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CHAPTER TEN
Liam
I glared at my computer, the blinking notification telling me that I was supposed to be four doors down, discussing business plans for the next year with one of my leads. I sighed, eyes flickering to the phone screen, which glared back at me. Ashlyn’s contact info was open to our most recent text exchange.
Why salads? Was this some kind of girl code I should know about? My fingers itched to text my sister and ask. Men were falling at Sam’s feet on the regular. She would have to know what it meant.
But in the meantime, I wanted to send something clever to Ashlyn. I’d been trying for the past twenty minutes. I had no idea how I could run this entire company, yet I couldn't come up with a single reason to reach out to Ashlyn again.
I groaned. What the fuck was wrong with me? She’d sent me a few emails over the weekend. Every one of them was polite and to the point. No more flirting. No more run-ins at Ardor. I’d followed her requests and stayed home this weekend. Maybe that’s where I went wrong. If I’d acted out and done something stupid, she would’ve had to come to me.
I smiled wryly. I wish I’d thought of that earlier really.
BRADY: You’re late.
My chief marketing officer and trusted advisor, Brady Martinez, was being an asshole as usual. I swiped up, ignoring his text.
It’d been so long since I’d felt like a woman left such a huge impact on me. I had barely waited through the weekend to talk to her, to see her again. And now that I felt it was appropriate to reach out, my brain was a freaking dead zone. I should’ve just called her yesterday. Maybe asked her to come over or grab a bite to eat like a normal person would’ve.
But I hadn’t.
And now I sat here, in my boardroom office, obsessing over whether salads might be code for “I want you to fuck my brains out” or “You’ve been friend zoned.” Depending on the moment, I agonized over which of those classifications I would prefer she give me.
Ashlyn was frustrating, yes. But she was determined, smart, and sexy as all get out. I’d spent far too much time this weekend thinking about those beautiful lips and the jaunty head toss she gave whenever she thought she had landed a particularly cutting remark.
I groaned again and then started typing.
LIAM: Did you have a nice weekend?
I scrubbed my face with my hands, wishing I could yank the tie from around my neck. I shouldn’t be so caught up over her, but I couldn’t help myself. She was the first person I had been truly interested in for God knows how long. The last woman I had spent more than a few nights with was a local newscaster, and even then, it was clear from the start that it was just for a physical release, two people looking for a way to work out some aggression.
When she’d faded into another relationship, I had felt nothing close to what I felt after spending only a few days apart from Ashlyn. If I didn’t know better, I’d have said I had a crush on my new consultant.
Shrugging my shoulder, I willed myself to grow some balls and go deal with this like the man I was. I strode down the hall, my trademark glower in place to avoid the bevy of requests being thrown my way. As I sat in the chair, swiveling it to watch the presentation that had already been going, my phone buzzed.
ASHLYN: Feeling needy?
I grinned then coughed into my fist. Covertly texting her back as quickly as I could.
LIAM: How can you tell?
ASHLYN: Do I really need to answer that? But yes, it was nice. Are you already stuck in some budget meeting or something?
LIAM: Not budget today. Business planning.
ASHLYN: Equally gross.
Another text slid across the top of the phone.
BRADY: You are smiling like an idiot. No one smiles in these things.
LIAM: Fuck off.
I glared in his direction. His placid, nodding expression was a complete 180 degrees from the scathing texts on my phone. Just under the table, I could see his fingers flashing across the phone. Almost immediately, mine vibrated again. I doubled down on my glare. Daring him to look me in the eyes.
BRADY: Just saying. You are making the rest of us look bad. Thompson’s going to think you’re smiling at him because he’s going to get away with this worthless project.
LIAM: Then you better pay attention.
