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“Because a good friend of mine broke her heart. He left her for a girl he knew from way back. She moved back, their parents set them up, and he just broke it off with her for no reason. She’s had a chip on her shoulder ever since. She doesn’t go out like she used to and apparently hates my guts, too.”
It never occurred to me that Judy is nursing a heartbreak. That must suck to fall for someone and then they just ditch you like you didn’t mean anything to them. Now I feel bad for turning her down when she asked me to hang out after.
I saunter up to her while she is picking up an order from the kitchen.
“Hey, I’m free tomorrow night. How about that movie? It’s a Tuesday and there won’t be that many people.”
She turns to me and smiles. “Really?”
“Sure, why not? We can get to know each other. I really haven’t made any friends. The only friend I have is my sister-in-law Exie, but now she is more like my best friend since my husband passed.”
Her eyes dim, and she says, “I’m really sorry about your husband, Aura. That must have been really hard.”
“I’m no stranger to loss and heartbreak. I lost my parents before the start of my senior year in high school.”
“And I thought I had it bad.”
I make it home and Camila is thrilled to hear that I have a night out with Judy to the movies.
“I won’t take long. It’s just a movie, and I really think she needs a friend, and so do I. Exie has been busy with taking over her family’s company and she lives in Spencer, so I guess it would be a good thing to talk and socialize with someone,” I tell Camila.
“I think it’s a great idea.”
My phone vibrates and an incoming text comes through.
Janine: The boss wants you to come to the office for a meeting. Can you come now?
I look at the time and it’s four. I pinch my brows, wondering why Kalum wouldn’t ask me himself.
Me: Is everything ok?
Janine: Everything is peachy. He is in a meeting and couldn’t get out in time and asked me to call you before it got later.
Me: Ok. I’ll head out and meet you at the office.
Janine: Awesome. :)
I shower and get ready. I dress in a wool form-fitted dress and long coat. It has gotten notably cooler in the evening and I don’t want to freeze to death. The driver is already waiting out front, and Camila is making dinner for Lane, so I give them both a kiss and head out toward Kalum’s office building in the city.
Chapter 24
Kalum
“Is she coming?” I ask Janine when I walk out of the board meeting for a new project and the store I want to open in Manhattan for Aura and her designs.
“Yep. Henry is on his way with her now.”
I smile because I’m dying to see her. Every night I sleep in the next room. I just want to walk into the room and make her mine over and over but because of Lane, I don’t want to confuse him or make him feel uncomfortable. We haven’t been affectionate in front of him either. Baby steps.
I walk in my office and freeze. Meredith is leaning on my desk in a seductive pose with a long coat, and I’m assuming there is nothing underneath except for some lacy lingerie she usually wears when she tries to seduce me. Before, I would have welcomed the intrusion, but now my stomach bottoms out in dread.
I clench my teeth. “What are you doing here, Meredith?”
“I’ve missed you, Kalum. I haven’t heard from you in a while. You have never minded me waiting for you in your office before,” she purrs.
I keep her at arm’s length. “I need you to leave right now.”
The last thing I need right now is for Aura to walk in here and think the worst.
