filled her car. “Addi?”
“Hi. You’re on speakerphone. I don’t know how to operate this thing.”
He offered a dry laugh. “I wondered why you picked up.”
She angled for the next exit with the office supply store logo on the sign.
“It’s Monday. You should be here. I pulled your laptop out of the trash.”
Coming into ThomKnox would only solve one problem. A monetary one.
“I’m not coming back, Brannon.”
“Why not?”
“Are you serious?” How could he ask her that? “Because... I mean. Honestly? I’m humiliated.”
“Yeah, I can relate. I’m also a member of the recently-rejected club.”
“You didn’t propose. And you didn’t love Taylor. She didn’t love you. Your heart wasn’t involved, Bran. You said so yourself.” Their situation was nothing like Bran and Addi’s. Hot tears pooled in her eyes as she pulled into the practically empty parking lot of the office supply store. She parked in the back, her eyes on the big red logo. Maybe they were hiring.
“Marriage is a big step,” was all he said.
